"You need to hire some more people," Chloe's friend and coworker Maria stated.
I pulled at my shirt collar and tried to look innocent and attractive. "I kind of already promised that you would put a booth in the food hall in my conference center," I said in a rush.
Chloe shook her head slowly. "I don't have the woman power."
"That's why you need to hire more people!" Maria called out again from behind the bakery case.
"I'm trying! I have both Maria's and Nina's whole families basically employed now."
"There's a labor shortage," I told Chloe, eating another cookie. "I'm having trouble at my hotels too."
Chloe plucked the cookie out of my hand and put it back in the box. "I thought you wanted dinner," she admonished, waving me into the kitchen to pick up a large tray of pasta, blackened fish, and a grain and grilled vegetable salad.
"Jack already grabbed a table," Chloe said. "He's out there somewhere."
I walked through the large restaurant at the base of Frost Tower. Jack, Chloe's boyfriend, was sitting opposite Liam, my half brother, at a table near the window.
"I heard Hunter kicked you out," Liam said by way of greeting.
"Vicious rumors," I said. Chloe came over with a bottle of wine and sat down next to Jack. She cut off a piece of the fish along with some of the pasta, put it on a small plate, and slid it over to me.
"Try this," Chloe said. "I found a new fishmonger, and I'm trying out some new recipes."
"How come you're giving him food?" Liam complained.
"I give you free food all the time, and you just wolf it all down before giving me a good commentary."
"I tell you it's delicious," Liam countered.
"She needs a more refined palate," I told him and took a bite of the pasta.
"Handmade tortellini, slightly chilled, with a fresh pesto," I said, spearing another bite. "It's like you put summer in a salad and put it on my plate. And look at the crust on this fish. Did you just catch it this morning? Look at how flakey that is. Look at it, Liam!"
Liam snapped it off my fork.
"Heathen."
"See?" Chloe said. "That's just what I needed to hear."
"You better be careful," Jack warned me, "or you might be the next judge on theGreat Christmas Bake Off."
"They're doing that again this year?"
"Of course. Gunnar said he made mad money on that show. Dana is concocting some scheme to make it bigger and better."
"They need to find someplace else to have it other than Jack's tower," Chloe said. "I already rent that kitchen space to make Greyson Hotel Group's cookies."
"As you should. Those hand-decorated cookies we give each guest every day are a huge reason why people stay there."
"The best part is," Jack said with a grin, "my tower is a hundred percent leased."
"Nice," I said, fist-bumping him. "Though I think you mean that the best part is that Greg is off your case. I wish I could finally close on this conference center. Greg and Hunter are driving me nuts."
"Maybe when you get that conference center, Dana and Gunnar can have theGreat Christmas Bake Offthere," Liam joked.
"Ah, I don't think it will be ready by then." Truth was, I had heard from Liam how insane theGreat Christmas Bake Offwas last year. I did not need that in my life.
* * *
