Текст книги "The Allure of Dean Harper "

Автор книги: R. S. Grey

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Текущая страница: 4 (всего у книги 15 страниц)

Chapter Ten

 

 

 

Dean

Dinner was going terribly. Honestly, George R.R. Martin’s red wedding had fewer awkward moments than that evening. When Casey and Lily returned from the bathroom, Casey pulled her phone out of her purse and focused intently on the screen like a sixteen-year-old out at dinner with her parents. I tried to get her attention, but she waved me off as her fingers flew over her iPhone. When I glanced up around the table, Lily was trying to hide a smirk and doing a fairly shitty job of it.

Josephine was busy talking about her job, but I knew Lily wasn’t listening. She stared down at her fingers, twisting them up in her napkin. I knew she’d said something to Casey in the bathroom, I just didn’t know what.

She glanced up and saw me watching her. I narrowed my eyes and she mirrored my expression. It was a silent duel with no witnesses and no judges, but I’d be damned if I let her win.

“All right, here are those drinks,” the waiter announced, leaning over Lily to place her drink to the side of her plate. He followed the pattern around the table, handing me my old fashioned, and then faltering when he got to the extra rickshaw. Lily met my eyes and quirked a brow. I leaned back in my chair and took a deep swallow of my old fashioned. It was perfect, familiar, and most importantly, what I’d ordered.

Lily flashed the waiter a kind smile. “You can set it in the middle. I’m sure someone will drink it.”

I’d only been around Lily three times, but I could already pinpoint what it was about her that irked me: she was opinionated and too stubborn for her own good.

“Y’know, I think your drink choice says a lot about you,” Lily said from the opposite side of the table. Casey slipped her phone into her purse and glanced up, clearly aware that there was about to be a scene. I knew better than Lily. We wouldn’t get along, we wouldn’t be friends. The best thing to do at a dinner like this would be to ignore each other, but Lily kept pushing my buttons.

“How so?” Casey asked when I didn’t take the bait.

I rolled my eyes.

“Perhaps Dean’s a little old fashioned himself? Set in the old way of doing things?”

“I disagree. I’d say I’m quick to make changes when things…or people…just aren’t working out. The other night, for example.”

She leaned forward over the table. “How much money did my section bring in, Dean? Two? Three times the amount each bar usually cashes out?”

I’d checked the numbers the morning after I’d fired her; Zoe hadn’t exaggerated. Lily’s section had brought in four times the amount the other bars had and I had no doubt she could have cashed out with even more had I not fired her in the middle of her shift.

“Tell me, Lily. How many restaurants have you opened?” I asked with a sharp tone.

Her eyes shifted down to the white tablecloth and then back up to me—a simple tell that her confidence wasn’t impenetrable.

“That’s—”

“How many bars? Lounges?” I narrowed my eyes. “Have you ever managed more than a handful of stoned high schoolers at a Dairy Queen?”

Her cheeks flamed red beneath her tan and my conscience warned me to back down. Most of the time Lily acted as if she could spar with the best of them, but I knew her armor had weak points. She was a disobedient puppy, all bark and no bite.

I took a deep breath. “The point is, until you’ve attempted to run a restaurant in New York City, you won’t fully understand all the reasons why I had to let you go.”

Her eyes seared a line of fire across the table and I watched her chest rise and fall in quick successions. I’d pushed too far.

“Suddenly I’ve lost my appetite.” She scraped her chair back from the table and stood. Her napkin fell to the ground as she pulled her purse from the back of the chair and crossed it over her body.

“Actually, I think I’ll come with you,” Casey said, rising from her seat beside me.

What the fuck is going on?

“Uh, I…” Josephine stood and froze, unsure if she should leave with her friend or stick by Julian.

Lily didn’t bother waiting to find out. She turned and spun toward the front of the restaurant with Josephine and Casey on her heels. I felt like a royal ass watching them leave.

Lily brought out my worst qualities. I couldn’t remember ever having driven someone to leave a dinner, but she was gone and I was left at the table with that damn rickshaw staring back at me. Condensation gathered on the side of the glass, taunting me until I picked it up and downed it in one long sip.

Damn.

It was good. Better than my old fashioned.

“That was a disaster,” Julian said quietly, rubbing his fingers across his chin.

I shrugged. “It wasn’t that bad.”

He grunted. “You weren’t sitting in my seat. Watching you and Lily fight like that isn’t fun. I’ve never seen you like that.”

I flinched. “Are you kidding me? Don’t put this shit on me.”

