“I can’t believe you called Tino.” I say, shaking my head. “And here I was worried you’d think I was a stalker for being at your concert. You actually did some real stalking you sketchy fuck.”
“Haha, very funny.” Connor deadpans, but then puts a big smile on his face. “If I’d known you were moving in with me right away, I would have saved myself the embarrassment. I don’t even know if I can go back to the gym now. That entire neighbourhood has probably heard about my stalking and sketchiness. First your Pops is going to beat my ass and then the other townsfolk will chase me away with torches and pitchforks like I’m Frankenstein’s monster.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I didn’t exactly move in with you. I moved into staff accommodations on your property. Not the same thing. And yeah, people tend to stick together on that side of town. I didn’t put it together, but Tino called me to say someone was trying to convince him to give out my number. If I’d known it was you, I would have told him to go ahead.”
Connor smiles, “Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
He passes me his phone. “Better give it to me now so I don’t have to do anymore stalking. I am terrible at it.”
“You really are.” I take his phone and send myself a text. “There. I messaged myself so I have your number too. I promise I won’t sell it.” I joke. “By the way, I like your disguise.”
“Ha, thanks. I usually can get away with people not recognizing me if they can’t see my tattoos, and if I wear a hat to hide most of my face. I have a feeling that won’t be the case for much longer, though. Some little girls your Pops was training at the gym last week recognized me even wearing this. I don’t think I’m ready for that just yet.”
“Don’t worry, Connor. I’ll be your fame beard for now. No one would suspect a famous rock star to be grocery shopping, let alone with a woman as plain as me.” I smile at him and put my arm in his.
“Oh Alex, you are not plain, not at all.” He says to me and then leans down and kisses me softly on the lips. “And you’re going to be so much more than a fame beard.” His voice deepens.
Damn it, those butterflies are back again.
Chapter 33
Connor - Managing Expectations and Fixing Reputations
The rest of our grocery shopping trip passes without incident. Alex was right when she said she’d need to make more than one trip to get it all into the house. We had to grab a second shopping cart to put all of our items in, and even that wasn’t really enough. We loaded both carts right to the top, and then some.
We had a bit of a disagreement over who was going to pay for everything until she points out that using the company credit card ensures my accountant can keep track of the grocery expenses properly. I agree to using the company card but insist that she pay for her groceries for the pool house on the same bill. She is, of course, always welcome to whatever I have in the main house where she will do most of the cooking, but I understand the need for her own space with her own favourite items on hand.
As we’re loading the groceries into the truck, I broach the topic of having the guys at the house. “Did Denise tell you that the guys will be at the house most of the time, too? They all have rooms there, but they also have their own homes. Once we really get into writing and recording, they will probably spend the night more. We try to not to treat the chef like a short-order cook though, so you won’t need to worry about cooking five or six different things at a time.”
“She mentioned something about it, but she wasn’t able to go into too much detail during the interview because of confidentiality concerns. I thought it might be easiest if I made you a menu of meals I’ve planned for the week? And then I can give you a list of things that I will always keep on hand to cook on short notice, since your food preferences seem to be pretty basic. I’ll save the fancier stuff for the main weekly menu, and then if you guys need something different it will be easy enough to throw something together. My contract has me available to cook 24 hours a day, after all.”
We finish loading the groceries, and I close the hatch. “That part is still in there? I honestly hate that part of the contract. It doesn’t seem fair to make someone be available around the clock just because we sometimes keep late hours.” I decide to tell her the idea I’ve been thinking of putting into the contract for the chefs that we hire. “What if instead of having you available at all hours, you make up something that we can just grab from the fridge if you’re not available? We can work out some hours that will coincide with when we do most of our work, so it wouldn’t be a typical 9-5 day, but it would be a little more regular for you, so you can still have a bit of a life?”
“That’s unnecessary, Connor,” she tells me. “I’m being well compensated with the expectation of being available all the time.”
“Yeah, it seems like you are, but I’ve always considered it to be too low. I’m going to talk to Denise about it, anyway. She can straighten it out with you later. I don’t want you to feel like I’m giving you preferential treatment or anything, though. This is actually something I’ve been considering for a long time, for all the staff we hire at the house.” And it is. I make a little money now, and I want to make sure that I take care of the people I hire to make my life easier.
“Let’s just get back, shall we?” I can tell this is making her uncomfortable, so I drop it.
“Good idea. Since you don’t start until Monday, should we order pizza and pick it up before we go back? You can tell Tino I’m a good guy?”
“Let’s just go back. We have a truck full of groceries and I’m a professional chef. I’ll make something instead. I’ve been dying to cook in that kitchen since I first saw it. Maybe lasagna? Let me get some use out of that kitchen of yours.” She seems excited at the thought.
“Deal.” We both walk to the front of the Escalade and get in. “You still have to call Tino, though.” I tell her seriously.
She laughs. “You really can’t handle him thinking poorly of you, can you?”
“No, I can’t. I can tell that he cares about you; that you’re important to him. I want him to know that I am worthy of your time. And the first step is you telling him I’m not a sketchy fuck.” She looks slightly surprised at my serious tone. “The rest I’ll have to do on my own.”
After watching me drive for a few minutes, Alex grabs her phone from the center console. She does something on the screen and puts the phone up to her ear.
“Hey, Tino?” she says, glancing over at me. “It’s Alex. Got a sec?”
I smile to myself but say nothing. Now I just need to figure out how to show her I’m serious without scaring her away.
Chapter 34
