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The kitchen was a madhouse. It felt like there were a hundred people in white busy prepping, but it couldn’t be more than a dozen. Running around, chopping, barking orders and laughing, almost choregraphed as they worked together. How anyone could work in this noise was beyond me, but I kept that thought to myself. “Attention kitchen staff.” Devon barely raised his voice over the noise but somehow they all stopped and turned towards the door. Towards us. “This is Ryan Gregory. Yes, that Ryan Gregory, but he’s also the owner of this place.”
“Holy fuck sticks, you’re actually Ryan Gregory.” A woman with purple hair took a few steps forward with a wide grin as she extended her hand. “I’m Chef Nina and dammit man, I am huge fan. Hate To See You Go is one of my all-time favorites. Nice to meet you.” She was a fan, clearly, but not starstruck, and I liked her right away.
“Nice to meet you too. It’s always nice to meet a fan, even more when she’s a talented chef. You have everything you need for tonight?”
“Oh yeah. Devon said you’d be coming in today, so I have samples of everything for you when you’re ready.”
I blinked and turned to Devon. “Seriously?”
“Yep.”
I turned back to Nina with a smile. “That would be great. Just give me twenty minutes and I’ll be ready.”
Nina nodded and went back to the sizzling flat top grill, giving me a chance to meet and greet the rest of the kitchen staff; they all looked to be born within the last twenty years. Each and every one of them looked like they belonged backstage with their tattoos and piercings, and intricate hair. Devon said they were capable, and that’s all I really cared about.
“Ready to meet the manager?”
I nodded and followed Devon back to the dining room. “Did you pick infants to make me feel old?”
Devon barked out a laugh that echoed in the dining room as he led me down a dimly lit hall that led to the manager’s office. “Nah, that was just an added bonus.”
“You sure they’re all qualified?”
“I’m certain. Talented kitchen staff will go wherever there’s a chance for them to stand out or work with a talented chef like Nina.”
“Thanks for not telling them who the owner was.” The last thing I needed was super fans and groupies on my payroll.
“I wanted people who actually know how to work in a kitchen and a dining room, not people trying to bang the boss.”
I clapped him on the back in appreciation with a grin. “And that’s why you’re my go-to guy.”
“That, and you don’t have the patience for the details.”
“True,” I agreed. “Anything I need to know about the manager?”
“Not much. She’s a little high strung, but damn is she capable. Saved you a good chunk of change on stock, and made some deal with two local farmers to give Nina first choice on produce and meat. And we got an exclusive on a few local wines and beers for the first month of business. You’ll like her.”
His words intrigued me. “Let’s meet her, then.”
Devon knocked on the door and pushed it open at muffled words that could have been “come in” or “go the hell away” but he seemed to understand perfectly. He motioned me in and I stepped inside…into an empty office.
“Just a sec.” The muffled feminine voice was slightly familiar, but that could have been my imagination. “Got you, little sucker!” A crop of tussled red waves appeared first, and then an all-too familiar face with a familiar smile that I hadn’t been privy to in twenty years. “Devon, my friend, stop plugging your devices straight into the wall. It’s a recipe for disaster.”
Devon grinned, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink at her smile. “Right. I’ll do my best to remember. Again.”
Pippa stood and swiped her hands on the side of her black slacks with a sigh. “I’ve added surge protectors, so now you have no choice.” Finally, she realized there was someone else in the room and when Pippa realized who that someone was, her smile faded. “What are you doing in here?”
I stared at Pippa in her black slacks and paper-thin silky white blouse that showed off the outline of her bra, the peaks of her nipples and the swell of her gorgeous tits, and felt my body answer in response. She was even more gorgeous now than she’d been as a girl on the cusp of womanhood. Her angry expression shouldn’t have made me smile, but it did. Something about an angry redhead, no, there was something about this particular angry redhead that instantly infused my body with heat. I turned to Devon with a wicked grin.
“You want to tell her, or should I?”
Devon realized too late, that maybe he should have shared the owner’s identity with the front of house manager. “Oh, um, Pippa, this is Ryan, whom you already seem to know.”
