Page 16 of Elijah’s Whim

“Well, now I’m dreading seeing him on the lunch deliveries. If I’m lucky, he won’t be in the office today.”

“Well, let’s go see if his name is on the list.” Rio hooked her arm in mine, and we turned toward the building.

We met each other’s stare for a brief moment and then took off running across the parking lot, giggling like schoolgirls the entire way. It felt so good to laugh and release the tension of the morning and have some girl time with my friend to boot.

I was so thankful I had this woman in my life. When she and Abbi hired me, I had no idea we’d become friends, but I was so grateful we had. Even though the shit storm currently clouding the usually sunny skies of my life was because of the exact same reason.

Sure enough, Elijah was on the delivery schedule for lunch. I thought about changing with one of my coworkers, but what good would it do? If he was still pissed at me at lunch, he’d likely still be pissed when I got home later tonight. Something told me this guy didn’t let anything slip through the cracks. So I might as well take my medicine like a big girl and get it over with.

“Hey, Hannah,” one of my coworkers, Brinn, called to me when we came inside. “Your phone’s been pinging over there where you left it. In case you were expecting a call or whatever.”

“Oh, okay. Thank you.” I smiled brightly at the other staff member. For the first time today, it didn’t feel like I had to concentrate to make the expression.

I checked my phone quickly before washing my hands and getting back to work. Soon, I’d have to get the van loaded and head downtown.

The message was from Elijah, and while I wanted to pretend I didn’t know what he was talking about, I’d read enough naughty books and heard enough stories about friends’ bedroom escapades that were much more adventurous than the handful of vanilla experiences I’d had.

Make sure you bring something extra

soft to sit on for your drive back to the

kitchen today. After that stunt this morning,

you’re going to need it.

I quickly looked up to make sure no one was watching me and then reread his message. Twice.

“Jesus Christ,” I muttered and stowed my phone in the pocket of my chef’s coat. Thankfully all the cooking I had to do for the morning was already done. There was no way I’d be able to concentrate on a recipe after reading that. My face had to be as red as the radishes Jorge was artfully carving into roses on the other side of the stainless-steel counter, though, because I could feel the intense heat radiating from my cheeks.

Time for a redirect on all this energy. Like…immediately.

“All right, fancy pants. Show me how to do this.” I playfully bumped the young sous chef’s hip with mine as I issued my demand. “You can’t be the only one around here with this mad skill.”

I spent the next hour trying to learn the new technique from my teammate. While I was great at creating new recipes because of my refined palate, knife skills like Jorge’s were something I always envied. My desire to learn and the repetitive nature of the task he was teaching me helped the time pass quickly and kept my mind completely occupied.

Before I realized the time, Rio was shouting across the kitchen, “Let’s get the van loaded up. We can’t keep our hangry customers waiting, people!”

Jorge leaned closer while scooping radish trimmings into his garbage bowl. “Is it me, or is she unusually loud for someone so small?”

We both laughed, and I thanked him for the food art lesson before hustling into the walk-in refrigerator to start loading the cold entrées into the coolers.

The moment I got behind the wheel of the Econoline van, a certain hazel-eyed hottie came right back into sharp focus. At the first red light, which was less than a mile from the kitchen, I already had my head pressed to the center of the oversized steering wheel while I tried to get a grip on my racing heart.

“Jesus Christ,” I muttered for the second time this morning. Maybe a call to one of my sisters would help distract me. If it was closing in on lunchtime, Agatha might be available for a quick chat. With my phone connected to the vehicle via Bluetooth, I used voice commands and dialed my sister.

“Hey, Hannibal, what’s going on? You okay?” my sister asked, using one of a dozen nicknames my family had for me.

“Hi, sister. Yeah, I’m good. Why?” I smiled while greeting her. Just hearing one of my siblings’ voices was as good as getting a warm hug from them.

“Why what?” she bounced back.

“Why did you ask if I’m okay?” Right out of the gate, too. I chuckled, trying to sound easy and breezy like I hoped I normally sounded.

“You don’t normally call me in the middle of the day, Hannah.”

“True. But all’s well. I’m driving into downtown, so I have some windshield time. Thought I’d say hi. I haven’t seen you for a few days, so I thought I’d check in with you.”

“How very big sister of you,” Agatha said, and I could hear the smile in her words.