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She nodded. “He wants me to travel with him, but he says he’d give me time off to make up for all the travel.”
This couldn’t happen. Whether we were together or not, I couldn’t stand the thought of Shea being gone for weeks or months at a time. Off on Keller Strauss’s yacht, serving him gourmet meals every time he snapped his fingers. She was better than that.
“I don’t get why he’s so hung up on you being his chef. Doesn’t he already have one? Is he going to fire that person if you take the job?”
She looked away. “I don’t know.”
Fuck. Why had it taken me so long to put the pieces together? Panic coursed through me as I realized Keller’s ulterior motive, followed swiftly by anger.
“He wants you in his kitchen and his bedroom,” I said bitterly. “That smug bastard.”
“I haven’t given him an answer.”
“No,” I said, my possessiveness taking over. “The answer is no.”
Our server approached with a grin. “Our special tonight is three steak tacos with a side of tots.”
“I’ll take that with a water,” Shea said.
“I’ll take the special with a Modelo,” I said.
Once the server was gone, Shea met my gaze across the table.
“I thought I was proving something by working seven days a week,” she said. “It became a competition with myself, finding a way to oversee every meal, every recipe, every special booking. But why? I’m missing out on...everything. If I take a day off, it turns into a huge drama with Caden. I love cooking and I’ll never stop doing it, but I need a change.”
I sank against the back of the booth, having a hard time thinking about anything but punching Keller Strauss in the face.
“Yeah, I mean...he’s a billionaire. And he doesn’t have kids, so I guess he can give you more than I can.”
Just saying it made my chest ache. No matter how hard I was falling for Shea, my kids had to come first.
“I don’t care about his money. And I adore your kids. This isn’t about that. It’s about my job and how much I need to make a change. I didn’t even realize how much I needed it until I had an entire weekend off. That weekend was...” Our eyes locked. “It was amazing. For me.”
“For me, too.”
“Did you tell the kids about their mom coming here?”
I exhaled hard, taking a sip from my beer that had been delivered. “No. The kids both saw counselors after she left and the three of us also did family therapy. All the therapists told me my kids need predictability and consistency. I didn’t want them to think she might be moving here or something, and I can’t have her telling them she wants to get back with me.”
I stared out the window, facing the hard truth: my life was a hot mess. Shea was an incredible woman with no baggage, and she deserved better than what I had to give her right now.
“That sounds like the right call.”
“Don’t let Keller put you under his thumb,” I said, aggravated. “Your job shouldn’t be tied to being anyone’s girlfriend.”
“I’m thinking about my job situation in baby steps. Step one is whether or not I can bring myself to leave The Moose. It’s a big part of who I am.”
I shook my head. “I know it feels that way, but you’ll be the same woman no matter where you work. You’re a great chef and a supportive friend. Someone who cares about others. Your talent and personality don’t belong to anyone but you.”
She gave me a grateful look. “That means a lot, thank you.”
Our food came and we both dug in, Shea’s eyes widening as she took the first bite of a taco.
“Oh wow, I’d love to know what they marinated that in. It’s so tender.”
“Not quite as good as your steak, but I like it,” I said with a wink.
She groaned. “Why are you so amazing?”
