AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He couldn’t help the strained laugh that escaped. “Sorry, Veronica, but there’s really no need for you to be here. Food is my domain. You can discuss color swatches and candies and everything else with the happy couple.”
He really didn’t need any help. Nor did he need her input. Not about food, anyway. Other things, maybe. Like—
“Excuse me?” Her neck strained and he saw her pulse thump under her skin. “Food is one of the most important parts of a wedding, and I’ll be damned if I’m not involved.”
“You don’t need to worry your pretty head about it. I’ve got things under control.”
He didn’t know why he was being an asshole. And he really was acting like an asshole. Maybe this was his own way of distancing himself, protecting himself from the inevitable fallout bound to happen once they decided to end their affair. But despite being the wedding planner, she had no business telling him what to cook. He didn’t take orders in the bedroom, or in the kitchen.
She recoiled with a gasp. Then poked her finger into his chest. “You are not in charge here, Finn.” She pointed at herself. “I’m in charge.”
Her worry vein throbbed at the side of her temple…although this afternoon it looked more enraged than worried. The sight of her fists bunching at her sides, that pulsing vein, and the hostility in her eyes wasn’t remotely sexy.
Or maybe it was. Damn if he didn’t want to bend her over the table and paddle her with a spatula. To show her once and for all who was really in charge.
Come to think of it, there were many rooms in this restaurant they could sneak off to, and he could—
“Technically, aren’t we in charge?” Jack grumbled from the table. Sterling shook her head at him with a worried glance.
Oh, shit.
Cal emerged from the kitchen at the perfect time, diffusing what could have been a rant to rival any unhappy bride. Except this time, the only -zilla in the room was the wedding planner.
“Good, you’re here.” Cal’s white chef’s coat was smeared with tomato sauce. “V, I’m going to need to borrow the car this weekend.”
Finn held his breath when Veronica closed her eyes and took a deep breath. He could all but see her counting to ten in her head and grinding her teeth. There was something going on between these two. He was just waiting for the confrontation.
Luckily, her shoulders dropped and her body relaxed just a little before she turned and addressed her brother. “You can’t, Cal. I have meetings Friday, a wedding on Saturday, and the bachelorette and rehearsal dinner”—she pointed at him—“which you are attending, on Sunday.”
“What?” Cal went rigid at the news. “Why do I have to go to—”
She interrupted and pointed to Jack and Sterling. “The lovely people who have invited you to their rehearsal dinner are sitting right here, Cal.”
“But, V—”
The tension returned as she shot a motherly glare in Cal’s direction. “I said no.”
Finn was impressed. He’d never seen her so stern with her sibling before. Maybe she’d finally figured out why Cal was acting up.
There was so much more the kid wanted to say. Finn could see it in his eyes, in the way he moved his lips. But no words came out.
“Have an accident back there, Cal?” Jack asked, gesturing to his soiled white coat.
He shrugged distractedly. “Tomato sauce.”
“Get a new jacket,” Finn ordered. Being a chef was a messy job, but you still needed to be presentable. “I won’t have you working in my kitchen like that.”
Cal cast a last resentful look at Veronica, then turned his attention to Finn. “Yes, Chef.”
With his head lowered, he walked away. Poor kid had been defeated, twice.
Turning his attention to Veronica, Finn asked, “Are you about done with the hissy fit?”
“Hissy fit?” Her voice went up about ten octaves with only two words.
“No one messes with my menu. Not even you.”
“Hissy fit?”
