The Perfect Dish (20 page)

Shelby sighed and shoved a strand of blonde hair out of her eyes. “I’m trying. I really am. Part of it is that I’m homesick for Texas. I am not a city girl, I can tell you that.”

“What’s stopping you from going back for a visit?”

Shelby held her hands up and looked around. “This.” She dropped her hands back in her lap. “I can’t leave Kelly. It wouldn’t be fair.”

Meredith assessed the files and forms spread out on the table. “I don’t mean to downplay the importance of what you do, but I’m sure he could get someone to fill in for a week or two.” How hard could it be to do Shelby’s job?

Her eyes brightened. “You think so?”

“Of course. It’s as easy as calling a temp agency.” Proud of her idea, Meredith sat back with a smile. A trip home would be great for Shelby. Time to reconnect with old friends and remember how good life could be.

Shelby pushed her chair back and stood up. “I’m suddenly starving. Let’s go get some lunch. My treat.”

When Meredith returned home, the blinking message light on her machine caught her eye. Two messages. She pressed play.

“Meredith! You’re a genius! A freaking genius. Love the pictures. Totally something I can work with. I have to say, I didn’t know you had it in you. I mean, Chef Spicer? What a coup! Talk soon.”

Jillian’s incredulous attitude toward Kelly grated on Meredith. Why was it so surprising? She shook her head and hit the delete button. The next message began.

“Hi Mery, it’s Kelly. Call me when you get in. Please.”

Hmm. He didn’t sound thrilled. She dialed his private office number. “Hi, it’s Mery, I got your message.” Mery? When had she started calling herself that?

“Did you actually tell Shelby I could find someone to replace her? At a temp agency?” A nuance of tension edged his voice.

“Well, hello to you, too.” So he was upset about Shelby’s little vacation.

He sighed before answering her with obvious impatience. “Hi, how are you?”

The first chink in the cowboy’s armor. She stifled a smile, hoping it wouldn’t come through. “Fine and you?”

“Not so great. Which is why I called. Can we get back to the subject now?”

“My, my. You’re awfully cranky for a man who claims to be concerned with his sister’s well being.”

“I
am
concerned about Shelby, but I can’t just replace her like that.” He blew out a long breath. “She’s leaving Thursday. Thursday! That’s two days from now. Things were just starting to return to normal around here and now she’s leaving again.”

What did he look like in this sort of mood? Sexier than ever, probably. “That’s what temp agencies are for. They’ll have someone there tomorrow if you want.”

“No. I need someone I can trust. These are my books, server receipts, invoices...anything that has to do with money coming in or going out, goes by Shelby.”

“Are you telling me you run two busy restaurants without a
real
accountant?”

“I have an accountant. Shelby’s a fail-safe. A fact checker.” He sighed. “You don’t know how easy it is for servers to over bill or for kitchen help to walk home with a case of lobster. I can’t just replace her with a temp.”

“You serve lobster, but I got game hen for dinner?” She tsked.

“Are you listening to me? I’m serious.” His tone moved toward agitated.

“I’m listening. I’m sure you’ll find someone. How hard can it be to check some figures and baby-sit the help? Sounds like a cakewalk to me.” Typical male. All bunched up over the simplest thing.

“You think so?” He paused. “Fine. Get your cakewalkin’ shoes on. I’ll expect you here 9 A.M. Thursday morning.”

“What? Wait. I don’t know anything about—”

“See you then.” Chuckling softly, he hung up.

She called back. No answer. She tried his cell. His voicemail clicked on. She hung up without leaving a message and sent him a text. That didn’t get answered, nor did the email she sent a few hours later. In fact, the next time she talked to him was ten minutes after she’d entered Sedona Thursday morning. “I don’t know what I’m doing, you know. If I screw up, it’s your fault.”

Smiling as he approached, he planted his hands on her ribcage, closed the space between them and kissed her. He nuzzled his lips against her neck. “If you screw up, it’s coming out of your pay.”

His mouth sent a delicious heat through her blood. Maybe this would be fun. She leaned back. “You’re paying me?”

He waggled his brows. “I was thinking we could work out some sort of barter system. Services rendered for services rendered.”

Poking him in the chest, she shook her head. “Don’t write checks you can’t cash.”