He shook his head and leaned forward to rest his elbows on the table. I reached for Casey’s unfinished rickshaw, downing it too. I had three empty glasses in front of me, but I still wasn’t calm. Julian and I sat in silence for a few minutes, and when I finally spoke up, I steered the conversation into more neutral territory.

“We need to have our first meeting for the new restaurant soon. Y’know, start going over expectations and timelines.” A few weeks back, Julian had agreed to be a major investor in my next restaurant. I’d presented him with the numbers from my past projects and walked him through the basic steps of opening up a new restaurant. It’d only taken a few minutes to convince him to buy in.

He frowned. “You’re putting me in a tough position here, man. Look, I’m not in the restaurant industry. Opening up a new restaurant with you was supposed to be a fun side project. I wanted to work with you as a friend but I’m already catching shit from Jo about this Lily situation. It’s just not worth it to me if it’s going to cause problems between Jo and Lily.”

“Are you serious?” I asked, gripping the edge of the table.

He’d walk away and pull his funding because Lily and I didn’t get along? That’d delay the project. I was already putting up 50% of the capital. I’d have to scramble to find more investors if Julian walked.

Before I could plead my case, our waiter stepped up to the table and started clearing away the empty glasses. “Could I get you gentlemen anything else?”

“Just the check,” I replied, already reaching for my wallet in my back pocket.

His smile fell. “Uh, actually sir, your guest, the blonde woman? She covered the check on her way out.”

I frowned. “Excuse me?”

He swallowed and nodded. “She, er, she actually told me to tell you that it was paid with her severance.” He whispered the last word as if it was offensive. “I wasn’t going to mention it, but…”

I held up my hand to silence him. The night needed to end. I stood and pushed back from the table, thankful that I’d valeted my car around the corner. I wanted to get behind the wheel and press my foot down on the gas until I could feel control fill my veins once again.

“Julian, you can do whatever you want. I’d love to have you on board for this project, but I’m not going to beg. The numbers are there. You’ll make back everything you invest by the end of the year. After that? The sky’s the limit.”

He stood and shrugged on his leather jacket. “Yeah well, you’d make my decision a lot easier if you could just get along with Lily.”

I thought back to the way she’d looked at me earlier. Full lips tugged into a frown. Wide, bright eyes narrowed into slits. A rosy tinge marring her tan cheeks.

“It’ll never happen.”

Chapter Eleven

 

 

 

Dean

I was on hour ten of a fifteen-hour workday when Zoe waltzed into the manager’s office at Provisions.

“Of course, please, let yourself in and start disrupting me. I was hoping to stretch this into an all-nighter.”

My words dripped with sarcasm, but they didn’t deter Zoe. She plopped down on the leather seat opposite mine and kicked her feet up onto the desk. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She leaned forward and grabbed the heavy metal paperweight she always liked to toy with. “I just like to watch how the master works.”

The air conditioning kicked on and half a dozen papers flew off my desk. I didn’t even blink. “Pick those up, put the paperweight back, and get your feet off my desk. They smell.”

She grunted as she bent down to retrieve the spreadsheets I’d just reviewed. “I think that stench is actually your attitude. It’s been rotten ever since you got back from Nebraska.”

“Iowa,” I corrected, licking my finger and flipping through the resumes in front of me.

She frowned. “There’s a difference? I thought it was all just corn fields.”

I smirked. “Good point.”

“Y’know Provisions has done really well for its first month. Better than you projected.”

She was right. The restaurant was killing it. The money we’d invested in advertising was really paying off. “How’s it going out front? Staff responding well to the management and everything?” I asked.

She grunted. “Oh, sure. It’s great except for the fact that I just had to tend bar for the last six hours. I’ll take ‘Jobs I’m Overqualified For’ for 500, Alex.”

I laughed. “I appreciate you helping out, but you’ll be happy to know that I just hired two new bartenders this afternoon. I’ll need you to get Brian to go over the basics with them before they’re put on the floor tomorrow.”

She sighed with relief and sunk farther into her chair. Her hair seemed even shorter than usual, framing the feminine features she tried so hard to hide.

“Y’know, I still haven’t forgiven you for what you did the other night.”

My eyebrows rose with curiosity. “With Lily?”

“Yes with Lily! She was gold, my friend. You should have talked to me before you had your little hissy fit.”

I shook my head. “Not you too, Zoe. I’m seriously sick of being scolded.”

She laughed. “Then maybe stop acting like a child.”

We sat in silence for a moment. I was too annoyed to speak, and she was trying to fight the smirk spreading across her lips.

“You find her attractive don’t you?”

I sighed, deeply and heavily.

“C’mon, admit it,” she prodded.

“I actually haven’t thought about it.”

