Roadside Attraction (Castle View Series Book 2) (5 page)

She shrugged. “From what I saw today, I’d say you’ve done your time in a kitchen. I just don’t want to keep you from anything.”

Or anyone, he thought. She was fishing. He took her hand. “Look, about last night.”

“This isn’t about last night. I’m fine about last night. We had fun.” Her answer was too quick and she tried to pull her hand free.

He repeated, tightening his grip on her hand so she would look at him. “About last night. I didn’t plan on that happening. I don’t just breeze into town and pick up the first beautiful woman who looks at me. I planned this trip to find out about me, not to get laid in every state of the union.”

A smile curved her lips. “Maybe you need to rethink your plans?”

Oh, boy, he mused, you don’t know how close you are with that comment. Instead, he turned her toward him. “I just want you to know that last night wasn’t planned.” He laughed. “And being here, that wasn’t planned either. Anyway, I’ll be available until my bikes fixed or you get a new chef. Use me while you have me.”

A flicker sparked in her eyes and he wondered if she was thinking about last night’s adventures too. Or maybe he had imagined it.

As they stood to walk back to the restaurant and the waiting Cari, he wondered what it might be like if he wasn’t just passing through.

Maggie looked at the pans of brownies cooling in the big kitchen. She’d have to give away half of these since she never froze desserts. She sighed and ran the back of her hand over her forehead, glancing at the clock. She had another hour before the gang would be back here to start prep for dinner service, but if she stayed in the kitchen, she’d bake something else. She took off her apron and grabbed her purse out of her office, avoiding looking at the couch. If she didn’t look, it hadn’t happen.

A girl could wish, right?

She nodded to Sarah who was already setting up the dining room and taking any additional reservations. “I’m out of here for a while. Call me if you need something.”

Sarah didn’t say anything, just nodded. Her employee was a dynamo at her job, but when no one was around, she was quiet and reserved, saving her energy for the customers.

In the parking lot, Maggie didn’t know where she was planning to go. Abigail was on her way to Spokane according to Becca. She’d already called Mom and had a long talk. She didn’t want to talk to her brothers, especially not about Josh and her confusion. Besides, she’d walked into work this morning. Finally, she put her keys back into her purse and walked home. Making a cup of tea, she flipped through a magazine, not seeing the pages, but instead, reviewing everything he’d said since he’d walked into her bar last night. 

In frustration, she closed the magazine and headed to her bathroom. Time for a long soak, then she’d get ready for work. She could pour herself into the restaurant and forget all these confusing feelings. Work always did that for her. Hopefully it would still work with Josh cooking in her kitchen.

She doubted her prescription would fix what ailed her, this time.

***

Finishing the last cover for dinner service and handing the plate over to the server, Josh grinned at her. “I haven’t run a kitchen for months. This felt great.”

“You did awesome,” Bryan, her prep cook said. “I mean, I can’t believe how fast you picked up the recipes. I’ve been studying these for months and still have trouble with a few of the final dishes.”

“I can work with you if you’d like tomorrow. They aren’t really that difficult if you have the right prep work, which you’ve obviously got down my man.” The two high-fived and grinned at each other. 

Maggie hid the smile the action had caused. Men. “One more thing, make up a triple batch of all the appetizers for the poker group. I don’t think they’re going to want just brownies after the beer they’ve gone through.” She nodded to the kitchen staff. “Then you’re all free to go. See some of you tomorrow at lunch and the rest, tomorrow night. Both Friday and Saturday night’s reservations are filled. So get some rest tonight.”

She turned and paused, her hand on the swinging door, feeling his gaze on her. When their eyes met, a brief shudder flowed through her body. A lazy grin curled his lips like he knew exactly how she was feeling. Spinning around, she left the kitchen and took a deep breath before crossing over to help Cari.

“Looks like the dinner service ran better than when Tony ran the kitchen. I heard a lot of customers praising the food.” Cari pulled several beer bottles out of the cooler. “We were lucky Josh showed up last night. Seems like he’s our guardian angel.”

Maggie snorted. Josh was no angel. “I don’t think he’ll be around long, not once his bike is fixed. I’ve got the employment agency in Spokane looking for a replacement for Tony.” She pointed to the tray. “That ready for the boys? I haven’t made an appearance yet, let me take it in.”