One brow shot up. His hands coasted from her sides to the curves of her backside. “The bank of Kelly is good for it. Believe me.”

“Now who’s randy?” she muttered.

He laughed and kissed her again before releasing her. “C’mon, I’ll show you how we do things around here.”

Two hours later and the stack of paperwork next to Mery on the bar had gotten taller not shorter, despite the amount she’d already done. Kelly was upstairs in his cushy office while she drowned beneath piles of receipts, lists of inventory, linen service bills and enough loops of adding machine tape to decorate the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree.

“This is ridiculous. I’m a doctor of psychology. I shouldn’t be doing this.” She threw her pencil down and shoved the adding machine away. “I was on Oprah, for crying out loud.”

Game over. She was done. Grabbing the key card he’d given her, she hopped off the bar stool and headed upstairs to see her new “boss”.

She stepped out of the elevator and padded down the hall to his office. Light filtered beneath the door. Twisting the knob, she pushed open the door and entered. “We need to talk.”

With a slight jump, Kelly curved his arms around an old book laid open on his desk. “What? Oh, sure. I’ll be down in a minute.”

Shaking her head, she settled into a chair and crossed her legs. “We can talk right here.”

He crossed his arms in front of the book, blocking her view. He was hiding something. Couldn’t be porn. No pictures. Erotica maybe? She narrowed her eyes and tipped her chin toward his desk. “What are you reading?”

“Just some old recipes.” He closed the book and tucked it beneath his desk before she could get a better look at it.

“Recipes? You’re acting like you just got caught with porn.” Let him sweat. It was good for him to remember who was in charge of this relationship.

His mouth twitched with the makings of a smile. “The only woman I want to see naked is you.”

Fever burned across her cheeks and down under the buttons of her silk blouse. She stared at her shoes. The things that came out of his mouth. A mouth that could kiss her into oblivion without much effort. The heat traveled into her thighs.

“Are you all right, Mery? You look a little hot and bothered.” Kelly’s chair squeaked but she didn’t look up. Couldn’t look up, not with a four-alarm fire blazing on her face. Get a grip. Remember who’s in charge. What had she come up here for?

“Yes, I’m hot and bothered.” She lifted her chin and met his wickedly sparkling eyes. “Because of all the work you dumped on me.”

He leaned back in his chair. She straightened. “I can’t believe Shelby does all that in a day.”

A smirk pushed up one side of his mouth. “She doesn’t.”

“I thought so.”

“She does that in a morning.” Kelly’s smug expression said he was entirely too satisfied with himself. Unfortunately, it was also a very sexy look.

“Really?” Mery loosened the neck of her shirt. If she got any warmer she was going downstairs and dunking her head in the ice bin behind the bar.

He stood, walked around to the front of his desk and leaned against it. “Really.”

The move put his denim-clad crotch at eye level. The ice bin sounded better and better. She focused on an imaginary spot on her pinstriped black pants. “I fold. I’m not cut out for Shelby’s job.”

Soft laughter reached her ears. She looked up, once again shot through by the piercing blue of his eyes. He crossed his arms across his chest. “There’s a temp coming in at noon.”

“Then why make me come in?”

“Because I wanted to prove a point.” He hesitated, wiping his hands down his jeans before hooking his thumbs in his waistband. “And I wanted to see you again.”

“We have a date. Tonight.” She couldn’t help but smile. It was sweet in a bothersome kind of way.

He reached for her, his fingers interlacing hers. He pulled her out of the chair and up against his chest. His mouth was only inches from hers. “How come you’re so levelheaded about this and I can’t go five minutes without thinking about you?”

The contact spread new heat through her. She was going to melt right here in his office. “This?” she whispered.

“Us.” He released her fingers to plant his hands on her hips.

He smelled like wood smoke and rosemary. Her mouth watered so badly she had to swallow. “I’ve had more practice.”

“Or maybe you just aren’t as nuts about me as I am about you?” A shadow of hurt glimmered in his eyes. “You can tell me. I can take it.”

Was that what he thought? Maybe she was playing it too cool. She brushed her fingers through the soft gold curls above his ear. “No, I am.”

“You are what?”

Her fingers trembled slightly. Why were these words so hard? It’s not like she was professing her undying love. “I am nuts about you.”

His eyes brightened. “You are?”

