Robert returns wearing a hopeful look, I don’t give Alex a chance to talk and say, “I’d love to meet the person who made this. It’s incredible.”
Alex immediately joins in on the praise. “They are fantastic. From one chef to another, I’d be honored if we could tell her how wonderful we think they are.”
Robert seems to hesitate for a moment but then nods, giving us a smile like he’s proud of his pastry chef. “Okay. I’ll get her.”
The two of us wait, and Alex says in a low voice, “Try not to be your usual dick self. She might actually like you if you aren’t.”
Nice. My best friend thinks I’m a dick. And a snob.
I consider asking him what the hell that comment means, but before I can, Robert returns with the person I’m silently calling the woman of my dreams. A couple yards away before, she looked stunning. Up close, she’s even better.
Twice in the span of a few minutes, I don’t have the right word to describe something regarding her.
“Gentlemen, this is Hailey, my daughter. She’s the one who makes the wonderful desserts for our restaurant,” Robert says, beaming pride.
Hailey. At least now I officially know the name of the woman of my dreams. The problem is my dream woman isn’t even looking up at me. Not that she’s looking at Alex either. In fact, her gaze seems plastered to the floor.
“I’m Cade, and this is Alex. We loved what you made. It’s delicious.”
Finally, she lifts her head and gives me a tiny smile before glancing over at Alex. “My father told me you’re a chef and you loved the cookie? That’s so nice of you to say.”
Alex’s face lights up at her mention of his job. “I am, and I can say for certain I’ve never tasted anything as incredible from any of our pastry chefs at CK. Just don’t tell them I said that because they’ll never let me live that down.”
Unlike with me, Hailey gives him a big smile that shows off a beautiful mouth and white teeth. “Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.”
She gives me a quick glance and then quietly says, “It was nice meeting you two. I have to get back to work now.”
And with that, she hurries into the kitchen and the last thing I see is the back of her right before the doors swing closed and she disappears. Robert and Alex continue to talk about desserts and how talented Hailey is, but I can’t take my eyes off those kitchen doors, hoping for one more glimpse of her.
She doesn’t appear, though, and when her father walks away and Alex starts talking about how much the check is compared to how great the food was, I simply nod my agreement. I can’t think of anything but Hailey.
Is she cool like that with everyone? No, it’s obvious she isn’t. She didn’t act all chilly with Alex.
Is she just shy? Maybe. I can work with shy. Shy girls are some of the sexiest girls going.
Or is she just not interested? Or worse, interested in my best friend?
“Did you hear me? I said I’m going to pay the bill.”
Alex’s voice pulls me from my thoughts, and I give him a fake smile and nod again. “Yeah. I’ll be right there.”
Left alone, I look over at the kitchen doors one last time and see her face in the window. This time, she doesn’t immediately run and hide. I notice she doesn’t look over toward where Alex was sitting either.
When she gives me a tiny smile like she gave me before, I give her one in return. So she’s a shy girl. I can definitely work with that.
Chapter Three
Hailey
I hear my mother walk in through the back door of the restaurant and know she’s going to come right over to see what I’m making. She means well. Really, she does. It’s just that at this very moment the last thing on my mind are cookies.
Shaking my head, I try to push out the image of that guy. Cade. A guy that gorgeous has no business being in our restaurant. Either does his friend, especially since he works as a chef at the best restaurant in town, but I could tell by the way he was talking about the cookie he had that he really liked it.
“Hello, honey,” my mother says as she leans over my back to kiss my right cheek. “What do you have cooking today?”
It’s her way of being sweet