ChristmasInHisHeart (3 page)

Could he swing a busboy for a few weeks?

He slid the completed plate into the window and hit the bell. Macy appeared instantly, smiling.

“We’re out of specials,” he snapped. “Cross it off the whiteboard.”

Her smile faded. “Oh darn! Xander was just asking—”

His heart clenched a little and a bead of sweat popped out on his forehead. Working the grill was hot. Deliberately, Dermot wiped his hands on his towel and stepped back. “Sorry. We’ve been pretty busy for a Thursday.” Surprisingly so, when he considered it. He’d had over a hundred portions prepared. One day, he cautioned himself, does not fill the coffers or make a trend. Tomorrow might be dead as a doornail.

“Tell me about it!” Macy chuckled. “I’ve made more in tips today than I did all last week.”

“Tell Xander that I have Tuscan white bean soup and chicken sausage sliders with pepper and onion relish.”
Or he could just order off the regular lunch menu
. Dermot mocked himself. Why did he so desperately need Xander to eat something he’d prepared specially?

Because you’re an idiot, that’s why.

“I’ll pass it on. Is that the same sausage you made for the dinner special tonight?”

He leveled a blank stare at Macy, who immediately scurried off. It was the same sausage, but…

But nothing. You’re just using the man as a guinea pig. Testing out the sausage. Not a big deal.
Moving on, Dermot stirred the remaining two soup pots—the staples of his lunch menu. There was enough of both the spicy tomato and the hearty beef vegetable to make it through service. The sandwich options were easy. Lunch clean up should go in record time and he could get to work on the dinner prep.

His glance strayed to the swinging door…wondering if Macy would come back through it with feedback from Xander.

“Order in!” she called from the service window, sticking a ticket to the board.

“Well?” he demanded, wanting something more, some detail on Xander’s reaction or request…something to mark the occasion, make Xander’s presence more special than any of the other diners that day. Which was ridiculous. The man had eaten here at least twice before.
But he hasn’t eaten this. This sausage…this invention of yours.
Could he act any more like a teenage boy with a crush on the kid next door? Dermot scowled at his own foolishness. The urge to feed people he owed to his grandmother. “
Food is love
,” she’d always said. You couldn’t walk through Myrna Alasdair’s door without having a plate of food pushed into your hands, and somehow… He’d picked up the habit if not the motivation. Dermot eyed Macy expectantly.

She flapped her hands awkwardly and gave him an impatient huff. “He seemed more than willing to take your suggestion, and a group of twelve from the bank just walked in…so…”

Dammit!
“Right. Get them water and try to push the beef vegetable and tomato soup. Tuna salad is good.” He scrambled to get Xander’s order on the grill. Not that he didn’t appreciate the business from the bank, but he’d half formed the notion of going out to the dining room to ask what Xander thought of the sausage sliders with their quirky pickled green bean garnish, and now he’d be chained to the cooktops getting that huge order out.

Meanwhile…he turned back to the grill and made quick but precise work of assembling and plating Xander’s sandwich. Scooping a bowl of the robust soup to accompany it. He and Macy met in the window, exchanging the bank group’s order for Xander’s food.

“How’s it looking out there?” he asked, refraining from going up on tiptoe to peer over her shoulder.

“Just the bankers now. Totals for the day are looking pretty good. I think you scored it big with this lunch thing. Faster, better than McDonald’s, and not much more money.”

“We have to have a lot more days like this one in order to break even on the soup and sandwich thing.” He hated to be an asshole, and he knew when her smile faded abruptly that that was how he’d come off, but damn it again. They had to sell a lot of sandwiches and bowls of soup to make a profit.

Macy shook her head and stalked off. Dermot scanned the order and breathed a sigh of relief. Nothing special or weird. Roughly two-thirds of the bankers had opted for the traditional combination of tomato soup and grilled cheese, the rest for the beef vegetable. While he threw himself into getting the orders out, half his mind was on Xander, the coffee they’d shared—sort of—that morning, and what Xander thought of being offered the opportunity to taste test the sausage sliders.

Did he even like Italian sausage?

Maybe he should have gone with the Indian spiced sausage and sweet potato soup? Of course, the sweet potato soup was in the freezer…but he could have…
Damn it! Focus, Dermot!

