Who's the Boss? - Erin McCarthy Page 0,9

calm for a woman who was clutching a fork like she wanted to jam it into my jugular.

“I would totally freak if I got stuck on an elevator,” one of the female servers said.

She had a nose ring and hair that looked like she’d forgotten to brush it in a few days. Ten years ago, she would have been my type. The party girl.

That gave me pause. I wasn’t sure what the hell was my type now other than women who made no demands on me beyond sex.

“No one has ever died from being trapped in an elevator,” Isla responded, sipping her water. She gave me an amused look.

It had been no small secret I didn’t exactly enjoy being trapped. Her amusement gave her the upper hand and I hated that. “Do you have actual statistics on it?” I replied, bumping my knee into hers. “I can guarantee it’s happened at least once.”

Her hand shook as she set the water back down, revealing either nerves or anger. Maybe both.

“Yes. The answer is zero.”

She was lying, of course. Arguing with me just to argue. “Someone has to be the first. It could have been me.”

“Too bad it wasn’t you.”

She said that with enough bite that the ten staff members around the table all seemed to pick up on it. I had clearly made a hell of an impression on her in the elevator.

“Oh, damn,” the male server with dark hair said.

I was going to have to go on a crash course to learn everyone’s names. I wished Nico had introduced everyone, but since he hadn’t, I was going to have to take the initiative.

Martin gave a grunt that actually sounded like he was in agreement with Isla.

Fabulous.

Not the way I wanted to start off a new position.

“What the hell is this all about?” Sid asked.

He was the owner, but very hands-off from what Nico had led me to believe. He was a nineties rap star who had always wanted to own a restaurant. He’d lost a bunch of cash early in his career to a flashy lifestyle and a lousy manager, but now he seemed to be a good guy who kept an eye on his investment, while not pretending to know how to be a house manager.

When no one responded, he added, “Is there a problem? Isla?”

I could hear her breathing through her nostrils. She sounded like a bull ready to charge. But when I watched her, I saw she was controlling herself, getting her emotions in check. Her expression was neutral.

“No, there’s no problem. None whatsoever.”

“Good. Because if you have a problem, come directly to me. Let’s not hash something out in front of the whole staff.”

Ouch. She wasn’t going to like that chastisement.

Isla just nodded. “Understood. My apologies.” She turned to me. “Welcome to Bone, Chef. I’m sure you’ll be an excellent addition to our family.”

It must have nearly killed her to say that.

She didn’t seem like the corporate-speak type in the first place and then, well, she hated me.

Did she have any clue that when I watched her eyes sparking with anger, I just wanted to lean down and finally take another kiss? Take her?

If we weren’t at the table in front of my new staff, I would right now.

Instead I settled for making her monstrously uncomfortable. “Thank you, Chef. I’m looking forward to working very closely with you.”

She visibly swallowed, but didn’t respond. She just turned back to the table at large. “Why don’t we go around the table and introduce yourselves to Sean?”

“Excellent idea.”

They all seemed like good people. I didn’t anticipate any issues with any of the front-of-house staff or the management. Just the kitchen. Martin looked like he’d swallowed a lemon and Isla was studiously refusing to look at me. The three of us were going to need to have a private meeting. I had assumed Nico and Sid would tell Martin and Isla about my hiring, but it was clear that they hadn’t, which set up a poor dynamic between the three of us from jump.

Of course, maybe it wouldn’t have mattered if they had known in advance. Martin was pissed and offended he hadn’t been given the position and Isla already disliked me. But at least they would have had time to process the information.

The entrée was brought out and everyone chatted. There was a nervous energy in the air and I didn’t like it. The servers kept looking to Isla but she was quiet. I got the feeling that was