“It’s all yours. Sheriff Gaines was asking if you were around. I think the big guy has a crush on you.” Cari threw a bar towel over her shoulder.

Maggie shook her head. “I went to school with Ken. There’s no way he sees me as anything but Mark’s little sister.” She lifted the tray. “And the owner of the best place to run his little ‘club’ every month.”

“You never see the way guys look at you. Heck, you could have been married and popping out babies if you’d just open your eyes to what’s around you.” Cari waved at the couple sitting down at the other end of the bar.

“Domestic bliss is probably not in my future.” Maggie scanned the restaurant. “I’m always working.”

“Work/life balance, look it up.” Cari headed down the bar to the waiting couple.

“Pot meet kettle,” Maggie murmured. Apparently the shot was loud enough for her bartender to hear because Cari flipped Maggie the bird behind her back. She watched as Cari pleasantly greeted the couple.

She loved the group of people she worked with. Hiring wasn’t a quick process for Maggie. She agonized over adding a new member to her team. Or she had, until Josh showed up and Cari hired him on the spot. What was up with that? She trusted Cari, but she’d never hired someone without asking Maggie first. How had Josh wormed his way into Cari’s good graces? The memory of his lips tickled her neck. Maggie pushed the memory away as she entered the second dining room and set the tray down on the sideboard.

“Who’s thirsty?” Maggie called out and scanned the room. Taking a few bottles with her, she circled the table, dropping off and retrieving empties as she moved. Finally, she was in front of Ken Gaines. She set his bottle of Budweiser in front of him. “Ken, you might want to switch to light if you’re going to keep your girlish figure.”

He pulled her close to him, a hand on her hip and squeezed. “Maggie, if you want me to drop down to my wrestling weight in high school, I’ll do it in a minute.”

“You look just fine. I was teasing.” She considered the room. “I’ve got some appetizers ordered from the kitchen before we close it down. Cari will be here until 1am, but then you’re all out of here. And I don’t want to hear you gave her any crap about leaving.”

“Hell, I’ll be gone in less than an hour unless my luck changes.” Aiden Kempt grinned up at her. “Maybe I need a lucky charm, like you?”

Maggie stepped away from Ken and rubbed the top of Aiden’s head. “Maybe you all need to stop playing for real money. All you do is trade it around each week.”

“What’s the fun in that?” Aiden chuckled. “I promise, we’ll be out of here long before Cari wants to kick us out.”

She leaned on the doorway, watching the group. Most of the guys she’d gone to high school with or she knew their wives from attending St. Josephs High. She knew what sports they played and who their favorite teams were. She’d even dated a few, back in the day. But no one had lit a spark in her like the drifter whom she’d slept with last night. The man who now stood cooking in her kitchen, befriending her staff.

Josh Reyes was also the man who would be out of her life in less than two weeks. Even sooner if the motorcycle part delivery service was on its toes. She was always looking for the bad boy, the one who’d break her heart as soon as he was done with her. Josh was no exception. Maggie had to admit, the problem wasn’t with the type of men she dated, the problem was in her own head. She was attracted to men who would never settle down.

Josh Reyes was her kryptonite. And he was in her kitchen. God help her, the thought made her shiver in anticipation.

She headed to her office to deal with the email Mark had sent about her marketing plan. He’d hated every part of it. And worse, he’d cut her marketing budget to the bare bones. Her brother was crazy if he thought he’d be able to solve Castle View’s financial issues by running her business into the ground.

She dug into the plan, trying to make adjustments. Two hours later, she stood and stretched, her eyes bleary and her shoulders aching. She shut down her computer and grabbed her purse, calling it a night. Cari was finishing the evening prep and shook her head when she saw Maggie emerge from the office.

“I was hoping you had left.” She grabbed a glass. “What do you want? And don’t say coffee. You need to get some sleep tonight and besides, I’ve already emptied the pot into to go cups for the poker boys.”

“Coke will do.” Maggie looked at the clock, twelve thirty. “I hadn’t meant to stay this long, but I thought the guys would be out of here by now.”

“Most of them are gone. They’re just talking about glory days now.” She handed Maggie the soda. Then she nodded to the other room. “There’s the last three now.”

Sheriff Gaines, Aiden, and—Maggie frowned and did a double take—Josh exited the room. The men shook hands, exchanged slaps on the back, and two of them left the building. Josh saw her and walked toward her.

