Текст книги "The Allure of Dean Harper "

Автор книги: R. S. Grey

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Текущая страница: 5 (всего у книги 15 страниц)

Chapter Fourteen

 

 

 

Lily

Being roommates with Josephine had certain perks. She was tall enough to reach the cereal boxes on the top shelf of our pantry and she had a never-ending supply of designer clothes. As an in-house blogger for Vogue, she got to raid their closet for her weekly blog posts. Next season’s Valentino? Special collection Manolo Blahniks? Nothing was off limits to her, which meant nothing was off limits to me.

“How about this sleeveless wrap dress with a cardigan in case you get chilly?”

I glanced up to see Josephine holding a sky blue dress. The cotton material looked soft enough to sleep in, but the cut and design made it fancy enough for work.

“It’s gorgeous, but will it be too long on me?”

“Nah. It’s way too short on me. That’s why I haven’t worn it yet.”

I held it up against my body and stepped in front of our floor-length mirror.

“Are you nervous?” Josephine asked, stepping up behind me.

“A little bit,” I admitted. “But Julian will be there to help ease the pain of working for Dean.”

Jo laughed. “I’m still kind of shocked you agreed.”

I arched a brow. “It’s not like restaurants were knocking down my door or anything. I pretended otherwise, but I didn’t really have a choice.”

She nodded. “Okay well, hurry up and change. We can share an Uber.”

I frowned. “What’s that, some kind of German energy drink?”

She closed her eyes, clearly embarrassed to know me. “It’s an app people use to find rides. It’s much faster and cheaper than using a taxi.”

I frowned. “So you find someone on the app and trust that they aren’t going to murder you the second you get in the back of their car?”

“They’re not random people. Most of them are just off-duty taxi drivers trying to make extra money.”

Right. Because off-duty taxi drivers are the most trustworthy people in the world.

“Sure, sounds good. On a totally unrelated note, do you think mace would fit in this clutch?”

…

When I stepped into Provisions the morning of my first team meeting, my heels echoed around the restaurant, announcing my presence to the unmanned hostess stand. The lights were half dimmed overhead and the empty dining room was quiet, save for the morning crew working to make the restaurant spotless.

I took the long way around the courtyard, admiring the trees, and then stepped into the hallway that led toward the back offices. I was only two steps in when voices spilled out into the hallway from the back manager’s office.

“Wait, wait, wait. She actually agreed to take the job?” a woman asked.

“Why wouldn’t she? It’s a great opportunity,” Dean replied. Obviously, I quickly pressed against the sidewall and listened.

“Well yeah that would be enough for anyone else, but not for someone that you’ve been such a dick to. Let me guess, you mentioned the fact that you have a mega boner for her?”

“Zoe, cut that shit out. I mean it.”

Zoe, the Provisions manager who’d hired me for my one and only shift tending bar.

“Yeah, you’re right, wouldn’t want her to know that you actually have a wittle baby grinch heart beneath that scrooge suit.”

“If I wanted to show someone my heart, I’d adopt a puppy.”

She grunted. “The idea of you with a dog is too scary to imagine.”

“Lost?”

I nearly jumped out of my skin when a voice spoke directly behind me. I’d been so focused on eavesdropping that I hadn’t noticed Julian until he was right behind me.

“Christ, Julian! Maybe announce yourself next time.”

He smirked. “LILY, IT IS I, JULIAN,” he boomed.

I narrowed my eyes. “Clever. Really clever.”

I caught movement out of the corner of my eye and turned to see Zoe leaning out of the manager’s office.

“Get in here you two,” she said.

One look at her and Julian proved that I was one hundred percent overdressed for my first day on the job. Julian was in jeans and a button-down and Zoe was in white distressed overalls with a silky purple tank top underneath. Her colorful tattoos were on full display and she had a gold decorative ring adorning each one of her fingers. She looked like an Olsen twin, and I looked like a stuffy corporate lawyer in comparison.

“After you,” Julian said, extending his arm for me to lead the way. “Good morning so far?”

I nodded. “Your girlfriend had to teach me how to use Uber.”

He laughed. “Did she tell you that she used to think it was a dating app?”

“As fun as it is to listen to you two out there, we were supposed to start this meeting five minutes ago,” Dean called from his office.

Julian arched a brow and I tried my best to suppress my laughter.

“I hate to say it, but I doubt either of us will win employee of the month now,” I whispered.

“Damn. I really wanted that parking spot and a bad picture up on the wall,” Julian said with a wink.

