“I used to call him Pretty Boy,” I said. “Well, Villain Pretty Boy.”
“VillainPretty Boy?” Elijah asked.
“You have a devilish look about you,” I said.
He chuckled.
Raya nodded. “I can see it.”
“There’s a botched order on the warming counter if anyone wants it,” Chef said.
“Botched how?” I asked.
“Overcooked… according to the customer.”
“Annoying,” I said, but collected the plate—a filet. I added some mashed potatoes and seared veggies and passed it off to Elijah.
“This looks amazing,” he said, and I directed him out of the kitchen and to the bar out front where he could eat. “Take care of this man,” I said to our bartender, Angel.
She smiled at me. “Welcome back, boss.”
“Only visiting.”
I started to walk away, and Elijah grabbed me by the hand and pulled me against his side. “Have I been put in a time-out?” he asked in a low voice that made my insides flip. Angel raised her eyebrows at me. People at the restaurant weren’t used to seeing me with anyone. Nate came by occasionally, but we kept it professional.
“No,” I said. “You haven’t. I thought you might be hungry.”I reached over the bar and retrieved a set of utensils wrapped in a cloth napkin. “Come to the back when you’re done.”
“I like seeing you in all your boss glory,” he said, again in a low, quiet voice. With those words, he released his hold on my waist and I rejoined Raya in the back just as a younger guy came to collect a plate from the kitchen.
“Lucas,” Raya said, “this is Sutton. You talked to her on the phone.”
“Hi,” he said. “Thanks for hiring me. I really like it.”
“Good to hear.”
He picked up his orders, balancing them expertly on his arms, and was gone again.
Raya smiled. “It really is good to see you.” She studied my face for a moment. “You look…”
“Tired?” I filled in for her.
“No, I was going to say happy. Light.”
“Do I?”
“Do we have that very pretty man eating food out there to thank for this? Or have you made peace with your mom?”
I gave a fake laugh. “Yeah, me and my mom are magically besties now.”
“Oh, I need your signature on a couple things in the office.”
I nodded and we made our way through the hallway stacked with miscellaneous boxes to the office at the back. It had a single window to the outside, but other than that it was small and depressing, and I forgot how much time I used to spend in here going over numbers and rearranging schedules.
The desk was stacked with papers, and there was another stack on top of the file cabinet. I didn’t want to think about how much work was waiting for me when I came back. I hoped none of it was urgent. No, it wasn’t. The urgent stuff Raya haddealt with, I was sure. It was probably spam mail from suppliers and vendors.
Raya retrieved a clipboard that held a few pages. “This is our contract with Mac. It’s time to re-sign. Did you want to look over the terms again?”
“It’s been a year,” I said quietly.