“I thought you were gone.” He stood in front of her, smelling a little of the stroganoff they’d run as a special for dinner service. Sour cream and a little bit of beer.

“Why are you still here?”

He looked at Cari who now appeared to be fully absorbed in restacking the beer glasses on the other side of the bar. “Cari’s my ride back to town. I took some beers into the game and Ken asked me if I wanted to play a few hands.”

“You’re already on a first name basis with Sheriff Gaines, Ken? And he invited you to play poker with the guys?” Maggie stared at Josh, not believing what she’d just heard. She’d entered some kind of alternate universe She didn’t think anyone new had been invited to the group for five or six years. For the first ten years after someone moved into St Josephs, they were labeled the new guy. And new guys weren’t to be trusted. Yet, Josh had broken that tradition in less than a night from what she’d just heard.

He sat next to her at the bar. “Yeah, I think they thought they could roll me, but I came out all right in the game.” He leaned over the bar and poured himself a beer from the draft tap. “They want me to attend next month. I think mostly so they can get their money back. Too bad I’ll be somewhere else by then.”

Their gazes locked. He would be gone soon. This was Maggie’s chance to have a romance without any expectations. Or any ties. Josh was the perfect man. All hot and built and totally not marriage material. Or even long-term boyfriend stuff. He would be perfect for her re-entry into the dating world. She made a quick decision. “Cari, can you lock up? I’m taking Josh back into town.”

He drained his beer and stood putting his hand on her back. “See you tomorrow.”

Cari waved and Maggie saw the wink Cari aimed at her. So what if her staff thought she was going to get laid. She hoped Cari was right. Maggie would show her work/life balance. She headed out the door and into the parking lot. She opened the doors, started the engine, and looked over at Josh. “You want to see something amazing? Or should I drive you directly to the motel?”

He ran a finger up her arm, causing her skin to break out into goose bumps. “I’ll choose door number one. I don’t want to waste a single minute of our time together.”

“You’ll like this, I promise.” She turned the car onto the road that led away from Castle View and St Josephs. Josh reached over and turned up a song on the radio, singing along with the country ballad. He had a nice voice. Another check mark on her perfect man list she’d made. In fact, if she believed in magic, she’d say she’d conjured Josh just by writing down all the things she wanted in a man. 

As she drove, neither talked, but instead of being an uncomfortable silence, it just felt right. Like winding down from the craziness of the evening service. He had experience in the business that was apparent. Finally, her curiosity got the better of her. “So you never said where you learned to cook.”

He turned toward her in the dark car. “You never asked.”

Silence followed his comment. Okay then, he wasn’t going to make this easy on her. “Fine, I’m asking now. Where did you chef before? Where did you go to culinary school?”

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see his shrug. “I told you, I went to University of Washington, or U-Dub, like Tami. I didn’t go to culinary school.”

“And you haven’t answered my question. Is this a deep dark secret? Were you on a CIA spy mission for the last five years as their chef? Did you work for a drug lord in Mexico?”

“You have an active imagination.” He sat his hand on her thigh and she felt the heat course through her just at his touch. “Okay, I’ll tell you the basics, but that’s all.”

“Or you’ll have to kill me?” Maggie snuck a quick glance at him and saw the grin flash on his face.

“Oh, I wish my story was as good as the one you’ve already made up about me.” He patted her leg, then removed his hand and ran it through his hair, pushing it back out of his eyes. She’d seen him do this motion before, mostly when he was concentrating on the recipe or what pool ball angle to use.

“I’m all ears.”

“Honey, you are a lot of things, but all ears is not one of them.” He looked out the window as he started telling his story. “My family runs a restaurant in Southern California. A high-end Mexican joint where they use linen napkins and serve the overpriced wine in a goblet. As soon as I could walk, I spent my free time in the kitchen. I loved it there. Papa would try out new twists on the old favorites, always asking me to be the taste tester to the king.”

He paused, but Maggie kept her focus on the road ahead and waiting for the story.

“I didn’t get the joke until I was in college and read about how all the kings worried about being poisoned, so someone disposable tasted their food first.” This time both hands went through his hair before he continued. “You see, I’m the youngest of the family. There are three brothers and a sister ahead of me in line to take over the business. If he lost me, he’d still be fine.”