Chapter 106

He bowed his head and willed the pain to go away. At least he didn’t have to go upstairs to the restaurant for another half an hour. Maybe it would go away by then. Or at least lessen.

His apartment was under his restaurant. And the restaurant was built into the side of a cliff overlooking Sutter’s Bay. Both the restaurant and his apartment had spectacular views. Before Chris had opened Mabry’s, the restaurant space had been a long-closed club. Closed up sometime in the sixties. The apartment had been there then, too, used by the club owner. But both spaces had needed work when Chris first bought them.

Things had been going great since he opened the restaurant. So good in fact that when his boyfriend, Armand, had planned a diving vacation for them in Mexico, Chris had agreed. Which had ended up being a doozy of a mistake on all accounts.

During his ill-fated trip, he’d found out Armand was a slut who wanted an openrelationship, and Frank, his chef, had taken off with his sous chef. Not only was his relationship over but very nearly his dreams of owning a successful restaurant. Thank God Damon had found Ryan Callahan.

He didn’t want to be grateful for Callahan. The man was far too tempting for Chris. Scorching hot with dirty blond hair, deep blue eyes, and a sexy five o’clock shadow. Sin on a motorcycle. Just the kind of guy Chris wanted to bend him over the nearest table.

Not going to happen. Ryan was his employee. And, frankly, one of the headaches Chris now had.

He’d managed to hire Ryan a sous chef, as well as another chef and sous for the three days Ryan wouldn’t be working. So far it had been all right, though some of his local customers had complained that the dishes didn’t taste the same as they had the night Ryan had cooked for them.

Ryan’s new shift would begin today and Chris both looked forward to it and dreaded it. He wanted to see Ryan in action and see if he really was thatgood. But Chris also feared the man would be a huge distraction for him.

He went to the kitchen window and moved the curtain to look out at the sea. It was still overcast. Not an uncommon phenomenon in Sutter’s Bay. It rarely kept the tourists away, though, and definitely not the locals.

Thursday wouldn’t be all that busy, but it would be the start of what would only pick up on Friday.

After a few meditative exercises, Chris finally closed up his apartment and went up the slightly sloping hill to the restaurant entrance. Mabry’s opened for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but other trusted employees usually covered the morning. He quickly noted Ryan’s motorcycle already parked in the lot. At least he was punctual.

The lunch shift thrived around him as he entered the restaurant, nearly every table already filled, and Chris felt a sense of satisfaction. He’d taken a big chance opening here in Sutter’s Bay. Especially since he knew a local favorite, Adam Colfer, had just months before opened a restaurant. Fortunately it seemed as though Sutter’s Bay had become popular enough to handle it.

“Hi, Chris,” Sophia, one of his hostesses, greeted him.

He smiled at her. “Everything going all right?”

“Yeah, everything’s good.” She lowered her voice. “The new chef is hot. I hope he’s straight.”

Chris realized he actually had no idea. And he certainly shouldn’t be hoping the new chef was gay. No. Definitely. Not.

He shrugged. “No clue. His sexual orientation was not on his resume.”

There was no resume, of course. But whatever.

Deciding to check on the hot new chef himself, Chris went through the swinging door into the kitchen.

Ryan, already wearing an apron, was talking to the short, dark-haired woman he’d hired as a sous chef. Her name was Rosie. He shot a glance at Chris before going back to his conversation with Rosie.

After a moment, Rosie moved away and offered Chris a smile. “Hi, Mr. Mabry.”

“I told you, it’s Chris. We’re very informal around here.”

“Right.” She smiled. “I’ll be back in a second, Ryan.”

“Sure, no worries,” Ryan said as she left the kitchen. “Hey, boss man.”

Chris rolled his eyes. “Chris will be just fine, thanks.”

Ryan smirked. “We’ve got things in order here.”

“Did I ask?”

“You want to. Don’t sweat it, Chris. I may not have been a chef before but I managed to keep things together the night you fired me and that was without much help. I have more now. It’ll be all right. I can handle it.”

“Okay.” Chris nodded and started to turn away. But something made him stop and ask, “Your wife didn’t move to Sutter’s Bay when you did?”

Ryan chuckled and Chris felt himself turn red.