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If only he understood how absolutely I would never, ever offer sex to anyone. It was completely off the plate.
Anna walked by and hit him hard, right in the arm. “Not funny.”
He winced. “Sorry.” Max walked toward me. “Sometimes other people don’t appreciate my sense of humor.”
“Because it’s not funny, Chef,” Anna called over her shoulder as she disappeared into one of the offices.
“I…” I cleared my throat to give myself a moment. “I raise money for a living. For people’s charities, for the causes they care about.” Or as Bridget might have said, the rich’s pet projects, but I wasn’t going to disparage my career in front of Max. Especially not if he was going to start accusing me of offering him sex. “I need a place to hold our latest event. The payout for the venue would be significant.” I grabbed my business card out of my purse and wrote down a number. I intended to pay ten thousand dollars an hour to cook and use his space. That was well more than the going rate for a place like his. Muffy wouldn’t mind. She wouldn’t even know, honestly. At the end of the day, she’d get the press she needed and her cause would raise millions. If I could throw thirty grand at Max in the process, I would. I’d give her back ten thousand, from my fee, so I wouldn’t be stealing from her.
It would all work out.
Ifhe would just say yes.
He stared at the number and then handed me back the card. “We’re booked every night but Sundays and Mondays for dinner. I’m not asking the staff to work the nights that they’re off.”
“Not night. Lunch. It’s the new thing.” Or it would be because I’d be making it the new thing. Everyone would want to have lunch now. “Eleven to one.”
I might even make it brunch if I had to. I’d tell Muffy that the trend was shifting again. She was sweet but not too bright.
He scowled at me and then ran a hand through those dark locks that I couldn’t stop staring at. I forced my attention back to his face. That wasn’t better. Why did he have to be so handsome? He was older. My internet search told me nearly forty. Maybe that was what I liked. There was something chiseled about him that said he’d lived life and it hadn’t bowed him. It was amazing, really, how little information there was about him on the Internet. He was clearly a person who valued his privacy.
I didn’t know what that was like.
“Anna,” he called over his shoulder. “I want to tell this woman no because I want to hate her, but this could be for Eric.”
She came out of her office and stared at me for a second before she looked back at him. “Do it. I don’t think she’s the monster you think she is, by the way.”
“Oh.” I hadn’t expected that. “Thank you.”
“I didn’t say you weren’t a monster. I just said you weren’t the monster he thinks you are. There are lots of areas of monster to get through in that direction.” She held her hand over her head. “You were pretty much up here.” She moved her hand to her waist. “And I’m saying maybe you’re there.”
I nodded. Well, that still sucked. Not that I’d expected to make friends. “Gotcha.”
“We’ll do it.” He nodded. From his own pocket, he pulled a card. “Email me the contract. We’ll do it.”
Happiness flooded through some of my discomfort. “Great. I’ll do that.”
“Yep. But this doesn’t mean anything in terms of whatever you’re doing here. You should just stop.”
Yes, I heard him. “I’ll take care of all of that tonight.”
He turned to leave and then stopped. “I looked up what happened to your sister. That was fucked up.”
Well, that was one way to put it. “Seriously fucked up.”
It was time for me to leave. Probably past time. “Your green onions are on their way.”
He hit the wall. “Who is telling her? I’ll double whatever she’s paying you to stop.”
“No, he won’t,” I called back as I exited. Anna walked to the door to close it behind me. I caught her gaze. “Who’s Eric?”
She scowled, and I was pretty sure she wasn’t going to answer. “His sous chef before I took it over. They came up together in the military. Best friends. He’s my fiancé.” She looked away. “He’s sick. Needs an operation. Insurance won’t pay.”
I almost told her I could raise money for Eric. I’d find a rich socialite in search of a cause. We could make Eric that cause. But as I stared at her proud gaze looking back at me, I knew that was too far. Anna didn’t want to be charity, even though she needed help. That also meant I couldn’t randomly offer to pay either. But I could book Max to cook at Hyperion for three hours. That was working to raise the money, and it came down to her not wanting anything she hadn’t earned.
I’d learned to read people when I was a child. It helped when I wanted the nannies to give us what we wanted and my father’s temper to cool when it would have gotten out of hand. I was the reason he hadn’t addedchild abuserto his list of faults.
Well…not physically.