“Uh huh,” she nodded, calling my bluff. “Close your eyes.”

“Zoe, get out of my office. I have work to do.”

She stood and leaned over the table. “Humor me.”

I shook my head. “You’re being ridiculous.”

Her thin lips curled into a smirk, but she held her ground. I knew from experience that Zoe wasn’t going to leave. She’d once made me stand outside of a restaurant for thirty minutes because she’d thought she’d seen Lady Gaga walk in. Spoiler: it wasn’t her.

I huffed out a breath and closed my eyes, fully expecting her to laugh. Instead, her voice filled my office, reminding me of the one person I’d tried all day to forget about.

“Picture Lily standing at your office door. She’s patiently waiting for you to finish up your paperwork so the two of you can head out to dinner. She dressed up for you, wearing something dark, and short, and tempting. Her hair is down and wild. Blonde in a shade that can’t be bought in a bottle. Her brown eyes find you behind your desk and she smirks, knowing you’ve been waiting all day to see her. You drag your eyes down her body—”

“Zoe,” I interrupted, keeping my eyes closed. “Do you think she could be holding food? I’m really hungry and in my fantasy, I’d really love a bacon cheeseburger.”

She groaned and I opened my eyes to see her heading toward the door of my office with crossed arms. “No really, Zoe. Keep going, but now can you describe the burger?” She flipped me the bird and rounded the corner out of my office. “What kind of cheese does it have ’cause I really hate American!”

I laughed as she slammed my office door shut, but I wasn’t fooling anyone. Of course I knew Lily was gorgeous. I had every contour of her heart-shaped face memorized. Contained within it were the most kissable set of lips I’d ever seen and bright eyes that saw right through my bullshit. I replayed the scene Zoe had created for me. Lily standing in my office door in a little black dress was a fantasy too sweet to comprehend.

If only she and I could shut up for ten minutes, the sex would be the best of our lives. Angry. Hard. Fast. Not love. Not even close.

War. 

Chapter Twelve

 

 

 

Dean

I glanced up from the resume in my hand to take in the nervous candidate sitting across from me. He’d been in my office for five minutes and already my patience was wearing thin.

“Where did you attend culinary school?”

“What school?” he asked, seemingly confused by the question.

“Cul-in-aaarrry school,” I repeated, stressing the phonetics of a word I shouldn’t have been explaining.

“Ah, yes. Well no, I didn’t go.”

“Have you worked in any upscale restaurant before?” I asked.

He shook his head, just as confused as before. I sighed and tossed his resume onto my desk. It topped the list of under-qualified applicants for the day.

“Perfect, you can see yourself out.”

His lip quivered, but I couldn’t muster an ounce of sympathy. I was looking for a consultant for my next restaurant and I’d just spent the morning interviewing a slew of idiots.

“Alright, bud, let’s go,” Zoe said, stepping into my office. She’d been hovering by the door for the last few interviews.

“Is the interview over?” he asked, glancing back and forth between us. I couldn’t confidently say he even knew what planet he was on at that point.

He stood and she directed him out of my office.

By the time I finished shredding his resume, Zoe was back at my office door, hovering on the threshold until I invited her inside.

“I cannot believe you let that guy through,” I said.

She frowned. “To be honest, we’ve had so few people send in applications, I was just hoping that by some miracle, one of them would be qualified.”

“That last guy is almost thirty and has never had a job.”

She laughed. “Point taken.”

I leaned back in my chair and dragged my hand through my hair. “I need a beer.”

“I’d buy you one but I have a hot date later.”

My brows rose.

“You know, you could have one too if only you’d admit your attraction for a certain blonde.”

“Zoe.”

She laughed. “Oh my god, it’s just too easy with you. Why can’t you admit you find her attractive? I won’t tell anyone.”

I stood and ushered her out of my office, ignoring her protests. I locked myself inside, but she was persistent.

“You’re not fooling me,” she said.

“Goodnight Zoe,” I shouted through the dark wood.

Her laughter faded down the hallway, leaving me alone with the thoughts she’d just planted in my head. It’d been three days since Zoe had first brought Lily to my attention. Since then, I couldn’t stop thinking of her full lips wrapped around me. I couldn’t stop daydreaming about her. I wasn’t proud of it, believe me. Lily would have me boiled alive if she knew I was fantasizing about her.

I reached for my phone on my desk, looking for a distraction, but there was nothing there waiting for me. I’d invited Julian to a sports bar near my house for dinner, but he’d yet to reply. I knew it was because he was walking a thin line. Lily hated me, therefore Josephine hated me, which put Julian between a rock and a hard place.