She nodded. “I guess I’m just overly cautious, given my past and all.”

“There’s nothing to be cautious about. This is just for fun, remember?” He shifted to put more space between them. “We already know this isn’t going anywhere serious. Neither one of us wants to get married or settle down into some sort of commitment. Isn’t that what you want?”

She patted his chest. “Yes, absolutely. You’re right. This is just for fun. Nothing to even think about really.” The tiniest sliver of disappointment wormed its way into her heart but she chalked it up to ego. This was what she wanted. What her career needed. No promises, no commitments, no “I love you’s” that led to “I do’s”.

She knew where love’s journey ended. No one would convince her to walk that path again.

Chapter Twenty-one

The theater lights went down and Kelly slipped his arm around Mery’s shoulders. “You smell nice,” he whispered, inhaling her scent. He wanted to smell that fragrance on his sheets in the morning.

Face lit by the glow of coming attractions, she smiled. “Thanks.” She pulled his arm off her shoulders and he was about to ask why when she pushed the armrest up and out of the way. She settled his arm around her again and scooted closer. “I haven’t been to a movie in ages.”

“Me, either. I work too much.” He held out the paper bucket of popcorn.

She took a handful and turned back to the screen. He watched the colors flickered over her face. Studied the few delicate lines fanning from the corners of her eyes and the softer ones that put parentheses around her smiles. Were they from all the sorrow in her life? He wanted to kiss them, to see what they tasted like. Maybe they’d be bitter from the pain that caused them or sweet like the woman who wore them.

Maybe she felt bad about the temp situation but she’d been extra understanding when he’d canceled dinner because of an emergency at the restaurant. He’d been lucky to get out in time to make the movie.

Clarissa would’ve told him not to worry about it and then launched into a big pout. Mery took everything in stride. Sure, the photos had thrown her but he despised them, too. Following people around trying to snap a juicy photo just wasn’t good manners.

He glanced around the theater. All the eyes around them were focused on the screen. Content that no one watched them, he relaxed, kissed Mery’s temple and got lost in the movie.

On their way out, he held her hand. “Hungry? Or did you fill up on popcorn?”

“Is it even possible to fill up on popcorn?” She laughed. “I could eat something. What do you have in mind?”

“Up for a little walk?”

She squeezed his hand. “Sure.”

“Great. I promise it’ll be worth it.” He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Serendipity.

“Hey, Traci, it’s Kelly Spicer...fine, how are you?...great...can you save me a table for two in about fifteen minutes?...wonderful. I owe you...bye.” He smiled at Mery. “We’re good to go.”

The lights of the city twinkled around them like Texas stars and Kelly understood Shelby’s need to see home again. He tugged Mery a little closer. “I’m sorry I got cross with you for telling Shelby to go home for a visit. It was a great idea.”

Her shoulders scrunched up. “Going home can salve a lot of wounds. It’s a safe place to be, for most of us.”

“Gram’s is definitely that.” If anyone could turn a person right side up again, it was Gram. The only person she hadn’t been able to fix was Dee. Nobody could fix her. That was the price for misusing the book.

“I bet she’s a great woman,” Mery said.

Thoughts of his mother dissolved into smoke. “Who?”

“Your grandmother. Isn’t that who you were talking about?” She gave him a funny look.

“Oh yeah. Lot on my mind I guess.”

“Like what?”

“Nothing important.” He didn’t want to tell her anymore about Dee. The woman wasn’t worth wasting breath over anyway. “You doing anything Saturday night? Say no.”

“Okay, no,” she said laughing.

“Good. We’re going to an art exhibit at a gallery that belongs to a friend of mine. He’s showing a new artist and he’s really excited about it. Some eighty-eight year old French woman named Claudette. She takes photographs of bread.”

Mery’s brows bent. “Bread? As in Wonder?”

“I don’t know. Mick said it’s pretty racy stuff.” He shrugged. “How bread can be racy beats me. Anyway, ask your friends if they could come, too. Mick always thinks nobody’s going to show up.”

“If they aren’t busy I’m sure they’d love to come. I take it Mick is your friend?”

Her look spoke volumes. “Yes, I have friends and yes, I was planning on introducing you very soon. Mick is...well, Mick is Mick.”

“Your gift for description amazes and astounds.” She snickered.