He laughs. “Just bought the restaurant a few months ago. I expanded and opened a branch here. Don’t tell me you’re here for lunch?”
I give him a brief smile. “No. I came to meet one of your sous-chefs. Speaking of?—”
I see Sarah approach me from the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel and glaring at me, her pink hair a stark contrastagainst the white of her chef’s uniform. “I have a bone to pick with you, Ethan Wilder. The fucking nerve?—”
“Miss Brown.” Alex’s voice is sharp, and I see Sarah glance at him, bristling.
“He’s not a customer, Mr. Hunter. He’s here to see me.”
“You’re still in your workplace, and Ethan’s a friend.”
I see Sarah muster up the most disgusted look she can manage. “Of course you two are friends. Birds of a fucking flock?—”
“Miss Brown!”
“Fine!” She shoots a dirty look towards Alex before storming out.
“She’s your employee, right?” I ask dubiously.
Alex doesn’t give me an answer, and I go after Sarah.
She’s standing outside a short distance from the restaurant under a tree, trying to light up the cigarette clenched between her teeth. I can see the strain between her eyes.
“How is Natalie?”
She takes a puff of the cigarette before lowering it from her mouth. “How do you think? What did you do?”
“I didn’t do anything. We slept together.”
She stares at me. “You couldn’t keep it in your pants for a few more weeks?”
As always, her crude manner of speaking makes me scoff. “She was the one who wanted to sleep with me. She said it would mean nothing.”
“And I’m sure you were just a poor, innocent bystander, right?” Sarah drawls sarcastically. “So helpless against her?—”
“I wasn’t going to let the opportunity slip me by?—”
“That there is your problem.” She drills her finger in my chest. “It’s all about opportunity with you. She’s not some business deal that you have to manipulate and control to get your way. She needed time?—”
“Natalie is not some fragile little bird!” I bare my teeth at thepink-haired woman before me. “She doesn’t need protecting and coddling. She wanted to sleep with me, and she’s an adult.”
“Look at you trying to justify?—”
I take a step towards her, a growl emitting from my throat. “I’m not trying to justify anything because I didn’t do anything. Not this time. She ran. She couldn’t handle how things were progressing, and she ran. And if you think you can?—”
“That’s enough, Ethan.” A firm voice reaches my ears as Alex inserts himself between me and Sarah, his eyes narrowed into slits, his stance protective. “She’s very small.”
“I can take him,” Sarah sneers but one look from her boss has her averting her gaze and muttering, “Not that I was going to do anything.”
I shoot Alex an insulted look. “I would never raise my hand on a woman. We were just having a conversation.”
“Well, don’t yell at my employees,” Alex warns. “Your lover’s quarrel has?—”
“Lovers?” Sarah makes a face. “I should be so unfortunate. He’s dating my roommate. And being an ass about it.”
Alex pauses, a strange look in his eyes. “You two are not together?”
Sarah just makes a face. “No. And please don’t insult me by asking again. She doesn’t want to see you, Ethan. That’s the whole point of resigning. She’s not running away, she’s putting an appropriate amount of distance between the two of you. I told you not to fuck up. You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?”