His comment pushed me over the edge. I lost it to a fit of laughter just as we rounded the corner into Dean’s office. I was mid-laugh with my mouth open, clutching my chest, when my eyes locked on Dean. His sharp features were locked in a scowl, proving even further that the man was a walking time bomb.

His dark eyes followed me into his office and I swallowed down the last bit of my laughter. Whatever humor I’d felt only moments before had been sucked away by Mr. Tightass. Did he ever relax?

Chapter Fifteen

 

 

 

Dean

I’d been in a great mood that morning. After a seven mile run and a hot shower, I’d dressed in my favorite black suit. My white shirt was pressed and wrinkle free, and my shoes were shined to perfection. I’d had everything in control until I’d arrived at Provisions and Zoe had started in on the Lily crap again. She thought she was funny, but I needed every ounce of patience if I hoped to deal with Lily in a professional manner. Unfortunately, Zoe had worked me up just as Lily had arrived at the door of my office in a flirty blue dress, laughing at whatever joke Julian had just whispered to her.

The moment I saw her, adrenaline spiked my veins like my body was preparing for battle. My heart raced and I started to sweat. It wasn’t a reaction I was used to, and as a result, I was reacting the worst way possible: with anger.

“Take a seat,” I said, motioning to the four vacant chairs spread out in front of my desk. Four open chairs, and Lily took the one closest to mine. Her perfume was soft and floral, a scent that lingered in the air between us.

“Are we waiting on someone else?” Julian asked, drawing my attention to him for the first time since he’d walked into the office. Lily had completely eclipsed his entrance.

“Hunter,” I said.

Lily opened her mouth, but I knew what she was about to ask. “Hunter and Zoe have helped me with my last ten restaurants. The two veterans, along with fresh insight from you and Julian should make us a well-rounded team.”

“What exactly is Hunter’s role?” Julian asked, taking the open seat beside Lily. Zoe sat across from Lily, leaving the chair next to the door open for Hunter, whenever he finally arrived.

“He’ll help find a location for the restaurant, and then I’ll have him wear the hat of project manager during the build out.”

“So will he—”

Lily’s question was cut off by Hunter as he hurried into the office with sweat coating his brow.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” he announced, hands up in surrender. “I couldn’t find a parking spot anywhere.” His eyes cut around the room, taking in the two new members of the team. Julian garnered a quick onceover, but his eyes nearly fell out of his skull when he saw Lily.

“Oh shit, I didn’t think you’d already be starting. Who are the newbies?”

Lily and Julian exchanged a glance before standing to greet Hunter.

“Julian Lefray, nice to meet you.” I watched them exchange a handshake and Hunter nodded, clearly recognizing the name.

“Right, Mr. Moneybags. Good to have you here, man.”

His hand dropped back to his side and then he turned toward Lily. His merino jacket could hardly button over his beer belly. The material strained as he bent forward for her hand, nearly breaking it off with his gusto.

“And who, may I ask, are you?”

Lily bristled at his veiled attempt at flirting. “Lily Black.”

“She’s the consultant I hired to help round out the food and drink menus, concept, and ambiance,” I spoke up, if only to get the show on the road. “This was all in yesterday’s email, Hunter. Now have a seat, we’re already running behind.”

His round cheeks reddened at my reprimand—that, or he was overheated from hustling to the meeting.

“Today won’t take long. We need to check schedules and confirm a good time for our weekly meetings. I’d also like to finalize a name for the restaurant—”

Lily frowned. “I’m sorry, could we rewind a bit? You haven’t even told me your vision for the restaurant yet. How am I supposed to help with a name if I don’t even know what type of food we’re serving?”

Fair enough. I leaned back in my chair. “I want to do a tapas bar with price points around fifteen dollars a dish.”

“Accessible prices by New York standards,” Zoe cut in.

Lily narrowed her eyes. “All right. Have you thought about whether this city really needs another tapas bar? Are you going to make it unique? Bring in flavors that separate us from other Spanish restaurants?” She didn’t bother letting me answer before continuing. “I think it should have an old-world feel to it with options for paella on the menu for those that want bigger serving sizes.”

She’d been there five minutes.

Five minutes and she was already giving me a headache.

What in the world had possessed me to hire her for this project?

“Lily, why don’t you let me explain the entire concept before you start offering ideas? This meeting won’t take long if you just listen for a few minutes.”

Her jaw dropped and her bright eyes narrowed on me. I’d called her out in front of everyone, but she deserved it. She was a consultant. I was the boss.

