Edible

26

Tuesday evening had passed by in a blur almost as if she were living in some kind of dream—one she got to wake up from with a smile on her face instead of being jolted from in terror. Rachel still couldn’t believe that she had found her peace with the one man she thought would cause chaos.

Making her way into Exquisite on Wednesday afternoon, Rachel took a moment to reflect on all that had happened over the last—holy shit—week. Okay, maybe a little more than a week. Who knew that was even possible? How did Cole manage that?

As she wandered down the back aisle toward the kitchen, she reached the entryway, and she was surprised to see Mason in there. He was showing around—

Cole? What the hell?

Stopping where she was, Rachel looked at the two men who were, for the first time, standing side-by-side. She watched apprehensively as they talked to one another, wondering if she would be called to testify if one murdered the other.

What is Cole doing here?

“Quite a sight, isn’t it?”

Rachel spun around quickly to find Lena standing behind her with a smile stretched across her mouth. Narrowing her eyes, Rachel walked toward her sister-in-law and placed her hands on her hips.

“I suppose you had nothing to do with this?”

Lena shrugged and glanced past Rachel’s shoulder. “I didn’t call him if that’s what you mean.”

Rachel tapped her foot and crossed her arms as she pursed her lips.

Lena’s green eyes twinkled as she raised her chin in the men’s direction. “I think it’s important that their first meeting—”

“Third,” Rachel interjected.

“Okay. I think it’s important that their third meeting be done before Friday. They need to know each other if they’re both going to be in your life.”

“And you decided to what? Nudge them together? Are you crazy? You don’t nudge men like that.”

“No, I asked Mason to give him a call, that’s all.”

Rachel cocked her head. “And he agreed? Just like that?”

Lena gave her a look that told Rachel exactly how she had persuaded Mason to call up Cole, and it had nothing to do with talking.

How weird, Rachel thought, looking back at her brother and husband. They were both so completely different, yet they are both so vital to my happiness.

Rachel moved to stand silently beside Lena to watch the men. She had so many good memories in that kitchen, and as Cole made his way around all the stainless steel in jeans and a casual black shirt, Rachel knew this was one more she could add to the pile.

No matter what she had told herself, the sight of the two most important people in her life actually getting along made her heart happy.

“You can say it now,” Rachel whispered to the woman by her side.

“Say what?” Lena asked as she nudged her arm.

Rachel faced the doctor who was as much of her sister as Mason was her brother. “That I was wrong from the very beginning. That, from the first moment at Whipped, I was hiding.”

Lena shook her head as she faced her. “I know a little something about hiding. I think we do it to try and keep ourselves safe. The only problem with that is we sometimes miss what’s right in front of us.” Lena paused for a moment, and then she chuckled. “Or, in your case, we see it, grab it, and marry it.”

Rachel smirked and reached out to poke Lena in the arm. “I’ll have you know that he asked me, not the other way around.”

“Who asked what?” Mason’s familiar voice filtered through the air.

Spinning back around, Rachel found herself face-to-face with her brother and Cole. She was about to make something up when Cole spoke up.

“I have no doubt that Rachel was just telling your wife that I was the one who asked her to marry me. To be honest, she was actually a tough sell. I had to pull out all my negotiating tactics.”

Rachel’s mouth opened and then shut. Once again, she found she had nothing to say.

“Really?” Mason asked as he turned to look at Cole. “You asked her? I have to say that I honestly thought it was the other way around.”

“I told you what they would all think,” Rachel finally managed to say.

Cole pushed his hands into his tight jeans, and with a wink, he acknowledged, “Yes, I seem to remember you saying something of the sort.”

Rachel felt an unfamiliar blush rise up her neck and heat her cheeks at the memory of that particular discussion.

Beside her, Lena cleared her throat. “So, Cole, has Rachel cooked for you yet? On our first…well, really, our second date, Mason made me dinner and a peach pie.”

Rachel let out a laugh and almost snorted as Mason glared at her.

“It’s wrong on so many levels that you know about that,” he informed her.

Lena barely stifled her own laugh as she batted her lashes innocently at her husband. “Girls talk.”

“You three are not girls. You’re women, and you don’t find me and Josh standing around talking about—”

“Sex deals, secrets, and Josh’s preference for blondes? Yes, I’m sure you and Josh never talk about that,” Lena added, tongue-in-cheek.

“Actually, Joshua was very chatty when he first met Shelly.”

Rachel’s eyes widened as she grinned mischievously at Cole’s statement. “Ooh, you have to tell us,” she practically begged, bouncing on her toes.

“No, that wouldn’t be right, especially since the poor man was so distracted I took all his money in a game of poker.”

