Chapter 108
“You’d want to cook on your day off?” Chris asked.
“Well, not for just anyone.”
“You wouldn’t want to just go out to dinner or something?”
Ryan smiled because now he knew Chris wasn’t going to say no. “We wouldn’t want to patronize the competition, would we? Besides, I like the idea of just you and me…alone.”
Chris licked his lips. “Okay. Sounds good.”
“Oh, it will be,” Ryan said, full of confidence now that Chris had agreed. “But that means you have to be off work. Unless there’s an emergency. No sneaking from your apartment up to the restaurant when I’m not looking.”
Now he frowned. Ryan didn’t like it when he frowned. He should be smiling all the time. “Not at the restaurant at all? I don’t know.”
“I do. Get Damon to cover. You said yourself it was your least busy night. He can handle it. You went to Mexico, didn’t you?”
Chris laughed. “Yeah, and lost half my staff.”
“Come on, Mabry. It’s one night. You can be there for breakfast and lunch still. Wouldn’t want you to go through withdrawals.”
“All right. Okay.”
Ryan grinned. “Excellent. So on Monday I’ll come by at five. I’ll need time to prepare dinner and everything.”
Chris nodded. “I’ll be ready.”
He chuckled. “Oh, I doubt that.” He winked and got on his motorcycle. “See you tomorrow.”
* * * *
Ryan had no idea why he was nervous. He was a good chef. Hell, Chris knew he was a good chef. He’d come to Ryan several times over the last couple of days to tell him how many customers were raving about the food.
But this was different. He was making a special meal for someone he was kinda-sorta interested in. Perhaps. Yeah, he was totally.
The parking lot of the restaurant was mostly empty when he parked his motorcycle exactly at five. A few cars he already recognized as belonging to staff and maybe three cars that were probably diners. It was early still, but Ryan didn’t expect Monday to be much busier even when it got later.
He removed his helmet and then picked up the bag containing the groceries he’d purchased on the way over. He walked down the slight hill to where the door of Chris’s apartment was located. The evening fog had already come in over Sutter’s Bay and the temperature had dropped at least ten degrees from earlier in the day. He’d not bothered with a jacket and now he was sorry. It would be cold on his way back home.
Ryan knocked and waited.
When Chris opened the door, Ryan’s breath hitched. Chris wore a tight, thin white T-shirt that hugged every muscle of his chest and arms, and an equally tight pair of dark jeans. Drool worthy, yeah. But what caused Ryan’s cock to get immediately hard was the damn smile lighting up Chris’s face.
“Hi,” Ryan said, swallowing heavily.
“Hi. Come on in.”
Ryan couldn’t resist checking out the ass in those tight jeans either as Chris walked in front of him into the apartment. He briefly tore his gaze away to see that the place was small. It consisted of a living room, dining room, kitchen, and a short hallway leading to a bathroom and one bedroom.
As though reading his mind, Chris said, “It’s not much, but it’s damn convenient to the restaurant and check out this view.”
Ryan guessed he didn’t mean his ass, though it was the view he was mostly interested in, so he tore his gaze away and followed Chris into the kitchen where he pointed out the window.
The view was of the entire bay of Sutter’s Bay, all beautiful rippling ocean. He had the window open and they could hear the bark of sea lions and the horn from the nearby lighthouse.
“It’s awesome,” Ryan admitted.
Chris grinned. “Yeah, it is. You have a nice view too from your house. And that house is amazing.”
“Yeah, if only I could get it furnished.” He held up his bags of groceries. “All right, out of the kitchen. I need peace to create the dishes to wow you and make you want to sleep with me.”
Chris laughed. “Okay. I have some paperwork to do, so I’ll be in the living room. You want anything to drink?”
“I brought some wine to serve with dinner. So you go sit and I’ll bring you a glass.”
“I could totally get spoiled, you know.”
Ryan shook his head and pointed. “Out.”
* * * *
He’d asked Chris about plates and silverware while he’d cooked, so he had the table pretty much set when the dinner was finished. He’d held back the plates so he could plate them in true chef fashion. He wastrying to impress Chris after all.