Page 9 of The Chef

Not such a joker now, hey?

“I’ll be back,” I growl at him before storming out of the bank. I slam the door behind me with a loud bang to emphasize how serious my threat is.

The hot Australian sun warms my wet chest as I step outside. I catch my reflection in the bank’s glass windows and I can see I am clearly completely soaking wet. Dripping.

The water is also incredibly cold, and I realize the banker must’ve had ice in that drink.

Great.

I wipe my wet hands on my suit pants and scan around for my car. Across the street.

I head towards it, mindful of how stupid I must look to the other people of New Water. I’ve rushed out of the bank dripping with water right in the middle of the day when the main street is at its busiest. I really must look a stupid sight to everyone around me doing their shopping.

And all because of that woman.

Who is she?

She sure has a lot of balls to do what she did back in there. I’m a tall, muscular guy but she still felt it safe enough to chuck a whole glass of water over me? In public.

And then she disappeared in a flash. Whoosh. She ran past me and out that bank’s door like a dart.

Who is this random girl? She’s spiked my curiosity.

I know a lot of people in this town, but I don’t recognize her at all. I’ve never seen her face before around here, I’m sure of it. She’s not a face I would forget lightly. Pale. Brown hair. Green eyes. A bit like that chick from Game of Thrones. The one with the dragons, but with her natural brown hair instead of blonde.

She’s kinda pretty, in a way. She’s not my usual supermodel type at all, but somehow more real than a lot of those shallow women I’ve dated.

This whole water-throwing incident? She has sass, that’s for sure, and that’s something that I find very attractive. Especially on a girl. Especially on someone who looks like they couldn’t harm a fly, like her.

She still found a way to justify picking up a glass of water and throwing it over me, and that takes some balls. A pretty, sweet girl like her with that level of sass? She’s an enigma.

But she’s also crazy. Super crazy to insult me in the way she has.

Me? A Finn.

Cliff Finn.

If she actually lives here in New Water, then she should’ve known who I am when she saw me. She should’ve known I’m a Finn, and that’s not something you consider lightly when you’re about to throw a glass of water over a member of our family.

Yep, no one messes with a Finn, especially not in New Water.

But she did.

No, stop this.

I need to stop thinking about her. She’s a nobody, even if she’s got that sexy feisty attitude and a pretty face. She’s just not worth thinking about. I need to forget about what happened in that bank and just move on. There’s no point in wasting my time hunting this random girl down, even if she embarrassed me in that bank, even if she is incredibly alluring.

No.

I’m not going to find her. No way am I dealing with a girl like that again, especially not after my ex.

No. I’ve sworn off women, especially women like this girl. Sass and all.

Screw her.

I don’t want to run into her ever again, and if I did then she’ll deserve what’s coming to her.

No one embarrasses me.