Who's the Boss? - Erin McCarthy Page 0,37

it wasn’t like our previous kisses. It was almost… tender. It caught me off guard and made me shiver. Almost immediately it was over.

Sean ran a thumb over my lip. “Bye,” he said gruffly.

“Bye.” That’s what it was. We couldn’t do this again and yes, it might have stung a little that he had brought that reality up so quickly but he was right.

And maybe I didn’t hate Sean Kincaid quite as much as I thought I did.

It was a relief not to have to dress like I was going clubbing, but that was the only thing that didn’t suck ass about going to work the next day. I had barely slept, wondering what was wrong with me that I would actually jeopardize my entire career for a little action with the executive chef. That made me certifiable.

Sipping my coffee as I walked down the street, I lifted my free hand and eased my topknot. It was too tight and I had a headache. Or maybe that was the lack of sleep. Either way, my head hurt. I hadn’t bothered with any makeup and I had barely managed to drag a brush through my hair. I didn’t need to look cute. If anything, it would help the situation if I looked a hot mess, which I did. Sean didn’t do lunch service, so at least I wouldn’t have to see him for a few hours. We closed for two hours between lunch and dinner service and I had to help him prep but then I could go home and put on pajamas and watch something on Netflix. Not something that would make me cry, because I never cried, but maybe something where buildings were blown up. That would suit my mood.

I had wrapped a knit scarf around my neck because it was chilly and I needed the cozy feel of it against my skin. Back in my combat boots, I felt more in control than I had in sexy shoes.

But I still got a double take from Carla, the server, when I came into the kitchen. “Rough night?” she asked, voice filled with sympathy.

Obviously I looked as bad as I felt. “Something like that.”

“Drink a Bloody Mary. It will fix you up right away. I can go ask Courtney to make you one.”

Courtney was the day bartender. I opened my mouth to say I wasn’t hungover, then decided it actually might help my headache. “Sure, thanks.”

She gave me a smile. “I’m on it. I’ll tell Juan not to ask you any dumb questions today.”

That made me laugh. “Come on, leave Juan alone. He asks questions because he’s afraid to do something wrong. I can’t find fault with that.”

“I don’t know. He just follows me around.” Carla twisted her nose ring. “I think he’s crushing on me.”

“Dating in the workplace is a bad idea,” I said, like a complete hypocrite. I mean, it was true. I just had totally ignored that fact.

“Ew! I don’t want to date Juan. He’s like two years younger than me.” Carla gave me a grin. “If I was going to date anyone here, it would be Chef. He’s hot.”

I paused in unraveling my scarf around my neck. I breathed through my nose, and raised my coffee to my mouth so that my face was partially hidden. Okay, that really bothered me. Carla and Sean? Nope. That was not cool. “He’s kind of old for you,” I said, striving for casual. “And he’s your boss.”

“No, he isn’t. I’m front of the house, so Nico is my boss.” She raised her eyebrows up and down. “Besides, I could find another job serving if it got really hot between us.”

Wow, she had this all figured out. “Hmm. I guess so.” What else could I say? I couldn’t exactly tell her she should never put a man before her job when I had Chef balls deep in me the night before.

“How old do you think he is?” she asked. “Thirty? That’s not too old. I’m twenty-three.”

I had no opinion on age gaps in dating except when it was someone trying to steal a guy from me I didn’t want. Riddle that one out. “He’s not thirty. He’s at least thirty-five.” I didn’t know exactly but I did know that Michael was forty-three and Sean was his younger brother, so I thought I was in the ballpark. Besides, he didn’t look young. He had a maturity to the way he looked. No baby face anywhere. Just a rough, masculine, fully adult