Rachel slapped her leg and hooted. “I love it! He’s so getting it when I see him again. He was walking around in a daze the minute Man-Eater showed up!”

“Man-Eater?” Cole inquired.

“Yeah, the perfect blonde with the annoying mouth. That would be Shelly Monroe.”

“Also known as Man-Eater?” Cole caught on.

“Yep, the one and the same.” Rachel beamed, delighted with this new piece of information. “Let’s just say, she doesn’t lack in confidence, and leave it at that.”

Mason shook his head and began muttering something about the women in his life. That was when Lena took the opportunity to defend her absent friend and colleague.

“Shelly’s great. She’s loud and outrageous, and she tells it exactly like it is. Doesn’t she, Mason?”

Cole looked at Mason, who was frowning, and then back to Rachel. “I’m missing something here, right?”

“Oh, Mason likes to forget, but these two lovebirds hated each other when they first met,” Rachel pointed out.

Cole raised a brow. “Now, that sounds familiar.”

Rachel’s frown matched her brother’s as she looked into amused hazel eyes. “I didn’t hate you.”

“Well, you certainly didn’t like me. If I recall, you told me something like no, thank you. you aren’t my type.”

Mason finally let out a chuckle as he told Cole, “Don’t feel too bad. The first time I met Lena, she asked me if I could read.”

Rachel snorted, very unladylike at that. “Remember the first date you two had? Lena turned up in this horrible pantsuit—”

“Hey! It wasn’t horrible. I still have that suit.”

Rachel turned and pointedly ran her eyes down Lena’s red pencil skirt and black blouse. “Yes, but you no longer wear it or dress like a nun.”

“And what do you dress like? A wannabe rock star?” Lena fired back.

Rachel looked at her tight blue jeans, which had a rip across her right thigh and were frayed around the bottom where her black boots peeked out. “I like my jeans.”

“So do I.”

Cole’s smooth voice reached across the space and pretty much stroked all her naughty places. As her eyes met his, Rachel found herself chewing on her bottom lip.

It wasn’t until Mason cleared his throat that she blinked and focused on him.

“I told Cole he could watch you work your magic tonight. It’s something everyone should experience at least once. Your desserts are out of this world.”

As Mason’s praise sank in, Rachel stepped forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek. She whispered, “Thank you for this.”

He returned the move by quickly smacking his lips against her cheek. “You’re welcome. I love you.” When he pulled away, he stepped around her toward his wife.

Rachel looked at Cole, who was watching her with a mixture of love and affection.

Holding out her hand to him, she asked, “Ready to heat up the kitchen?”

With the look he gave her, she knew he was remembering the way they had heated up his only last week.

He took a step toward her and slid his palm over hers. “With you? Always.”

Cole followed Rachel through the kitchen and into her small office.

“So, have you ever spent an evening behind the scenes of a restaurant?” she asked, dropping her bag on the floor.

He watched as she removed her coat and threw it over her desk. She took down the bright purple chef’s jacket hanging on a peg secured to the back of the door.

“Can’t say that I have.”

She gave him a quick smile and reached for a long black apron that had been hanging behind the jacket. Turning to him, she extended her arm. “Here, this is for you.”

“An apron?”

“You don’t have to look so appalled. It’s not a skirt, you know.”

She chuckled as he took the black material from her.

“I’m more appalled at the thought of what you want me to do once the apron is in place.”

Cole wrapped the ties around his waist and found that they were long enough to come back around, so he secured it just under the button of his jeans. Once he tied it off, he looked up to see Rachel staring at him.

“Did I not do it right?”

She stepped toward him in her button-up jacket and reached out to the sides of his hips. Without a word, she rolled the top of the apron down over the ties and then smoothed her hands around to grip his denim-clad ass, pulling him in close.

Cole felt his entire body tense and his cock harden at the ease she obviously now felt in touching him.

She winked up at him. “As usual, you did it perfectly. I was just thinking that this is probably the first time I will ever be in danger of sexually harassing someone in the workplace.”

“As opposed to sexually harassing them elsewhere?” Cole questioned, raising his palms to her shoulders.

Rachel slid her hands into his back pockets and continued squeezing his ass.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” he asked.

“I am actually.”

Cole reached behind and removed her palms from his ass. Holding her hands in his, he informed her, “Your brother told me two things tonight.”

“And what were they?”

“That I was welcome in his restaurant—”

“Our restaurant,” she corrected.

“As long as I stayed out of the way and kept my hands off the pastry chef while she worked.”

“Well, I hope you told him to get lost. You’re my husband, and you can touch me whenever you like.”

“And he’s your brother, and he’s just starting to warm up to me. I’m going to respect that,” Cole told her, taking a step back.

