Imperfectly Delicious (Imperfect Series #6) - Mary Frame Page 0,1
exudes a force of character that is entirely overwhelming. He’s like 125% of a person inside a body.
He’s too much to handle. Which is why the last time I saw Guy Chapman up close, I may have accidentally set him on fire.
It’s still silent up above. Is he leaving? Is he gone? It is over?
“Is this how you run a business?” His words are like the snap of a kitchen towel, quick and biting.
I cringe from my position crouched down low.
Fred, however, is not impressed. “It’s not my business, and since the person in charge is trembling at my feet, I don’t think she runs it well either, but you make an excellent point. I’ve got customers to serve and I don’t think they’re lining up for the smell of asshole in the afternoon, even if you were on a reality show three years ago. Do you mind stepping aside?”
Guy makes a disgusted noise, like he’s unable to clear a particularly tough glob of phlegm from the back of his throat, and then he says, “If you see her, if she actually exists that is, please tell her I need to speak with her. Right away.”
“I will for sure!” Fred’s voice is bright and happy. “So, what was your name?”
Ominous silence.
This is the third time this week that Guy has come over here, and every time, Fred’s asked him the same thing.
“Guy Chapman,” he bites out.
“Right. Got it. I’ll remember it this time.” A few fraught seconds later, Fred starts taking an order for a dozen bite-size When Life Gives You Lemon cupcakes, and I peer carefully over the counter in the direction of Decadence.
Guy is stalking back to his restaurant, head high, the line of his shoulders rigid.
“You can’t avoid him forever,” Fred tells me while she rings up the customer.
“I can try.” I stand up and move over to the counter on the opposite side where we’ve racked the cupcakes to help her box up the goods.
“You knew parking here would bring the troll from under the bridge.”
I didn’t know. And once I did, it didn’t matter. There weren’t any other good choices and failure wasn’t an option. Besides, I didn’t think he would even notice my little truck. We aren’t doing anyone any harm.
“I can’t believe you told him I was hiding from him.”
She shrugs. “He didn’t believe me. He’s an idiot.”
When I first parked here, I didn’t know Guy was in the middle of renovations on the giant building next to this lot. And even if I had known, it wouldn’t have deterred me. Finding decent parking for a food truck in New York City is like finding a tapdancing unicorn: both impossible and fantastic.
Fortunately for me, a friend owns this empty lot—her company does, anyway—and she offered to let me use it.
“I hadn’t really expected it to affect his business at all,” I tell Fred.
To be honest, I had both hoped and feared that parking my food truck outside Guy’s newest restaurant venture would piss him off. Show him that his attempts to push me down hadn’t worked. But I didn’t expect to have to talk to him. I didn’t expect him to lower himself to the point where he would come over and confront me directly.
Fred shrugs. “Clearly you’ve done something to get his attention if the King himself is deigning to mingle with the commoners.”
We switch places and I plaster a smile on my face before greeting the next customer.
“Welcome to For Goodness Cakes, how can I help you?”
My body goes through the motions of ringing up orders and boxing up cupcakes for the after-work crowd, but my mind is still on the man who’s disappeared inside his restaurant across the street.
It just plain doesn’t make sense. I mean, he’s Guy Chapman. He’s a famous chef. He’s been on TV. He’s renowned for his culinary skills, business acumen, and sexy brooding demeanor. All of his restaurants are Michelin rated. He only hires the best—which knocked me out of the running before I could even start. The fire bit didn’t help.
I didn’t mean to torch him. And normally, I’m very meticulous and safe in the kitchen. It was just that he flustered me. He was standing so close, and he smelled like an expensive forest. Not like a normal woodsy pine scent, but like a fancy forest where the birds wear Rolexes and the deer drive Teslas. He was behind me, so close and leaning in and I…basically lost my mind.