I tossed my phone back onto my desk and clenched my teeth together. Every single problem in my life was being caused by one woman: Lily Black. She was forcing Julian into an ultimatum and I was on the losing end of the deal.

I leaned back in my chair, interlocked my fingers behind my head, and caught sight of Sun Tzu’s “The Art of War” on my office shelf. The book highlighted troop movements and battlefield strategies, but more importantly, it stressed one simple idea: “Know thyself, know thy enemy.”

I smirked.

As much as I hated to admit it, Lily knew a hell of a lot about food and drinks. She’d impressed me at Gramercy Tavern, and she had twice the education of most applicants sending in their resumes for the consulting position. On top of that, I needed to keep Julian as an investor for the project.

I shredded the rest of the applications and pulled “The Art of War” off my shelf. It was settled. I was going to have to convince Lily to work for me. It was time to get to know the enemy.

Chapter Thirteen

 

 

 

Lily

“No! NO! You do not get to live here!” I yelled, running after the cockroach attempting to take up residence in our apartment. I lunged to drop a cup over it, but it scurried under our shared dresser. “No! Get out of there!”

There was an inch of blackness beneath the dresser and the floor and I would have rather cut my hand off than put it under there. He’d won the battle, but I’d win the war.

“Yeah, and stay there!” I yelled, kicking the dresser with my foot. That’s good. Intimidate him.

I turned back to the sink full of dishes I’d been cleaning before my little friend had interrupted me. Plates and cups were piled high thanks to the mess Josephine and I had created the night before. Julian had requested a home-cooked meal, but Josephine and I hadn’t been able to agree on what to make, so we’d each made our favorite dishes (chicken spaghetti for her, and homestyle mac ‘n’ cheese for me). We’d hovered over him as he ate, watching him carefully as he spooned the bites into his mouth.

“Uh they're both good?” he said, shifting his gaze back and forth between us.

I slammed my hand down on the counter like a disgruntled detective. “Don’t you lie to me, Lefray!”

He laughed. “I swear, they’re both equally delicious.”

I shook my head. “This isn’t over. I’m watching you.”

Josephine leaned in and kissed his cheek. “I know you’ll tell me the real winner later.”

“Oh my god.” I covered my eyes and backed away slowly. “You guys are like two slobbering wildebeests in heat.” 

After two more episodes of The Office (first season, of course), they left. It’s not like the three of us could all share the one futon, but it still made me sad to lock the door behind them. I hurried to the window and watched them hail a cab. It pulled up to the curb and Julian opened the door for Jo, sweeping a kiss across her lips before they slid into the back together. They weren’t slobbering wildebeests. They were the cutest people in the entire world and they made me almost sick with envy every time I saw them doting over one another. When was the last time I’d had a relationship like that? I think I had shown that much affection to a Snicker’s ice cream bar once, but it had been a tragically one-sided affair. I’d never loved a man like she loved Julian.

I scrubbed away remnants of cheese from a plate and then caught movement to my right.

“No! You’re not allowed out!” I yelled at the cockroach. “God, at least wait until I leave.”

A loud knock sounded at the apartment door and I jumped, dropping the plate into the sink full of suds. Did Josephine forget her keys?

“Lily! Open up!”

Oh shit. The police?

“Lily!”

It wasn’t until my name was yelled a second time that I registered the familiar deep voice.

Dean motherfucking Harper was at my apartment. I’d have preferred the cops.

I swallowed and wiped my pruney hands on the dishrag beside the sink. Okay. He was at my apartment, which meant he probably wanted to talk to me. Or maybe he just needed to get a clipping of my hair for the voodoo doll he was undoubtedly creating so he could continue torturing me from afar.

I walked to the door as he kept hammering away on the thin particleboard.

“What do you want?” I asked, peering through the tiny peephole. He was leaning against the door with his head down. His dirty blond hair was disheveled and curling at the ends. He’d foregone his normal uniform for a t-shirt and running shorts. He looked sweaty, even through the peephole. Oh god. He’d run to my apartment.

“Just let me in. We need to talk.”

He already sounded pissed and we hadn’t even seen each other yet.

“Sorry, no hablo ingles.”

“Lily.”

“I don’t want any Girl Scout cookies. Go away.”

“Oh hello there!” a feminine voice chimed from down the hall. I stood on my tiptoes again and peered through the peephole. Oh dear lord, it was Ms. Whittaker, our landlady. Josephine had warned me about her immediately upon my arrival in New York City. She seemed old and endearing, but then she’d invited Jo to a party. She’d gone, assuming it would be a bunch of old people playing Monopoly. Instead, she’d found herself politely navigating her way through a swinger’s party. Ms. Whittaker was one kinky old lady.

