“Done,” I say, moving closer to him again.“And I’ll be thanking you later.”My hand moves to brush over his chest, but as soon as I do, Dylan and Tessa walk in.
I stupidly jump back like it’s obvious that we were doing something.Even though we totally weren’t doing something.At least not for us anyway.We’ve gotten up to much worse than my hand running across his chest, but I still don’t want Dylan to know.At least not today.Even though I was the one who suggested telling everyone today, this day is supposed to be about Tessa and Dylan and the baby, and me dropping a bomb that I’m now dating Leo, would be like stealing their thunder.Although, I don’t suspect Tessa will mind given the way she’s looking at me right now.
Standing behind Dylan, her eyes are wide and she has this huge beaming smile on her face, like she wants us to get caught or maybe she’s just excited about how great the room turned out.I’m hoping it’s the latter.
“Hannah,” Dylan starts, walking over to me, my heart still pounding in my chest as he pulls me in for a hug.“Thank you so much for doing this.It looks amazing.”
Tessa is the next to hug me, thanking me for making her dream baby shower come to life.With her lips still near my ear, and a cheeky smile on her face, I’m sure, she whispers, “So are you ever planning to tell everyone?Today would be the perfect day.”
I pull back, shaking my head, not because I don’t want to tell people, but today is certainly not the perfect day.This is her day.“This is about you.This is all for you and the baby,” I say, knowing no one will know that I’m referring to something different.
“Yes, but—” Tessa starts to say, but I cut her off.
“Have you seen the cake?Leo made it and it’s so damn cute,” I say, pointing her in the direction of the cake table, distracting her from our other conversation.
“Oh my god, Leo, look at this cake.How in the hell did you make these little bees?Could they be any cuter?”Tessa squeals, pulling Dylan over to take a look, too.
Leo humbly thanks Tessa for the compliment and of course he has me swooning with how fucking modest he is.Someone is definitely getting laid tonight.He should be bragging about his ability, especially with how talented he is in so many areas of the kitchen.But that’s not him and there’s something about it that’s so damn sexy.
“Sorry that you’re going to be stuck here, like a third wheel,” Dylan says to Leo, and I swear I’m going to smack Tessa if she doesn’t stop being so damn obvious.She laughs, her hand covering her mouth and attempting to make it sound like a cough.
“Yeah, I think I’m going to be okay,” Leo replies, looking over at me and winking, and there goes Tessa again.Her fake cough is now sounding more like a laughing hyena.
“You okay, babe?”Dylan asks her, his hand running sweetly over her back.“Let me grab you something to drink.”
Leo walks with Dylan back behind the bar, grabbing drinks for all four of us.We don’t have a serving team working today, but Leo has offered to help me run the few plates after the kitchen staff gets everything set up.It’s not like there are a lot of us.Just Lauren and Jack, Tommy and Penny, Will and Ellen, and the four of us.I’m actually sort of nervous to have Jack and Lauren here eating from the menu I created.
I know that they eat at the restaurants here on the property and I make the food, but there’s something about the intimate gathering that has me a little on edge.
What if they don’t like any of it and that translates over to my job?What if my pairings are crap and that reflects badly on the Somerville name?
“You okay?”Leo asks, coming up beside me and handing me a glass of wine.“You look a little, I don’t know, worried?”he tries and as if he doesn’t even think about it, like it’s a natural reaction, he rests his hand on the small of my back, leaning in to press a kiss to the side of my head.
But it hits him before he can, and like a fool, he pretends to awkwardly look over his shoulder.This sends Tessa into another laughing fit.I can only imagine how stupid the two of us look, trying to avoid looking like a couple, but we clearly are a couple.
Luckily, we’re saved by the arrival of the rest of the group, and I quickly attempt to answer Leo’s question by shaking my head, but he knows I’m lying.
“They’re going to love your food, babe,” he whispers, patting me on the ass as I walk over to greet Lauren and Jack.
We start with the chili and salad, which I can barely eat because I’m watching the faces of everyone around me, silently begging the universe to help me out.Right now, my bosses are eating my food from a menu I created with ingredients I sourced from their land, paired with their wine and cider, that I spent the last few hours preparing.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous about my ability than I am right now.It feels stupid, since I already work here, but it’s that whole imposture thing, especially given how my old boss thought I was literally the worst chef in America.
“Take a breath,” Leo murmurs, leaning over toward me as the din from the small crowd drowns out his words.“They love it.”
It’s Leo’s words that encourage me to look around, to take in that everyone’s plates and bowls are empty, and I let out a sigh of relief.I feel the stress leave my body, my shoulders nearly sagging under the weight of worry.
Leo slips out, returning with the entrées and serving them while I try to pull myself back together.He has no idea how much having him by my side today has meant to me.And when he sits down, his hand slips under the tablecloth, resting on my thigh.
I can’t help but smile over at him, silently thanking him for being here and for being mine.
The conversation shifts to compliments about my food and Jack even suggests adding some of them to the menu at Apple Jacks, but Lauren jumps in, saying she wants to revamp the menu at Somerville’s and she gets first dibs on my ideas.It feels totally foreign to have someone fighting over me and my menu suggestions, but I will take it.
We move on to opening gifts with Tessa and Dylan sitting in front of the bar and the rest of us around the table.I hand Tessa the first gift and Ellen calls out that it’s from her, Will and the kids.
Tessa pulls off the wrapping paper, revealing a yellow box and smiles when she sees what it is, laughing a little as she passes it over to Dylan.
“What the hell is this thing?”Dylan asks, examining the box.
