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“I can’t work as the head chef at your hotel. But I’ll take a job as one of the chefs and it’s only temporary.”
“Duly noted.”
“As for moving here, I’ll consider my options. If I don’t have any other choice, I’ll come stay here.”
Xander’s lips twitch. “You’re negotiating a favor?”
“According to you, it’s not a favor but a tactical decision,” I reply.
“You’re too sassy for your own good.”
“Thank you,” I say like it was a compliment. He shakes his head. “But really, Xander. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Juliette.”
CHAPTER12
Xander
“Don’t be nervous,” I say as I watch her fidgeting beside me.
“I can’t help it,” she says back.
My gaze is fixed on the road but I reach over and place my hand on her leg to still her movements.
“You’ll be amazing.”
“Easy for you to say. You cough and make millions of dollars. This job is important to me and I really don’t want to mess up.”
“If you mess up, I know the owner. It’ll be fine.”
I feel her stare on the side of my face.
“Did you just make a joke?”
“I was trying to distract you. It’s not working?”
“Not in the slightest,” she says dryly.
I laugh. “What would you rather I do?”
She falls silent. “You can talk to me. About anything.”
“I’m not really sure what to talk about, Juliette,” I tell her.
“Okay… tell me about the hotels. What made you go into this line of work?”
I ponder that for a moment. “I told you a little about my parents, right? Growing up, my family wasn’t wealthy by any means. We were a middle-class family. I went to public school. Our source of income was a small hotel my dad inherited from his parents. There was a fire at the hotel, though, and it burned down when I was a teenager. Luckily no one was hurt but it hit us pretty hard.”
“I can imagine,” Juliette says sadly.
“We struggled for a few years. Getting through college was difficult, but I did it. My parents were working so hard to provide for us. That’s why I was said they were emotionally unavailable and absent. They were too busy working.”
“It seems like they tried their very best,” Juliette states.
“They did and I realize how lucky I was to have them. My first hotel wasn’t just for me. It was for my entire family. I built it in my hometown. To replace the one, we had lost. It wasn’t much but I could tell my father was pretty proud. Then he died two weeks after. A heart attack. One minute he was there and then the next he wasn’t.”
“So, you built the Callahan empire for your parents?” Juliette questions softly.