The look of absolute annoyance on her face made her entirely too appealing for him to be within touching range.

“So, what?” she asked incredulously. “You’re going to stand four feet away from me all night? I knew he was being way too nice. Jerk.”

With a determined look on her face, she started to move toward him, and Cole took another step back. She stopped and threw her hands up in the air. Shaking her head, she made a move to pass him.

“This is ridiculous! I’m going to go and tell Mason he can shove—”

With catlike reflexes, Cole reached out and grabbed her arm, halting her on her way out the door. As she spun back on her toes, she almost slammed into him with the force of her momentum.

“Whoa. Slow down.”

“You know, I’m surprised you’re so relaxed about this.”

Leaning down so they were on eye level, Cole informed her, “I’m not relaxed. Your damn hands gave me a hard-on, and now, I’m standing here, trying to calm it the hell down. But you, all feisty and pissed off, is not helping the issue.”

“Then, why won’t you let me go and—”

“Think of this as foreplay,” he whispered, letting his warm breath float across her lips. “Four hours of close proximity without touch.” Pressing his mouth to hers, he ended with, “Followed by seven hours of the hands-on approach.”

He felt her lips part beneath his, inviting him deeper, but Cole was determined not to piss off Mason. No matter what Rachel said, her relationship with her brother was vital. That much was obvious, and there was no way he would do anything to jeopardize it.

Raising his head, Cole released her arm and gestured to the open door. “Lead the way.”

“And you’ll follow? Yeah, right. Since when do you follow anyone’s orders?”

Cole walked with her to the door. “Since around forty minutes ago.”

“And how does that feel?”

“I fucking hate it,” Cole admitted honestly.

“You have such a filthy mouth,” she pointed out, stopping in the doorway to the busy kitchen.

Cole made sure to press his entire front to her back while keeping his hands to himself as he acknowledged, “You’re right. Maybe you can clean it for me with your tongue later.”

When she looked back at him, she seemed to have regained her sense of humor because she dropped her eyes to his mouth and seductively licked her lower lip.

“Maybe. Ask me in four hours,” she sassed and turned, walking out into her kitchen, leaving Cole to follow for the second time that night.

Three and a half hours into the dinner service, Rachel found herself once again being surprised by Cole. All evening, he had stood beside her, keeping his hands to himself, and he had followed directions, right down to, Throw this in the trash, would you?

She never would have dreamed of him being a part of this, even for one night. As he listened, comprehended, and then executed every little thing she told him, Rachel was not only buzzing from having him there, she was also extremely impressed.

The other kitchen staff had gone about their business in their usual way. Ryan had barked out the orders while the other chefs were cutting, cooking, and plating the meals. Wendy would come to the service window to let them know if they were on schedule or running behind, and the waitstaff all delivered the food to their hungry clientele in a timely fashion.

Yes, Rachel thought, tonight ran exactly the way Exquisite should, and I’m finally enjoying it in a way I haven’t for months.

Looking over to where Cole was standing by the prep table, Rachel made her way to him with a special treat in mind. He had played by the rules all night and hadn’t touched her once. Admittedly, it didn’t surprise her, given his unwavering patience and the pride he took over his self-control. Still, as far as she was concerned, that kind of annoying dedication to his cause should not go without reward.

Wiping her hands on the apron tied around her waist, she stopped beside him, bumping her hip to his. “How’s it going chef?”

He looked over to her and placed the towel in his hands down on the tabletop. “Interesting.”

“Interesting good? Or interesting bad?” she pressed as she turned to rest her backside against the stainless steel.

“You’re fascinating to watch. Actually, the entire process back here is fascinating. It’s so loud and chaotic, but at the same time, it seems to run like a well-oiled machine.”

Rachel found herself liking that description because it was exactly how she felt about the kitchen. “That seems about right. I love working in the midst of chaos.”

His eyes took in her purple jacket and then moved up to the colorful hair she had pulled up and under her black cap. “Now that, I truly believe.”

“Well, we’re winding down for the night. The last orders have gone out, and I wanted to teach you something. Up for a lesson?”

His eyes narrowed on her. “What kind of lesson? Is it one I’ll regret later?”

Rachel shook her head. “Nope, it’s more a lesson of survival—for you anyway.”

She loved the confusion that came over his face because it had never happened before. She spun around and reached for a stainless steel pot from one of the shelves under the table.

Pulling it out, she walked to the back stove and placed it on one of the front gas burners. She noticed Cole had followed her over to the stove, and he seemed to be waiting patiently. That was, until he opened his mouth.

“A lesson in survival? I hardly think I will have a gas-burning stove if I am stuck somewhere needing to survive.”

Rachel rolled her eyes at his logic and sighed. “Oh, don’t be so damn literal,” she stated as she moved around him to the walk-in pantry.