“By all means, take it away.”

Julian whispered something to her, and she smiled. Another private joke at my expense. Why was it so infuriating that Julian made her smile? Because it was at my expense?

Or because I wanted to switch places with him?

Chapter Sixteen

 

 

 

Lily

I moved into down dog and definitely felt my leg pop out of socket, like an overworked hand-me-down Barbie doll.

“Shit. I’m going down,” I hissed, slowly sliding down onto my borrowed yoga mat until my face made contact with the sweaty rubber.

Josephine glanced over at me, sweat slipping down her face. She picked up her hand to flick it off, but it was no use. We were in a heated yoga class. The thermostat read 98 degrees and we were both going to die a slow death. The last sight I was going to see was the ass of the old hippie directly in front of me.

Did he have to wear the bike shorts?

Did they have to ride up so high?

“You’re not supposed to just lay there,” Josephine whispered.

The instructor told us to root down through our chakras and become one with the earth as we moved into our next round of sun salutations. I wanted to salute the sun with my middle finger.

“Lily. Come on! We can’t go get crêpes after this if you don’t work out.” Josephine pushed to downward dog and then hopped to the front of her mat. My eyes followed her movements, but my body had no intention of getting up.

“Class! Class! I want you all to take a breath and look toward this student,” the instructor said, sounding dangerously close. I glanced up to find her bulbous eyes hovering over me, hands motioning toward where I lay on my mat, face down, ass in the air. I’d quite literally collapsed in a heap of skin and bones. “Do you see how she listens to her body? She’s taking this opportunity to do child’s pose. While others push themselves toward unattainable goals, this student has set her own intentions for her practice today. I commend your work today, child.”

HAHAHA. I was getting a gold star for being lazy.

I sent a gloating smile toward Josephine as Old Hippie started clapping, and soon the other students were joining in.

I’d officially won at yoga.

After class, I wiped down my body with my towel and then sprayed down my mat. They’d probably be better off just burning the thing, but whatever. Josephine and I grabbed our sandals and slipped out of the class before we could get stuck talking to the instructor. She was cornering students by the door, asking them how their bodies had responded to her words.

“Go, go, go,” I hissed, pushing Josephine through the doorway just in the nick of time.

She called out after us. “Oh, girls! Great work in class today. Don’t forget to pick up some tea tree oi—”

“Oh my god, she’s still talking to us,” Josephine said, reaching back for my hand and pulling me farther down the street. We picked up the pace and didn’t slow down until we were a few blocks away from the studio.

“Why in the world did we just do that?” Josephine asked.

I peeled my tank top off my chest, away from where it was suction-cupped to my skin with sweat. The fresh morning air was much better than the temperature of the yoga studio.

“Josephine, you just don’t get it. Yoga is about far more than just exercise. For people like me—y’know experienced yogis—it’s a way of life.”

“Oh really? Name one yoga pose.” She challenged me with an arched brow.

“Easy. Upper…moonbeam.”

“No.” She shook her head. “You’re an idiot.”

“Fine. Downward Dumbledore.”

“There are no yoga poses named after Harry Potter characters.”

I frowned. “Are you sure?”

She wrapped her sticky arm around my shoulder and pulled me in close. “Let’s agree to never go back.”

I nodded. “Never.”

“Maybe we can pick up cycling or something?”

I groaned. “Can’t we just be like those French women that stay skinny by walking a lot and doing the cayenne pepper cleanse?”

“You realize that when people do that cleanse, they don’t eat or drink anything but juice for days?”

I stopped walking. “Oh god no. I thought you drank that crap on top of eating whatever you wanted.”

“Yeah, Lily. ’Cause that’s how diets work.”

I shook my head. “Okay listen, let’s go eat some crêpes, and then tomorrow we’ll worry about the long-term effects of eating a pastry full of Nutella.”

She pulled the door open to the crêperie and ushered me inside. “Deal.”

The inside of the shop smelled like a funnel cake had exploded. Small French-inspired tables were set up on either side of the center aisle and as we passed by the other patrons, I assessed their crêpe choices. There were savory ones with eggs and bacon, and sweet ones with fruit and chocolate sauces. One woman had a crêpe piled high with cinnamon apples and my hand actually itched to steal it from her.

The line to order was five people long, so we browsed the menus as we waited. I want one of everything.

“So how was the first day on the job? Was it nice having Julian there as your moral support?”

