Page 63 of You'll Be the Death of Me

With another glance over her shoulder, she nodded at the walk-in freezer’s door beside the fridge. “In here,” she whispered to Cole.

No one had noticed them—which made Dell wonder if she needed to step up her security. But at the moment, it was a good thing. All her chefs and servers were heads down getting the job done, none the wiser a thief was in their midst, filching dinner and booze.

Once she and Cole entered the freezer, she set her dinner on a shelf and yanked the heavy door shut to seal them inside.

“What if someone comes in here for an ingredient?” Cole asked, and took a quick scan of the shelves stacked with all manner of containers. Prepped purees, sauces, stocks. Ice cream, cake filling. Sasha’s pistachio gelato.

“Then I turn around and pretend I’m looking for one too,” Dell said through a mouthful of short ribs. “God, this is so good. It’s only been a day, and I already miss food so much.” She hummed a happy sound, lost in the pleasure of eating.

Cole cleared his throat, and Dell opened her eyes to see him hungrily watching her. From the heat in his eyes, she could tell he was staring atherand not longing for the food.

Her next swallow thickly slid down her throat. She uncorked the wine and took a swig to help wash it down. It was the best wine she had ever tasted. Sure, it was a proprietary blend hand-selected from her favorite winery in Napa, but the tart pinch and smooth finish of peach had never hit her tongue so beautifully.

“Good year?” Cole asked, nodding at the wine bottle and still watching her.

She felt his eyes outlining the curve of her neck as she swallowed. If the freezer hadn’t been so cold, she might have started to sweat.

“Mm-hmm,” she confirmed. “When was the last time you had a drink?” The question rolled off her tongue without thought, and it wasn’t until she saw the furrow in his brow that she realized his last meal might be a sensitive topic. “Sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“No, it’s fine. I’m just sincerely trying to remember,” Cole said with a small laugh. It lifted her heart. He continued to watch her eat, and the heat of his gaze left Dell tingling, despite the cold. Another sound of pleasure escaped her throat, but it wasn’t from the food.

“Feeling better now?” Cole asked.

“Much,” she said, feeling more than justbetter. “Thank you for this. It’s been... quite a day. I hope we don’t get in too much trouble.”

“Listening to the sounds you make when you like something will have been worth it.”

She almost choked on her next bite.

“Sorry,” he said. “That was a bit forward. I just meant I am enjoying watching you enjoy something so much.”

Dell gulped another mouthful of wine, trying to quell the fire in her chest that was rapidly spreading into her lower abdomen. “That’s okay.”

A tension hung between them. One with as much bite as the wine on Dell’s tongue.

“For what it’s worth, you’ve handled everything astonishingly well today,” Cole said.

She arched an eyebrow at him. “Don’t tell me I’m not your first mistake and you’ve spent entire days in the past trying to undead someone out of the in-between.”

He gave her a gently exasperated look. “Of course not. I just meant you’ve handled the day’s revelations rather well. It’s been impressive.”

“Well, too bad this isn’t aChristmas Carolsituation, and the lessons of past, present, and future haven’t paid off for finding my wrong turn.”

Cole gave her a sympathetic look with a twist of his lips.

Dell shook her head to clear her thoughts. She sipped her wine again, wondering if she’d have to suffer the consequences or if the hangover would stay rooted in this woman’s body only. “Let’s talk about something else. My failed attempts at knowledge gain are killing the vibe.”

“Sure. What would you like to talk about?” The open expression on his face pulled her in with a welcome interest. Tommy never asked what she wanted to talk about. He just jumped right into whatever was on his mind.

Dell took a moment to consider, because there were so manythings on her mind, but one had been dancing around with more fervor than the rest.

“Tell me more about your job.”

“My job?” Cole asked, eyebrows raised high.

“Yes. I want to know what your day-to-day is like. Do you sit at a desk? Are there boring afterlife meetings and committees to serve on? Do you go on corporate retreats?”

He softly laughed with a bounce of his shoulders. “Um, yes, to some of that. I do sit at a desk. With a computer, of sorts. I do attend my share of boring meetings, and no, I have never been on a retreat.”