My nose wrinkles. Nowaydid I just think that.
“Hey,” I protest.
“Like you were going to finish it.”
“I totally was.”
“You’d be tapping out before it was half empty.”
I cross my arms. “What makes you so confident that you know me?”
“Don’t need to know you.” He pours a fresh drink. Slides it in my direction. His forearm flexes slightly, showing off a tattoo of a panther with a knife in his mouth. His chef’s jacket is draped over the back of the barstool, leaving him in a white T-shirt that clings to his biceps. “I know your type.”
“Wanna bet?”
He leans in. “Bet what?”
My gaze flicks to that utterly distracting tentacle tattoo. I suppress a shiver. “Bet I can surprise you.”
“Didn’t your father ever tell you to stay away from men in chef’s jackets?”
“What, because you’re all assholes? Of course he did.” I tilt my head to the side, giving him a saccharine smile. “What’s your obsession with my dad?”
I can’t quite read the expression that flits across his face. There and gone.
“How about this?” I add. “We get to ask each other questions. You don’t have to answer—but if you don’t, you drink.”
“If you can’t keep up,” he warns, “I’m not picking you up off the floor.”
“What did you do to fuck up things with your job?”
He immediately takes a sip of whisky.
I raise my eyebrows. “Already?”
“Pick another question.”
I cup my chin with my palm, leaning closer. “Nope. I want to know the answer to this one.”
A grimace. “Your father screwed me out of a promotion.”
“The new place on Sixty-Fifth?”
He nods tightly. “Green Street. Chef de cuisine.”
“Why?” That doesn’t sound like my dad.
“How many dates did you go on with that loser?”
“Enough of them to be surprised he wanted to dump me.” I take a small sip of the new drink he poured me to ward off the threat of emotion. “It was so stupid. I thought he was, um, proposing. Something like that.”
“He did bring you to your dad’s restaurant.”
“Right? Thank you.” Something occurs to me. “Didn’t you recognize him?”
“Was I supposed to?”
“He’s a basketball player for the Knicks. Ryan McCabe. Kind of a big deal.”