It was a challenge, but he got all the food on, and had a moment to spare. The order was huge, so Dermot decided to bring in the service cart to load it up for Macy.

Of course, it was in the dining room, and he’d be able to sneak a glimpse of Xander while he was there. Maybe he could judge from the man’s face how he felt about the meal?

Applauding his own cleverness in coming up with the ploy, Dermot darted into the dining room. His gaze swept the room in what he hoped was a professional manner. Macy was filling drink glasses for the bankers, a few of the tables still had dirty dishes and lunch leftovers on them. He frowned. That was hardly appetizing. Not what he wanted as a dining experience for his patrons at all. Macy was right. They needed a damned busser.

How could he stretch the budget to pay someone though?

Every thought in his head tumbled to a screeching halt as his roaming gaze collided with Xander’s warm brown eyes.
Busted! Damn it!
He couldn’t help the flare of attraction, the pooling of warmth in his belly, any more than he could the flush warming his cheeks. Hoping that Xander put the color in his face down to the heat of the kitchen, he smiled what he hoped was a professional smile and nodded in what he hoped was a friendly fashion and promptly bit his tongue as Xander smiled back.

Grabbing the cart handle, Dermot scuttled backward through the swinging door as quickly as possible, but not before he noticed Xander’s empty plate.

Chapter Three

“Sorry, no more special. This rush wiped us out.”

Xander frowned. When he first arrived at
Alimentaire
and saw the special on the menu board, a weird excitement filled him. He loved trying new things and the grilled cheese made with beets and goat cheese really piqued his interest.

“Um, okay. No problem.” He couldn’t hide the pout in his voice as he reached for the menu Macy handed him when she showed him to a table.

“You know, though, Mr. Alasdair said he could fix you a chicken sausage slider with a bowl of Tuscan white bean soup if you’re interested.” She leaned over and whispered conspiratorially, “The sausage is his own personal recipe. He’s debuting it tonight for the dinner special.”

Xander laid the menu back down without even opening it. “Yes. Yes, I’ll have that.” He preened a little over the thought of getting to try Dermot’s creation before the other patrons.

Macy winked. “I’ll put the ticket in.” Her smirk as she walked away had Xander wondering if he jumped at the offer too quickly.

Xander couldn’t help himself, though. He liked the sound of it. Not just the meal, but the whole idea. His overactive imagination took a simple friendly offer and ran with it. What if Dermot offered him this off-the-menu lunch because maybe, possibly he wanted to show off his culinary skills? Not just to anyone, though…no, to Xander only. With every bite of the delicious slider, he visualized Dermot sneaking a peek at him from the back, smiling at the obvious enjoyment on Xander’s face for the scrumptious food.

As soon as Macy set the attractively plated meal in front of him, he dived into his performance of eating it with gusto.

Finally he wrapped his mouth around the last bite of the sausage slider and groaned as the spices exploded over his taste buds. His tongue did a happy dance as he chewed the perfect balance of flavors and textures—the savory chicken sausage, sweet, spicy onion and pepper relish, and the lightly toasted bun.

Reluctantly, he swallowed, not happy to give up the carnival of tastes just yet but knowing all good things must come to an end.

As if not wanting to end his foolish daydreams, Xander put a little extra motion in spooning the hot soup into his mouth. Because it was absolutely normal to believe that every time he enveloped the utensil with his lips, Dermot would be fixed on the action.

Not for the first time in his life, Xander was grateful no one could hear his silly thoughts.

No matter how silly they were, it didn’t stop him from making a production of eating the white bean soup, though. The ideas playing in his mind made him smile, even when his spoon dinged on the bottom of the bowl telling him there was nothing left to savor.

“So how did you like it?” Macy practically bounced up to the side of Xander’s table.

“It was pretty darn fantastic. I need to start lunching here more often. Don’t tell Shawna, but this slider beat the pants off a meatloaf sandwich that had high hopes of becoming my lunch.”

Macy giggled. “I’ll be sure to let Mr. Alasdair know that you approve of tonight’s special.”

Xander glanced to the swinging door, surprised to see the man himself staring at him. Dermot was flushed, no doubt from the heat of the kitchen, and damn did that look make Xander’s mind go off again. He wondered if he could heat up the gruff Dermot Alasdair the same way cooking did. He’d sure like to try.

