Naturally, I’d taken the coward’s route and decided I would wait for him to make a move. My logic was that I needed to focus on my career, especially since The Night of Lights came and went without any miracle career opportunities appearing. Sure, I was still getting compliments on the street about how much people enjoyed the food, but no mysterious benefactor had showed up with a wad of cash and a ticket to my dream.
Deep down, I knew it had been a long shot. Two days after the event, I’d gone online and started applying at restaurants across the country. It wasn’t running my own place and designing my own menu, but it would at least be a job. Besides, hardly anybody got to come straight out of culinary training and land their own place. It was a pipe dream, just like most of the other things I hoped for.
Speaking of pipe dreams, this past week had also been largely devoted to shutting the door on Greyson. The kiss had been incredible, but I was realizing nothing more was ever going to come of it.
I couldn’t be sure if it was connected, but the night after our kiss, I’d seen a gorgeous woman walk up to the inn. She’d stayed two days, and coincidentally, Greyson seemed to lose all interest in me. I had to face the facts. She was probably his girlfriend coming to visit from out of town. That, or she was just some hot client he’d been hooking up with and whatever interest he had in me dried up when greener pastures came along.
I sighed and took a big bite of one of the cookies from my latest batch. I chewed, unable to stop myself from mentally taking notes and planning what I would try differently next time. Maybe a touch of nutmeg?
I jumped when there was a knock at the door. Just like every time someone came to my door lately, I rushed to the mirror and checked my reflection. I took a deep breath, then pulled open the door. I was surprised to see Zack Ashford.
“Hey, can I come in?” he asked.
“Um, sure?” I stepped aside and let the big man into my apartment. He went and stood by the kitchen counter, waiting for me to close the door.
“My brother is being too bull-headed to talk to you about this, so I will,” Zack said. He helped himself to some of the candy I had in a bowl on the counter, chewing while my stomach sat in my throat.
“About?” I asked impatiently.
“He needs a chef,” Zack said. “He’s been renovating the inn to add space for a dining room. Turning the whole thing into some kind of fancy restaurant. He thinks it’ll help revive Gramps’ business if people come to stay for the food. But I know he knows you’d be perfect for the gig. He’s just being too damn stubborn to ask.”
“W-what?” I stammered, unable to process all of the information at once. I’d been expecting Zack to tell me how Greyson was thinking about our kiss, or how he didn’t know what to say to me and wanted to try to make a go of things. But this?
Zack shrugged, eating more of my candy. “He’s got access to chefs because of his job back home, but we both know you’re the right person for the job. Since he’s not going to ask, I think the only way is for you to go ask him about it point blank. Say you heard he’s trying to open a restaurant and you want to prepare a sample menu for him or something.” Zack grinned, a little embarrassed. “I don’t actually know how people audition for shit like this, but yeah. Just go over there and make sure he can’t ignore you.”
I shook my head. “Seriously? I can’t just–”
“He’s not that scary,” Zack said. “I know he tries to be, but he’ll give you a shot if you ask.”
I dropped my shoulders and took a steadying breath. “You really think so?”
“I know so. And if he doesn’t, I’ll kick his ass.”
I smirked at the image of the two of them wrestling it out. Zack Ashford had hardly ever talked to me before, but I could see now why he’d dated practically every woman in town. He was sweet, and I felt protected knowing he was backing me up. “Thank you, Zack.”
“Sure thing. Can I?” he gestured to the bowl of candy, which was halfway gone now.
I smiled. “Help yourself.”
“Thanks.” He lifted the whole bowl and dumped the rest into his jacket pocket, winked, and then let himself out.
I felt strange just walking into the inn, even though that’s kind of what you did at this sort of place. Still, it felt like barging into Greyson’s house. I walked slowly as I entered, surprised I didn’t hear the kids making noise. Instead, I saw the wall had been knocked out and there was debris everywhere. There were power tools sitting around and extension cords lining the floor like roots in some mechanical jungle.