“Oh hello,” Dean replied with a nod.

“Friend of Josephine’s?” she asked, pausing mid-step to take him in from head to toe. I held back a snicker.

“Something like that,” he answered.

She smirked and stepped closer. “Well, a friend of Josie’s is a friend of mine. Say, I host these parties every weekend up on the—”

“He doesn’t want to go to your weird swinger parties, Ms. Whittaker!” I yelled through the door.

She shrugged and offered him one final creepy smile before continuing down the stairs. “Mmm, I’ll let him make that decision on his own. I’m up on the top floor, sugar.”

Dean nodded and stepped back to clear a path for her.

“Have a good day, Lily. Don’t forget I need you and Josephine’s rent check by the end of next week.”

“Got it,” I said.

Once she was out of sight, I stepped away from the peephole, unlocked the door, and swung it open a few inches. I wedged my face between the door and the doorframe and waited for him to explain himself. His gaze slid down what was visible of my body, inspecting the oversized t-shirt I was wearing as a nightgown.

“You have ten seconds,” I declared.

“Cute shirt.”

“It’s my dad’s,” I explained, tugging at the hem. Had I known he was coming over, I would have gotten dressed, and maybe put on a helmet and shin guards—

anything to protect me in our inevitable battle.

The corner of his mouth curled up and he stepped forward pushing the door open with his palm.

“Hey! Just wait a second!” I yelled as he continued to see himself into my apartment. “I didn’t invite you in.”

I closed the door and then turned to him with an accusatory stare.

“Lily, the sooner you let me talk, the sooner I’ll be out of here.”

I flung my arms open. “Oh well please speak, because I can’t think of a single reason why you”—I stuck my finger in his chest—“being here”—I pointed the other finger at the ground—“makes any sense at all.”

He turned to walk through my apartment—which was a glorified shoebox—running his finger over the countertop before inspecting it. Are you kidding me? Who did he think he was? He turned back and stared at the futon, still pulled out flat with my pillow and butterfly blanket thrown haphazardly on top. Add that to the list of things I would have hidden had I known Dean was coming over.

“I’d like to hire you as a consultant for my new restaurant.” He spoke with utter sincerity.

Even still, I barked out a laugh. “Are you smoking crack?”

He frowned. “I’m serious. I don’t have any other options and neither do you.”

“The hell I do! Just yesterday I interviewed for four different jobs.”

Two of which were at Subway (different locations), but he didn’t need to know that.

He crossed his arms, standing his ground on our tiny battlefield. God he consumed the space, making it his own. His body wash filled the air, mixed with the sweat from his run. When he left, I’d have to light a thousand candles and invite the shaman that lived down the hall to rid the apartment of his aura.

“Julian is the primary investor for the project, and I don’t want our differences to jeopardize that. We might not ever learn to get along, but I can at least offer you a job.”

Wow. How very noble of him.

“Fuck you. I hope Julian walks and you lose the money.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Look, I’m not going to beg.”

I crossed my arms. “Then don’t.”

“The job comes with a thousand dollar signing bonus, benefits, and a starting salary of ninety thousand. If you prove your worth, I’ll likely consider you for future projects.”

His brown eyes seared into me, daring me to turn down the offer.

“And what about us?” I asked. “How are we going to work together?”

He took a deep breath, his broad chest rising and falling as he considered my question. “Y’know, I’ve dealt with several asshole contractors and plenty of bitchy wait staff. You, Lily Black, are nothing I haven’t handled before.”

A slow smirk spread across my lips. He thought he had me figured out. He thought he had the upper hand.

How cute.

“Well, seeing as how you’re out of options, make that a hundred thousand starting salary. And I want one percent of profits for any projects we collaborate on. And before you say I’m just taking advantage of your predicament, just wait a few weeks. Trust me—I’m worth every penny.”

The more I pushed him, the tighter he clenched his jaw.

“Deal. I’ll have my lawyer draw up the contract tomorrow. Meanwhile, there’s a team meeting in the morning at Provisions. Eight AM sharp,” he declared as he moved toward the door with long strides. He was done with me for the day. I kept my focus on the tiny window above my sink, trying hard to control my pounding heart. Just as I thought he’d yank open the door and make his exit out of my apartment, his hand hit my elbow. He gripped the soft skin just below the sleeve of my t-shirt.

I shivered at the sensation of his mouth behind my ear, too close for comfort.

“And just so we’re clear.” He spoke as a helpless ripple traveled down my spine. “This isn’t a truce.”