Guilty Pleasures Read Free Page B

was in school, they called guys like Nick “celebrities.” He wouldn’t be happy with being a sous-chef for long, and she got the feeling if she gave him a chance to work on the menu, he’d parlay it into a chance to take over her kitchen.
    She glanced at the door that led to the kitchen, smiling at the din of pots, pans and yelled conversations. Like hell. The kitchen, the restaurant, was hers…and hers alone.
    â€œLet me just see if I can get the guy to accept base pay,” Mari said. “We’ll worry about the rest later.”
    Mari washed her hands, taking the time to collect herself. She had the feeling that Nick could be a blessing or a curse for Guilty Pleasures—or both. Even if she could afford to hire Nick, she wasn’t sure she could afford the distraction. When she got a glimpse of him, her senses seemed to go into erotic overdrive. And as much fun as it might sound, making a sensual feast of her sous-chef was probably the last thing she needed.
    The only guilty pleasures she indulged in at the moment were on her menu.
    It was eleven, and the crew was cleaning up to close for the night. She had to admit, the kitchen looked cleaner and more organized than it had in a while, even if her tight-knit crew looked more surly than usual. Nick was calling out orders, but not in a supercilious way, and the whole time, he was a blur of motion, straightening something here, putting something away there.
    She must’ve been staring for some time, because she didn’t even hear Mo come up behind her. “Isn’t he delicious?” Mo whispered.
    Apt description. “Yes, but is he competent?” she whispered back, sounding blasé.
    â€œI’ll bet he is,” Mo purred.
    Getting his connotation, she smirked. “I meant in the kitchen, Mo.”
    Mo stood next to her, winking. “I’m sure he’s competent wherever. ”
    â€œAt cooking, you imbecile,” Mari said, laughing.
    Mo snorted. “All work and no play…”
    â€œKeeps us solvent.” She shooed Mo away, and walked up to Nick. “So. Looks like you’re as goodas you say you are,” she drawled, grinning at the sauce stains and splotches on his previously immaculate shirt.
    His tawny eyes looked like brandy and banked fires. “I’m better,” he said, in a low, rough-husky voice. “But this was only one night.”
    She ignored the shiver his statement sent up her spine.
    â€œSo did I pass the test?” he asked.
    She noticed that the crew had quieted and was listening to their exchange with interest. She remembered Lindsay’s question in the back room…about whether he’d been fired or was an embezzler.
    She needed to interview him. In private.
    â€œGrab your coat.” She gestured to the back room, then looked at Tiny, her grill man, and Mo. “I want the logs and checklists ready when I get back to lock up, okay? I’m just going to talk to Nick over at my office.”
    They nodded, although Mo was grinning like a fiend.
    He walked out, putting his coat on, and she grabbed hers as well. “Where is your office?”
    She shot him a quick smirk. “Across the street,” she said, and waved a quick goodbye to the crew, who were grinning too.
    She was taking him to her home office…to her loft, across the street.
    I am going to be alone with a gorgeous man who makes my hormones do back flips. At eleven o’clock at night. In the middle of a rainstorm.
    She felt her pulse rate raise a little. In the general vicinity of my bed.
    No, no, no. She stepped out into the rain, letting the cooling waves of it turn her temperature down a little. She was just going to hire him…and convince him to take the salary she offered. She got the feeling it was going to take every ounce of charm and persuasion she possessed.
    This was for the restaurant, she told herself sternly as she opened the door to her building. Sex