In Too Deep Read Free Page B

“Go home then. We’ll talk in the
morning.”
    Ben crutch-hopped to the pub’s
front doors. The cunning bastard, playing on Piper’s obvious
concern. Pissed as a wet cat at her brother, she still knew when to
push and when to leave him the hell alone. Pity that same savvy
didn’t apply to him.
    West walked ahead down the hallway
that led to the restrooms and also connected the pub and restaurant
to the kitchen at the building’s rear, not waiting to see if she
followed. Flicking open his office door, which was just beyond the
restrooms, he strode inside to sit behind his desk. Piper stalked
in after him and slammed the door.
    She ignored his gesture to sit and
leaned against a file cabinet, a relic from when his dad, Bill,
worked as Due South’s manager. Probably just as well she didn’t get
comfy. He wanted her out before the crazy-good scent and sight of
her made him say something stupid. Again.
    “ You’ve been running tours for Ben
since he broke his ankle last week?” She tucked a strand of hair
behind her ear.
    “ Only fishing charters and
sightseeing.” He shrugged, picking up a pen and clicking the nib
down. “We can’t run the cage dives without at least one qualified
diver and a skipper aboard.”
    “ Well, thank you for helping
him.”
    “ You don’t need to thank me, we’re
a community here. We have each other’s backs.” He couldn’t keep the
bite of acid from searing through his voice.
    “ I’m sure Mum and Shaye have
already thanked you enough.”
    “ They have.” He consciously
relaxed his hands, replacing the pen on his desk. “But the problem
is we’re short staffed and there’s only so much Ben can do to take
up the slack for me when I’m out on his boat.”
    She cocked her head, but remained
silent.
    “ He’s not a manager, I know he
hates sitting behind my desk,” West said. “But Shaye moves well
between sous chef and the day to day running of the
hotel.”
    “ Shaye’s a smart
cookie.”
    No mistaking the pride in Piper’s
tone over her younger sister.
    “ We need you to help
out.”
    “ Ah. Kind of a ‘you scratch my
back, I scratch yours’ scenario?”
    “ You always were a smart
cookie.”
    Her nose crinkled like she’d smelt
something bad. “You want me to wait tables like I did as a
teenager?”
    “ No. We’re trying to keep what
customers we have, not scare them away by dumping water jugs over
their heads.”
    Her eyes widened then narrowed to
hard slits. “Hey, that was one time when a revolting old man shoved
his hand up my skirt.”
    “ I didn’t say your reaction wasn’t
justified.” He laced his fingers behind his neck and tilted his
chair back. “But no. I don’t want you as wait staff. You’re needed
in the kitchen—”
    “ Are you serious? You’ve choked
down my attempts at cooking, right?” She pushed off from the file
cabinet and paced the short distance to the opposite
wall.
    For a moment he just watched her,
all long legs, stiff spine and bucket-loads of attitude. Gone was
the pretty hazel-eyed girl who looked at him like he was every
superhero rolled into one. Now she was fifty percent cop, fifty
percent stranger.
    “ I thought you were here for
Ben?”
    “ I am,” she ground out between
clenched teeth.
    “ Then if I’m prepared to
reorganize my life to help out, don’t you think scrubbing pots and
stacking dishes is a small price to pay?”
    She froze halfway back to the file
cabinet. “What? I thought you wanted me to help Bill—with prep or
something.”
    West barked out a laugh and
smacked a hand on his desk. “You really think Dad will let you
touch anything in his kitchen?”
    The tiny darts of her gaze speared
him from across the room.
    “ No. You’re on kitchen-hand duty.”
He couldn’t resist adding a tight grin. “Starting tonight since
your sister’s already done a full day’s work and is out there now
clearing tables.”
    “ I’ll happily do my
share.”
    Happier if she could reach across
the desk,