I covered my ears with my hands. “Please stop talking about that. I might throw up on the food.”
Dan laughed and pushed my shoulder. “Mom and the twins would love to see you. You’ll have to come over for dinner tomorrow.”
His mom was so sweet. After babysitting the twins, she always sent me home with a hug and extra snacks. The foster family I stayed with during those years, the Smiths, were one of those families that fostered for the image. They liked being able to show their friends how wonderful they were because they took in a kid with no home. They weren’t cruel, just indifferent. Oncethey found out they were having their own kid, they sent me back.
Before I could accept his dinner invitation, we were interrupted.
“Dan!” Bear barked as he pushed the door open. “Enough flirting with the caterer. The brothers are arriving, so go help Jordan at the bar.”
I sighed and said goodbye, telling Dan to text me the address for dinner. I turned to find Bear flanked by two equally large and intimidating men. Although, they were smiling and Bear was back to glaring. His brown eyes swirled, piercing my soul with an intensity that caused my lady bits to wake up.
“Well?” he asked.
I could almost hear his molars grinding beneath his tense jaw.
“Well, what?” I blinked. Did he ask me something? It was hard to focus with the tattoos on his bulging biceps hypnotizing me.
Bear just glared, and I looked at the two men for help. The dark-haired one shrugged, but the other, the one with the faux hawk, sported an amused grin.
“He asked if you were dating the prospect.” His brown eyes danced, clearly enjoying the conversation.
My eyebrows scrunched. “Jordan? No, I only met him today. Although I appreciate your confidence in my ability to pick up a guy after two sentences while looking like a hot mess.”
I tucked back the flyaways from my ponytail, but it was a lost cause at this point. The temperature in the kitchen had gone up several degrees from the oven. I’d taken off my jacket earlier, leaving me in my pink shorts and white tank. I was looking haggard but clean. The jacket had collected most of the stains. I’d have to remember my apron next time.
Bear’s nostrils flared as he took me in from head to toe. Well, excuse me if I smelled like onions. I was a chef, after all.
He took a deep breath. “Not Jordan. The one who invited you to dinner. The one who already has your phone number.”
The one who—“Wait, are you talking about Dan? Ew! No way. I was his babysitter. That’s probably like, illegal or something.” I shuddered, thoroughly grossed out. But why did he care? Maybe they had a no dating rule for prospects.
He nodded, the tightness in his stance softening. “This is Maverick,” he said nodding toward the faux hawk guy. “He’s our vice president. And this is Blade, our treasurer.”
I yanked a towel from the counter and wiped my hand before holding it out. “It’s nice to meet you.” I stood tall, now realizing that I was meeting not only the second in command and decision maker of my future gigs with the MC, but also the guy in charge of paying me. “I appreciate y’all taking a chance on me. How about a quick sample? You can let me know if I need to adjust anything to your group’s particular tastes.” I felt confident in my recipes, but I’d never cooked for bikers before.
The oven dinged, signaling the cookies were ready. I bent over to take the trays from the oven and heard a low whistle. I turned my head in time to see Bear jab Blade with his elbow.
I grabbed a couple of paper plates and made three sample platters with a bit of everything. Dan had sampled along the way and assured me that everything tasted amazing. But maybe he was just being nice. I had a feeling these guys wouldn’t have a problem being honest.
I passed out the plates and tried to act cool. I shouldn’t be nervous. Everyone had different tastes, and part of my job was to know my clients and cater to them. Adjustments were to be expected. But as I’d poured my heart and soul into the evening’s meal, my mind had been on Bear. Almost like I’d been cooking only for him.
I watched his mouth as he took a tentative bite of my potato salad. I tried not to be offended. I was some random chick hepicked up in Costco, so I guess he had a right to be wary. Although, he probably should’ve thought of that sooner. If the food sucked, there was no going back now. Gah, this was going to be embarrassing. The men ate in silence. I twisted the kitchen towel between my hands while my stomach did somersaults.
“I can add more salt. Or pepper. Or—“
Bear held up a hand to silence me, and they attacked their plates until empty. They looked at each other, saying nothing for several long seconds before Bear nodded and turned to me with a grin.
“That was fucking delicious, pixie.”
My heart nearly exploded. “Really?” I fought the urge to jump for joy.
“Really,” Blade agreed. “And this is all vegetables and shit. I bet that burger is going to be killer.”
Bear punched him in the shoulder and Blade laughed.
“Come on, you can’t tell me that you didn’t almost come when you tasted that mac and cheese.”
Maverick nodded. “Seriously, Lexie, I can’t remember the last time we had food this good. I hope you can clear your schedule, because we need you to cater all the cookouts from now on.”
