She laughs now, mirroring my pose.“Um yeah, I’d say that was a definite yes.”
I nod, trying not to show how happy that makes me, even as my heart gives a hard thump in my chest.“And my kitchen?”
“Uh huh, also a definite yes.”
“The hours?”
“Yep,” she says with a nod.
“Start date?”
Another nod.
“The pay?”
She laughs again, shaking her head a little.“Hell yes, it’s a yes to everything, Leo.”
Now it’s me chuckling as I push off the counter and hold out a hand to her.“In that case, welcome to Somerville’s, glad to have you as part of the team.”
Hannah’s gaze drops to my hand before lifting to mine again.Stepping around the counter so she’s standing right in front of me, she slips her hand into mine and fuck me if a lightning bolt doesn’t shoot up my arm.
“Thanks,” she says, her voice lower now, huskier and totally sexy.“I’m really glad to be here.”
I nod, swallowing hard as I mentally tell myself to drop her hand so I don’t haul her against me and kiss the shit out of her.“You gotta drive back to San Fran tonight?”I ask, still not letting go of her hand.She gives me a strange look that I can’t decipher as I add, “I know you worked there, so I assume you live there too?”
A smile tugs at her mouth as her eyes sparkle with amusement.“I do, yeah, but I’ll crash at Dylan and Tessa’s tonight.I’ll probably need to move closer now if I’m working here.”
My dick is practically screaming at me to tell her she can crash at my place, even as my brain tries to tell it to calm down because it has no place going anywhere near my employees.Shaking my head at my idiotic thoughts, I say, “Yeah, it’s a long commute, so would probably be good.”
Hannah continues to watch me, our hands still joined as this weird tension crackles between us.I know she feels it too, that whatever this is, it isn’t one-sided.It’s written all over her face.
“Okay, we’re clear,” Holly, the head server shouts from the kitchen doors.“Staff drinks!”
Hannah’s eyes widen as I suddenly drop her hand, not wanting any of my staff to see us and get the wrong idea.
“Staff drinks?”she asks.
“Yeah,” I say with a smile.“We do it every Saturday after closing.You coming?”
She watches me for a few moments before her gaze moves around the kitchen, taking in the rest of the staff as they finish packing up, take their chef coats off and head out to the restaurant.It’s a relaxed vibe, always has been in my kitchen, but especially on Saturday nights.
It’s something I strived to do, having spent countless years working in the kitchens of egotistical pricks, and I’m proud that all of my staff are happy and hardworking and as result, loyal.
“Yeah okay,” she eventually says, with a shrug.“Why not.”
We finish our clean up and then ditch our chef jackets and follow the rest of the staff out to the restaurant.It’s filled with kitchen and front of house staff from both here and Somerville’s.We always get together on Saturday nights in the same place, alternating the restaurant each week.
Sometimes Jack and Lauren stop by, as do the tasting room staff and it’s always a fun way to unwind at the end of a long week, even if some of us sometimes have to get up early on Sunday for the brunch crowd.
“So this is a regular thing?”Hannah asks as I lead her over to the bar.
“Yep, every Saturday night,” I say, glancing over my shoulder.“It’s not a big night or anything, just a couple of drinks and a debrief of any shit that went down.”
Hannah laughs.“Everyone behaves themselves then?”
I smirk, meeting her gaze as I grab a cider, holding it up to her as if to ask if she wants one.She nods and I twist the cap off and hand it to her before grabbing one for myself.“Um, yeah,” I eventually say.“Most of the time, anyway.”
Her brows shoot up as she takes a sip of her drink.I watch, my gaze moving to her neck as she swallows.“I think I’m going to really like working here,” she eventually says, watching me.