I bristled at the reminder of work. I’d barely managed to survive the meeting the day before, what with Dictator Dean stomping around like he owned the place. I mean, he did in fact own the place, but did he have to act like it all the time?

“It was okay. I met the rest of the team I’ll be working with.”

“Oh? Who else was there?”

“Zoe, the manager I told you about from my first night at Provisions. She’s super awesome.”

Josephine nodded.

“And then this guy named Hunter who gave off major creeper vibes the entire meeting.”

Her eyes widened. “Why?”

“He was just so smarmy, like a New Jersey car salesman or something. He was covered in sweat when he got there and his suit barely fit over his beer belly. He gave me this flirty smile when I introduced myself to him, completely ignoring the big fat wedding ring on his left hand.”

“Oh, gross.”

I nodded. “Yeah. I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt, but then he asked if I wanted to get lunch with him, alone, after the meeting.”

Her eyes widened. “What?!”

“I know.”

“What’d you say?”

I shook my head. “Nothing. Dean called him back into the office before I could respond.”

The customers in front of us finished ordering and we moved up to the front of the line.

“Hi, is this your first time to Uptown Crêperie?” asked the chipper cashier behind the cash register.

“Yes, but I’m not new to crêpes. I’d like a smores crêpe, a truffled caprese crêpe, and one of the apple cinnamon crème brûlée crêpes.”

“Lily!” Josephine laughed. “That’s enough food for an army.”

“What? I’m going to review it all for my blog. I swear!”

“Uh huh. I use that same logic when I want to splurge on a Rebecca Minkoff purse.”

I swiped my card and signed the receipt, already excited to take photos of the crêpes for my next blog post. I hadn’t done a review of a crêperie in New York yet.

“Are we at least going to share those?” Josephine asked.

I glanced over at her with narrowed eyes. “Jo, I love you. I really do, but if you touch my crêpes, I’m gonna have to stab you with my fork.”

Chapter Seventeen

 

 

 

Lily

I consider myself a decent person. I never steal candy from the bulk bins at the grocery store, I always bus my table at restaurants where it’s clear that you’re meant to, and I always let old people have my seat on the subway when it’s full. (Okay maybe I just got elbowed out of my seat by a gruff grandma in the Bronx, but I’m counting it.) All of those good deeds didn’t help the fact that I was about to become a murderer.

It was inevitable.

“You’re not listening to me!” I said. “Here are all the reasons that the restaurant should have a Spanish name.”

Dean wiped his hand down his face, clearly tired of arguing with me. We were back in his office, all five team members crammed into a space that seemed to be getting smaller by the minute.

Julian fidgeted in his seat, angling his body ever so slightly away from where I stood. Zoe leaned against the doorframe, watching Dean and I go at it with a little smile across her lips. Hunter hadn’t spoken in the last fifteen minutes; he was too busy scrolling through his phone. The little trackball on his Blackberry made a ticking sound every time his finger scrolled over it and I was five seconds away from grabbing his phone and throwing it across the room.

“Lily. Do you know why my restaurants are successful?” Dean asked, leaning forward across his desk.

I rolled my eyes and threw my hands up in the air. “I would say dumb luck, but I have a feeling it’s probably thanks to Zoe.”

“Knucks,” said Zoe, holding out her fist for me to pound.

He ignored my sarcasm. “It’s because I control every single detail, from the menu prices down to the nails they use during construction.”

I arched a brow. “That style of leadership only works when you’re infallible, and last time I checked, you’re not a god. You have to be able to recognize when other people just know better than you.”

“Excuse me?” he asked, his brows furrowing in disbelief. Had anyone ever talked to him the way I did? How could they not?

“No one likes a tyrant! Especially one who is so stuck in his ways that he doesn’t even realize a good idea when it’s right in front of him.”

He rubbed his hand over his mouth, probably trying to keep the curse words from spilling out. I was being harsh, unprofessional, and rude. Unfortunately, it was the only way I could get a word in edgewise with him. He’d blow right over me if I didn’t speak up.

“Let’s reiterate the roles really quickly,” Dean said, pointing to me. “You are here to help me with the food, drinks, and ambiance. End of story.” He pointed to himself. “I will handle every other detail of the restaurant, including the name.”

I crossed my arms, feeling my face flush with anger.

Sorry Mom.

You raised a murderer.

My eyes glanced over his desk for a sharp instrument to stick in his black-hole-of-a-heart, but there was nothing, save for an expensive pen clutched in his fist.

