Sighing as that reality truly sinks in, I stand so I can get myself some food. Before I manage, a hand presses on my shoulder to halt me and a plate with grilled meat and vegetables is placed on my table. It smells divine—like garlic, paprika and lemon—and the fries with feta cheese look extra yummy.
“I took the liberty to bring you the chef’s recommendation,” Jake says, sliding into the chair across from me and adding a bowl of Greek salad to the mix.
I eye him suspiciously. “Shouldn’t you be at the counter?”
“Shouldn’t you be enjoying yourself on your holiday instead of working?” He pointedly stares at my laptop.
“What makes you think that I’m not?” I challenge back, putting in extra effort so I don’t smile.
He hums, propping his elbows on the table and his chin in his hands. “Well, for one, you are the only one yet to eat something. Second, you are on your fourth coffee. Third, you’ve been staring at your laptop like you are trying to turn it off with just the power of your mind.”
I gape at Jake.Well, well. It looks like someone has been keeping tabs on me.
Shrugging, he snatches a fry from my plate and pops it into his mouth. A sheepish smile lights up his face. “It gets a bit boring once the rush hour is over. And since you didn’t get anything to eat despite being here since we opened dinner service, I got curious why that might be.”
“And you arrived at the conclusion that it’s because I am working?”
My heart stutters at the smile he flashes me. “Well, yes, Ethan, I did.” He curls his mouth as his twinkling eyes roam the rest of me. “But, I mean, the suit kind of made it easy to guess. After all, why else would someone like you be scowling, if not because of work?”
He is not wrong I suppose, though I imagine he has it backwards. I’m annoyed because I don’t have any work, and not because work interrupted my enjoyment.
“Or…” He shakes his head, chuckling at something he must find funny. But he doesn’t seem inclined to share what it is with me as he lets the silence settle between us.
Okay… I raise an eyebrow expectantly. He ignores my nonverbal cue and steals another fry.
It’s not like it matters to me what he was laughing at. It really doesn’t. He doesn’t have to tell me. Except that, for some reason, it’s kind of bugging me. I want to know. You don’t just start to say something which evidently has to do with me and then stop yourself before you’ve actually said it.
Usually, I’d have let it slide—I don’t particularly care about every random person’s opinion—but an episode of childlike curiosity within me insists that I must know.
“Or?” I prompt, feeling a tinge of irritation slip into my voice.
He grins and leans back into his chair. “Or… Maybe you are one of those workaholic businessmen who scowl because oflackof work.”
I blink at him, my jaw going slack. I pride myself as someone who’s mastered the art of channeling proper social behavior in public, but here Jake is, reading me like an open book for no reason. We don’t know each other. I’m the one who’s typically great at dealing with people. Aside from Jake, it seems. He’s a bit like a tornado, hard to predict, hard to counter, hard not to be pulled into the gravity of.
“Bingo. Would you like a reward?” I say a snappily.
But his megawatt smile doesn’t drop. His gaze retains the hint of amusement too, compelling goosebumps to rise all over me.
I haven’t felt out of depth for so long. It’s novel and a little scary. But it’s also titillating not to have control over the situation like this. To go with the flow, to let someone else dictate the pace. I don’t exactly know how to handle this, how to act. A part of me wants to shut it down, but another one can’t help but be intrigued.
Jake pushes off the table and smooths out his apron. He circles the table and pauses by me, leaning in. I freeze, my heart banging inside my chest as the scent of rosemary, mint and lemon engulfs me.God, he smells so fucking good.I don’t even know how I picked out the exact herbs, but I don’t care either. Not when he is so close, the heat emanating from his body seeping into mine.
His hand gives my shoulder a feather-light squeeze as he lets out a soft puff of air against my neck. My skin bristles, my entire body coming alive as a wave of alertness ripples within me. Anticipation twists my stomach, but I can’t afford to entertain the reason for it or I might do something stupid.
“That depends, I suppose,” Jake purrs, his sexy tenor dipping lower. “What kind of reward do you have in mind, Ethan?”
I will combust. I almost do, as he inhales me greedily. But mercifully, he’s out of my personal space a heartbeat later, leaving me with my pulse pounding in my ears and my hands clenched in fists atop the lace-covered tabletop.
I watch him, I can’t help it. He weaves his way around the other tables and the salad bar, returning to his station where meat is cooking atop a rectangular grill. As he flips a rack of ribs over, he looks at me and winks. My insides decide they are riding an imaginary rollercoaster even though I’m sitting on a chair in the hotel’s restaurant.
I need to calm down. And chill. It’s been a while since someone had gotten under my skin like this and so fast, but I still know how to act cool. Aloof. Uninterested. It’s been drilled into me and after years of mastering it, I have an impenetrable façade.
Taking a bite from the juicy pork skewer Jake brought over, I stifle an appreciative moan. It tastes amazing. The texture is tender and flavorful, and the salad brings a crunchy zing. But I can’t let it get to me, no matter how tempting that might seem. Bland and quick, that’s what I like when it comes to food and sex. No-strings-attached encounters with people from any of the dozen dating apps when the itch needs scratching. It’s an exchange with no expectations.
You don’t have any expectations from Jake either. And he seems interested.
I scoff, trying to slow down my still elevated pulse. Heat pulsates under my skin, pooling south to my slowly hardening cock. It’s true. Jake is a chef-in-training nobody that I won’t see ever again. He’s exciting and spicy, a pleasant distraction I wouldn’t mind indulging in while my hell week lasts.