He returned Dermot’s smile, disappointed when the man hastily grabbed a cart and disappeared behind the swinging door.

Perhaps Xander’s smile was losing some of its potency. Only one way to find out.

“Um…well, do you think it might be possible if I compliment the chef myself?”

Macy bit her bottom lip. “I’m not sure how he’d feel about that. Mr. Alasdair is really busy with Chaz being out sick.”

He looked around the dining room and saw that the rush had thinned out a great deal from when he’d first entered. “I promise to be quick. If he grumbles at me, I’ll take that as a sign to leave…quickly…”

That made Macy giggle again. “Okay. I think that’d be fine.”

Again Xander forgot to hide his excitement as he jumped from his chair and headed for the kitchen. At least he showed enough restraint not to speed walk to the back of the restaurant.

He stood in front of the swinging door and wondered if he should knock first or just enter, then after a moment of contemplating that, he wondered if his luck would run out and Dermot would exit the kitchen, therefore forcing him to knock with his head.

Yeah, standing in front of a swinging door wasn’t his best option, so he went with the slow approach. He pushed the door inward and stuck his head in the kitchen…and what perfect timing the fates blessed him with.

Xander squeezed through the opening and took in the picture before him—Dermot leaning over, picking up a towel he’d apparently dropped on the floor.

That ass cradled in those form-fitting khaki Dockers presented to Xander for ogling.

“God, that’s nice.”

A grunt came from the bent in half man as his spine stiffened. He quickly straightened up and turned around to glare at Xander.

“Excuse me?”

Shit.

“Um…I said that was nice…you know, the lunch special I had.” He pasted a smile on his face that hopefully belied the guilt he felt for being so lecherous. “The sausage. Oh and the onions and peppers, you know, those were terrific too…but the sausage. Macy” —he hitched his thumb over his shoulder, indicating the dining room—“she told me the chicken sausage was your own creation, and let me tell you, it’s the best sausage I’ve ever had. I hope you don’t mind that I wanted to come in here personally and let you know how much I enjoyed your sausage.”

You can shut up now.

Dermot stared at him for a long, drawn out moment before the corner of his mouth twitched. “You liked?”

Xander nodded. “I’m tempted to come back tonight and eat it again.” He blinked, then hurriedly added, “I mean, Macy said it’s your dinner special.”

He couldn’t believe the spectacle he was making of himself. Shawna would have a field day if she witnessed it. Desperate now to flee with at least part of his dignity, Xander spotted the mug he’d used for Dermot’s coffee.

“So, I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed…the meal and collect my coffee cup.” He grabbed it and held it up, smiling next to the picture of the chipper elves. “Nothing gets you in the spirit like Santa’s little helpers all happy like.”

The smile Dermot almost achieved suddenly faded from his face quickly. Xander wondered what he said to cause it to vanish without a trace.

“Yes, that’s a very…festive mug you have there.” His voice sounded curt and perhaps angry? Or hurt?

Trying to turn the conversation around, Xander grinned wide. “You should see the mug I’ll have waiting for you tomorrow morning.” He winked at the surly man and slid out of the kitchen before he could respond.

***

Sighing, Dermot let the back door close behind him and hoisted the trash bag. It had been a long, difficult day. Unusual for a Thursday. The district got the bulk of its tourist business on Saturdays, and while Dermot appreciated the business, it was exhausting keeping up with the demand when he could only afford a small staff.

A cat meowed and he
tched
at it. Slinky prowled out of the shadows created by the abandoned buildings on the street behind them and twined around his ankles. Dermot knelt and gave her a quick pet. Those damned buildings. The city council seemed to think they could be salvaged. For as long as Dermot had had his restaurant in Parkerburg’s historic downtown, they’d been not just an eyesore but an annoyance. Kids seemed to take their very existence as a challenge, and bums and drug dealers seemed to consider them public property. If he could afford it, he’d buy the one directly behind his shop and raze it for parking. As it was, he had to rely on his ability to talk some sense into the city council in four days at the weekly council meeting. One parking lot would be good. A whole strip of parking and a greenbelt park? Even better. And the city could do it, if they wanted to. It would completely revitalize the downtown.