Spooning Leads to Forking (Hot in the Kitchen #2) - Kilby Blades Page 0,20

and the kind of puffy, red face that told her he liked his drink.

“I think you must have me confused with somebody else.” Shea smiled politely and turned the page of her magazine.

He half-stepped closer and gave a cocky smile. “You sure you weren’t at the Rockies game last week? Suite level at Coors Field?”

Shea tried not to roll her eyes when she recognized it for the pickup attempt it was. She wished for something clever to say to show this fool how not impressed she was by his money.

“Yeah.” She smiled too sweetly. “I’m sure.”

9

The Special Order

Dev

Dev didn't mind Thursdays at, even though it was the busiest day at the market. Even though he had to pull double duty, with Silvio cheating him more and more each week. It wasn’t much—probably one-sided and something he took too seriously for his own good. Still, Thursday was one of the days he always got to see Shea.

It had become somewhat of a game to him: speculating on what she would cook with all of the odd ingredients she picked up on random days at the market and took the time to special order from him. Who came to the grocery store for a bunch of watercress, three stalks of fresh fennel, a gallon of milk and nothing more? Either she drove 40 miles each week to Big Mart to get the rest of her groceries—and Dev was pretty sure the kind of stuff Big Mart sold didn’t pair well with watercress—or she was one of the oddest and most interesting people Dev had ever met.

And it wasn’t just her culinary quirks that charmed him beyond reason. He loved that she hummed along to Stevie while she shopped—vibrant and so on key, he was sure she had an amazing singing voice. She stopped and read labels before choosing her food and took a slow zigzag down every aisle. Not enough people cared what they put into their bodies, but Shea seemed thoughtful about it—organized and particular, too. She appreciated the free samples of random health foods he put near the front of the store and thanked him every time. And she only ever paid for her purchases in cash.

“Oh, no! Am I too early?”

From his position in the back of the store, Dev hadn’t heard the bell announcing a customer’s entry. And from his vantage point, Dev hadn’t seen her come in. The boxes from the delivery were stacked so high and he’d been so distracted by Silvio that he hadn’t seen her approach.

Dev really liked looking at her, but he tried not to be a creeper as he took in today’s outfit: dark jean short cutoffs, brown leather cowboy boots and a light gray summer sweater that looked as soft as a baby bunny’s pelt.

“I don’t know.” Dev swung his gaze to his vendor “It depends on Silvio here. Are you done cheating me for today?”

Dev had already been around to the restaurant, taking inventory on ingredients delivered from Silvio on the food order that morning. It felt like everything cost an arm and a leg.

“You want the cheap stuff, I’ll bring you the cheap stuff…” Silvio volleyed back with a shit-eating grin. “No one’s holding a gun to your head to stock GMO-free bone broth and organic chard. Pricing would be better if you ordered regular food.”

“Pricing would be better if you told your other customers to stop ordering crap. We’d all be able to afford the better stuff if we ordered at volume.”

The back-and-forth was one the men had engaged in many times. Dev turned his attention back to Shea. He had hoped she would show up a little later, when she could have his undivided attention.

“It’ll take me a minute, but I can find your order if you want to wait,” he offered.

Fortunately, his business with Silvio was nearly done.

“I’ll wait,” she agreed amicably. It felt like the little smile she threw Dev held something just for him. Dev threw his own smile back that held something just for her. Then he remembered that Silvio was there, that he had a job to do and that the rest of the world existed.

“Help yourself to bone broth in the warmer up front.”

As Dev said the words “bone broth,” he shifted his gaze back to Silvio and gave him a little eyebrow raise. Silvio just shook his head, grabbed his clipboard off of one of the boxes he’d just delivered and started toward the back door. Dev turned his attention