Hungry For You - Argeneau Series - Book 14 Page 0,16

was at least willing. This was one hell of a debacle, one he wasn’t even sure how he’d landed in, but he was confident that between the two of them they could handle things. He’d do his best at cooking, and Bricker would ensure that the customers thought they were happy. Then, the minute he was away from here, he’d start calling around to find someone else to take his place, or better yet, find someone to take the original chef’s place permanently. Alex would think him a hero, and Cale could woo her … and explain later that he wasn’t really a chef and didn’t own a restaurant.

He was just relaxing, thinking his problems mostly resolved if he could just get through this night without poisoning anyone, when a gasp from Alex drew his attention. She’d moved to his “station” to look at his Trout Amandine and appeared rather horrified byhis and Bricker’s efforts. Cale instinctively tried to slip into her mind to control her, but of course he couldn’t. He turned to Bricker in a panic. Fortunately, the man had already noticed. He muttered something into the phone, and then lowered it briefly and slid into Alex’s thoughts to steer her away from the dish. He left her standing blank-faced in the center of the kitchen as he turned back to his call.

Cale sighed and then took a moment to glance at the others in the kitchen. None of them seemed to have noticed. The other cooks were all bustling around, getting their dishes together under Bev’s eagle eye. He suspected he was the one who was supposed to be overseeing the other cooks, but the sous-chef had taken over the chore without prompting, ensuring that the rest of the kitchen ran smoothly. The woman definitely seemed to know what she was about. Perhaps he should suggest Alex promote Bev to chef de cuisine, and then hire another sous-chef. Surely those were easier to find than a head chef.

“Right.” Bricker snapped his phone closed and urged Cale back toward Alex. “Mortimer says it’s all right for me to stay tonight, but we’re going to have to work something else out for tomorrow.”

Cale merely nodded. He had no intention or desire to be doing this two nights in a row anyway. He would find a replacement chef for Alex if he had to call in every favor owed him, he thought grimly, and then turned his attention to Alex as Bricker said, “Everything is in order here, Alex. I will help out and wait tables tonight, and Cale is an excellent chef. Everything will be fine.

You should really just go about whatever it is you need to do and leave things to us without worrying.”

Cale wasn’t terribly surprised when Alex woodenly agreed and turned to walk into her office. Sighing with relief, he turned to his station and the waiting orders. “So, what’s the next order?”

Bricker snorted at the question. “That’s your problem, buddy. I’m waiting tables now, remember?”

Cale glanced at him with alarm. “But—”

“Just follow the recipes. If it’s something like the Trout Amandine and you don’t know what to do, slip into Bev’s mind and get the answer,” he suggested, heading for the door to the dining room.

Cale opened his mouth to protest again, but both he and Bricker halted as Alex suddenly came out of her office, shifting her purse and a stack of papers from hand to hand as she shrugged on a winter coat.

“Where are you going?” Cale asked with surprise.

“To the new restaurant,” she explained hurriedly, heading for the door at the back of the kitchen. “You and Bricker have everything in hand here and there’s nothing to worry about, so I need to get back to the new restaurant. They were waiting on the paint when I left and I have to be sure the right color arrived. I’ll check back here at closing time. See you then.”

Cale gaped after her as she pushed through the back door. A gust of wind rushed into the room, and then the door closed, and she was gone. He stared blankly for a minute, and then turned sharply on Bricker.

“Hmm,” the younger man said with a frown. “That’s a rather startling development.”

“Startling?” Cale ground out with fury. “The only reason I let you convince me to try to cook was to be close to her, and she’s not even going to be here.”

“Yeah. That’s kind of ironic, huh?” Bricker said with a shake of the