She picked up all the ingredients she needed, and when she came back, she placed them beside the stove in front of him. She could see he was about to ask her another question when she asked, “Do you like apples?”

Cole paused halfway through a word that was about to come out of his mouth, and instead, he laughed. “Yes, why?”

“You’ll see,” she said in a singsong voice. She moved away from him again, but this time, she went into the fridge and returned with two Granny Smith apples. Placing them down near all the other items, Rachel winked up at him. “Okay, we need a cup and a half of sugar. Over there.” With her chin, she indicated to the large silver cylinder.

Cole picked up the cup she’d placed in front of him, and he measured the cup and a half she needed to perfection. She took the cup and dropped the contents into the pot. She turned back to him and pointed to the corn syrup. “I need a tablespoon of that.”

Silently, he poured it out, and she stood aside to let him put it into the pot.

“Okay, now, cut the lemon in half and squeeze it in.”

With a small paring knife, Cole did as she had asked and moved closer to her to squeeze the lemon juice into the pot. After that, she added in the little bit of water she needed and turned on the heat.

“What are we making?” he asked as he moved back out of her way.

Rachel began swirling the ingredients together with a flick of her wrist. “I told you, I’m teaching you how to survive…in the horrifying event that you don’t have any of your little caramel squares around.”

With her eyes on the mixture that was starting to bubble up, she felt him step closer.

“That’s going to turn into caramel?” he asked, his voice full of excitement but tinged with skepticism.

Turning her head, Rachel grinned at him. She was pleased he was so excited. “Yep, all it needs now is cream.”

Cole’s eyes moved from the amber-colored concoction back to hers.

“Cream?”

He might as well have said, Sex? Because all Rachel wanted to scream was, Yes, please! Now! Instead, she nodded and gathered her brain cells, at least what little she had left.

“Yes, I need the cream. It’s right over there.”

He turned away to pick up the container, and then he handed it to her. As she took it from him, their fingers brushed, and she was close to saying, Forget the damn caramel. The only things that stopped her were the other staff members and the knowledge that when they did get home, she could enjoy him as loudly as she wanted to with no one listening.

“Step back,” she instructed. “When I add it, it’s going to bubble up and spit.” Turning off the heat, Rachel added in the cream, and just as she had said, the mixture bubbled up to the top of the pot. Reaching over to the sticks of butter, she picked them up and put them in, all the while whisking the sweet syrup.

“Is it wrong that this is totally turning me on?” Cole’s voice hummed through the air.

Rachel removed the pot from the burner and continued stirring as she waggled her brows at him with mischief in her eyes. “Not at all. Makes perfect sense, considering the last time you had caramel sauce was—”

“When I spread it all over your naked breasts?”

“Yes.” Rachel sighed as she picked up the first apple.

“Are we nearly done here? I’m almost certain that the four hours are up.”

Raising her eyes to the clock on the wall, Rachel regretfully informed him, “Actually, you still have another five minutes.” She slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out two little sticks.

“Caramel apples?” Cole questioned.

She jabbed the sticks into the top of the Granny Smiths. “Yes, do you like caramel apples?”

“Rachel, you could put caramel on broccoli, and I would eat it. I will say that I haven’t had a caramel apple since I was a little boy. My mother used to make them.”

As Rachel dipped the first apple into the sauce, she gave him a warm smile. She was happy to be the one to give him back such an obviously fond memory.

“My dad used to make them with me. He loved to cook.”

She pulled the first apple free and placed it on a plate, and then when she reached for the second, she felt Cole’s palm cup the back of her neck.

Looking up at him, she felt their connection deeper than ever before. It was a connection that had been forged almost overnight, and it was unlike any she could have hoped for.

“Thank you,” he told her as he squeezed her neck gently.

“For?”

“Being exactly who you are. For being impulsive, strong, and mine. “

As he dropped his hand, Rachel took a deep breath and dipped the second apple into the mix. When she pulled it free, she placed it on the plate next to the other one. As Cole picked up the first one, she asked, “Can you please take me home now? The five minutes are up, and the foreplay is over.”

She thought he’d never looked sexier as he lifted the apple to his lips. Licking the warm dripping caramel, Cole’s eyes met hers right before his white teeth sank through the sweet layer to the crisp tart apple beneath, effectively turning her little game of seduction around on her.

Rachel watched him chew slowly on that piece of apple. Her insides flipped, and just breathing had her almost jumping out of her skin. Her panties brushed the piercing, which was currently sitting above her throbbing clit.

He swallowed, and in a voice she wanted by her ear, above her mouth, and sliding inside her, he told her, “I thought you’d never ask.”