Chapter 109
“Okay,” he announced, “you can go sit at the table.”
He’d set the bottle of white wine he had opened earlier on the table and he watched as Chris refilled his glass and then sat in one of the two chairs at the small wooden dining table.
Ryan dressed each plate with a twig of rosemary and some parsley and then framed them with a thin line of sauce. He brought them to the table. “You know it just occurred to me I am not even positive you like fish. I just assumed since you own a fish restaurant.”
Chris laughed. “I love fish.”
“Whew, thank God. Okay, I have local caught opah paired with mushroom parmesan risotto and grilled asparagus spears.”
“Yum.” Chris eyed the plate Ryan placed in front of him. “It looks and smells fantastic. I should hire you as my chef.”
“Ha ha.” But Ryan grabbed his own wine to hide the fact he was actually pleased Chris seemed impressed. He watched and waited for Chris to take his first bite.
“Oh, my God. This so damn good.”
Ryan smiled. “Yeah? Thanks.”
Chris shook his head. “No, I mean, really good. Hell. Damn. You should make this for the restaurant.”
“Well, I didn’t make it for the restaurant. I made it for you. But I’m glad you like it.”
“I love it.”
Ryan took a bite of his own and had to admit it was pretty good. “Is this the first time you actually tasted my food?”
“Yeah, it is. I knew a lot of it was recipes the restaurant was already using with just a few variations. But this is amazing.”
“Good, does this mean I’m gonna get laid?”
Chris coughed. “What?”
Ryan laughed. “I was pretty up front about my motivation for cooking for you.”
“I thought you were kidding.”
“I never kid about sex.” He took a sip of his wine. “So, what’s your story?”
That caused Chris to arch his eyebrows. “My story?”
“You’re hot as hell and own your own restaurant. Yet there’s no boyfriend.”
“Used to be.” Chris shrugged. “When I went to Mexico, I went with my boyfriend.”
“Oh, I see. So you broke up pretty recently.”
“Yeah. Found out during the trip he wanted an open relationship.”
“He told you that while you were on vacation?”
Chris grimace. “Sort of. I caught him with his tongue down the throat of a waiter there. And his hands all over said waiter’s ass. After that I basically found out he’d been screwing around all along. I felt like an idiot. You?”
“My last boyfriend was a controlling son of a bitch. Jealous as hell and pretty violent. And from a pretty influential family in Maryland.” He sipped more wine. “Funny thing was, he didn’t want me even smiling at anyone else but, like you, I found out he had a bit of a wandering eye.”
“Men are assholes,” Chris said clicking his glass against Ryan’s.
“Here, here.” He finished his fish. “So, why Sutter’s Bay? You aren’t from here originally. I asked around.”
“You asked about me?”
Ryan nodded. “I wanted to know more about my boss, plus there was the you’re hot and wanting to fuck you factor.”
He’d made Chris blush and Chris tried to hide it behind his wineglass.
“It embarrasses you that I’m attracted to you?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know. I mean I’m flattered—”
Ryan clutched his chest. “Oh, God, not the I’m flatteredspeech. You wound me.”
Chris laughed. “You know you’re funny. I didn’t expect that.”
“What did you expect?”
“Well, when we first met you were pretty bristly.”
Ryan snorted. “You fired me, Mabry.”
He grinned. “Yeah. There was that.”
“A big that.”
“I can acknowledge it wasn’t one of my finer moments,” Chris said. “But I’d just come back from Mexico early because of Armand.”
“Armand?” He laughed. “Really?”
“Yeah, why?”
“That name practically screams cheater.”
“You think?” Chris leaned back in his chair. “What was yours?”
“Donovan.”
“And yours doesn’t?”
Ryan smiled. “Okay, yeah, you have a point. Back to Sutter’s Bay and why.”
“Oh, you know the old story. Wanted to get out from under the family name and money. Parents wanted me to open a bar and grill in San Mateo. With their money. When I wouldn’t go for it in that location and wanted to go elsewhere, here, actually, they pulled their financing. I think they thought I would bow to their wishes then, but I didn’t. I took out loans and moved here anyway.” Chris shrugged. “They’re waiting for me to fail so I can come back home with my tail between my legs.”
“Families can definitely suck some times. But what made you choose here?”
“It’s beautiful and I don’t know. It feels like home. I feel peaceful here in a way I never felt in San Mateo. And its sudden popularity with the tourists didn’t hurt. Plus having visited here several times I knew it was pretty friendly to the gay community. It all added up.”
“Those all sound like good reasons. And it’s damn lucky for me.”
“And you? That was your dad’s place?”
Ryan nodded. “Yep, built it and everything. I ran out of options in Maryland and this seemed as good a place to start over as any. I can handle the funny looks I get sometimes.”
“Funny looks?”
“Parents drowned off the bay. Supposedly Dad drowned Mom and then himself. I wasn’t with them at the time. Was with a babysitter.” He shrugged again. “I have no idea what really happened. But some people here still remember Jack and Meg Callahan.”
“Wow, I’m sorry.”
“Yeah.” Ryan stood and took the glass of wine out of Chris’s hand. “Enough talking of the past and whatever has gone before us.”
Chris let himself be pulled to his feet. “What do you have in mind, Callahan?”
He grinned. “Oh, you know what I have in mind. I’ve wanted to get into your pants since you fired me.”
“Who knew being fired could make you hot?”
“Yeah, who knew?” He grabbed Chris’s wrist and yanked him toward the bedroom.