“You know what I think we need?” Zoe asked, pushing off the doorframe and circling back behind Dean’s desk. Her head barely came up to his shoulders, but he still looked down in fear of what she was about to say. “Some team bonding.”

Hunter grunted and Julian laughed. I stood in silence, waiting for Dean’s reaction.

“C’mon,” Zoe said. “Let’s take your boat out this weekend and relax. No talk about the restaurant. Just fun.”

“Josephine has been bugging me about going back out on the water,” Julian added.

Before Dean could reject the plan, Zoe turned her gaze on me. “You in, Black?”

If I said yes, I’d look overly eager.

If I said no, I’d look like I was the asshole of the group.

I sighed, picked up my clipboard from the edge of Dean’s desk, and then plopped down in my seat. “Yeah, whatever.”

She clapped. “Perfect!”

“Saturday morning?” Julian asked, already pulling out his phone, undoubtedly Snapchatting his lover. Blech.

Dean offered Julian a curt nod, and just like that, the meeting was adjourned. We’d succeeded in making zero decisions, but I was marginally closer to losing my voice from yelling at Dean. That counted for something, I guess.

Julian stood to talk something over with Dean and Zoe in the hallway, and I reached down to grab my purse. A shadow loomed over me as I sat back up, and I realized too late that Hunter was practically on top of me as he leaned over my chair. His heavy cologne nearly choked me to death.

“Oh, wow, that’s close,” I mutter, leaning as far away from him as I could. The guy clearly didn’t know the concept of personal space.

“Looking forward to seeing you out on the boat this weekend, Lily,” he said, dropping his hand on the back of my chair.

“Oh, uh yeah, should be fun,” I replied with a curt, pleasant smile.

“I’m glad we’ll have some time to chat.” He waggled his eyebrow. “Just you and me.”

Oh my god. How was no one hearing this crap?

I narrowed my eyes up at him and pointed at where his hand sat on the back of my chair. His thin gold wedding band was two inches from my shoulder. “What kind of ring is that on your finger?” I asked, playing the not-so-subtle game of “fuck off”.

He laughed.

“The slippery kind,” he replied with a snakelike hiss.

I stood so abruptly that he had to flinch back to avoid my head colliding with his face. “You’re disgusting.”

“Aw, c’mon, can’t you take a little joke?”

I brushed past him and stepped into the hallway. Dean, Zoe, and Julian stood in silence as I stepped past them. I knew they’d heard the last part of our conversation, but I didn’t bother stopping to correct their assumptions. I headed toward the front of the restaurant and prayed there was a cab waiting for me. I was in a different town, but I was still dealing with the same old crap. Hunter saw blonde hair and tits. He didn’t see me as a colleague.

“Hey! Jeez. Would you wait up a second?”

I heard Dean’s voice, shocked that he cared enough to follow me out onto the sidewalk. His hand hit my forearm, inches from my palm, and I froze, surprised by the comfort of his grip.

“You said the meeting was over,” I said, staring up at him for confirmation.

“It is.”

I shrugged, shying away from his touch, but his hand tightened on my arm. “Well, I’m leaving then. I’ll see you on Saturday.”

“What did Hunter just do?” he asked, ignoring my brush off.

A part of me wanted to cover up Hunter’s attempted indiscretion. I’d dealt with this situation plenty of times before. A male superior came on to you? Did you tempt him in some way? Surely, you lead him on.

“It wasn’t a big deal. Hunter came on to me and I told him off. End of story.”

He nodded and rolled his lips together as he mulled over how to proceed. “I’ll take care of it.”

I swallowed. He sounded like a mobster. Did he have brass knuckles hidden in a pocket of that designer suit? “What are you going to do?”

The edge of his lip curled up as he met my eyes. “Nothing that will leave scars.”

My eyes widened. Oh shit.

“Lily, I’m joking. I’m not going to beat Hunter up because he hit on you.”

I smirked. “Maybe just a little kick in the balls? Or a karate chop? Nothing major.”

He rolled his eyes and dropped his hand. My arm felt instantly lighter, like it might float away without the weight of his hand holding it down.

“See you Saturday,” he said, taking a step back. His eyes scanned over my face and across my cheeks. “Don’t forget sunscreen.”

I tilted my head and smiled. “Y’know if I didn’t know any better, I’d think that you were being nice to me right now.”

He smiled and then bent his head toward the ground to hide it. By the time he glanced back up, the smile was gone, but there was still humor in his eyes.

“Yeah? Well don’t get used to it.”