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I heeded her warning and took her words to heart. "I promise," I told her sincerely. "I'll see you guys tonight." I gave her a hug and drove off towards the farmer's market in search of some new ingredients to fix up a special meal tonight. Despite Grace's request and my promise to her, I still felt an urge to want to impress Alex with my skills and talent at dinner.

It had been awhile since I met a woman whom I found instantly attractive while I was sober, and Alex had fit the bill. The moment I was introduced to her, I had silently wished that I wasn't hung over and hoped to god I was presentable enough with my undoubtedly bloodshot eyes and shaggy hair. Thank God I had the sense in me to put on some makeup that morning. She had a warm and inviting smile and I noticed how, unlike her British kinsmen, she had beautifully white, straight teeth. Although not as tall as Aunt Grace, Alex was still tall for a non-model, which I found appealing as she was about the same height as I was. I can tell you for a fact that dating shorter women can be quite straining on the neck.

The two other features I noticed right away, aside from her shoulder length wavy dark brown hair, were her incredibly bright blue eyes and her dimples. I have always been a sucker for blue eyes and dimples, but the combination of the two and the way her eyes sparkled, I was surprised I had any capacity to carry on making brunch. Then there was her accent. Grace's accent had been diluted over the years while Alex's was still fresh. I swear if we weren't in a house full of people, her accent had the power to rip my pants right off me. But, according to Grace, Alex was straight. Add to that the fact that she just got out of a long term relationship where she was the hurt party, and I could see that her baggage definitely did not match my luggage. She was a walking lesbian drama waiting to happen. And, while that was definitely not my scene, it didn't stop me from wondering if she was a good kisser.

By the time I got to the restaurant, it was almost two in the afternoon and the kitchen crew were already all there, prepping for the dinner service that night. Lenny was working in the office in the back and a couple of the front staff were setting up tables. I brought in my purchases from the market into the kitchen and went off to change. When I returned to the kitchen, Jason was peering into the two bags on the counter. "What's this for?" he asked.

"The private party on the rooftop tonight," I answered and he started to unload the contents for me. "I was thinking three courses, seafood themed. One guest is a vegetarian."

"Vegetarians need a kick in the crotch," Jason offered his opinion.

"And she drinks decaf," I added. He held up his hands and backed away from the counter.

"That's it, you're on your own then," he said.

"She's pretty hot," I told him.

"And that would matter to me because?" he asked.

"Because I want to impress her and I run this motherfucker, remember?" I said with as much machismo as I could muster.

He smiled and shook his head. "Never let it be said that men are the only ones who think with their dicks."

"Allison!" I called out to my pastry chef.

"Yeah," she answered from the other end of the kitchen.

"I need to make two individual quiches for the chef's table tonight," I told her.

"Got it. Dough will be in the fridge in thirty minutes," she answered.

"I love you," I called back out to her in a light but appreciative tone.

"Yeah, me and all the girls you take home," she chuckled.

While the other two cooks had finished up and headed out to the back for a cigarette break, I told Jason what my ideas were for the chef's table and he made some suggestions and we agreed on a final menu. I also consulted with Allison to come up with a dessert for the party and we agreed on a chocolate fondue with a variety of fruits and mini pastries.

About an hour before opening, Lenny came out of the office and checked that the front and bar were ready for opening and then came into the kitchen and gave a report on her tour of the front.

"Who's on the VIP rotation tonight?" I asked her. We had two waiters and one waitress in the front of the house and Lenny made it a point to equally rotate the staff so that everyone would have a turn taking care of private dinner parties throughout the week. We usually had two seatings a night, which meant two private dinner parties each night.

"Jake," Lenny informed me and stuck her head out to the front and called Jake into the kitchen.

The young aspiring actor by day and waiter by night came into the back and I pulled out the paper on which Jason and I had settled on a menu.

"It's a dinner for my family and family friends, so look sharp and don't flirt with my mother," I teased him and he laughed nervously. "There's seven of them - all women; four adults, and three under aged, and I don't care what they tell you, the twenty year old isn't allowed to drink. Got it?"

Jake nodded.

"Okay, so for my niece, Claire, she's five, we'll start her off with crispy fried frog legs with roasted garlic butter," I began to instruct him on the menu as he'd be the one to explain the meals to the guests.

"Are you sure a little girl will eat frog legs?" he asked.

"She's a freaky one, that kid," I answered. "If it grosses out other people, she'll eat it. Then we've got a mini cheese burger with Kobe beef and brie cheese and shoestring fries fried in duck fat. The fries are going to be in a paper cone to make it more fun."

Jake nodded again, absorbing what I was telling him.

"For the rest of the party, the appetizer trio will be scallop ceviche with truffle lime, fried calamari with blood orange vinaigrette and a mini crab cake with citrus mayo," I continued, showing him how we were going to serve it on a rectangular plate. "Now, there's a vegetarian in their midst as well and so her meal will be the same, except it'll be a heart of palm ceviche, fried seitan instead of calamari and tempeh 'crab' cakes. Still with me? Don't worry, I'll tell you all of this again before you take it out of the kitchen.

He nodded again.

"The main dish will be another trio: sauteed cobia with white bean puree and mustard sauce and micro greens, seared scallop with couscous and sitting in a mini dutch oven will be ratatouille," I explained the entree to him. "For the vegetarian, she'll get the ratatouille as well but instead of the seafood, we're gonna serve two mini quiches: one is a wild mushroom quiche with truffle and one is a leek and Roquefort quiche."

He nodded and looked over the written menu, trying to commit it to memory.

"Relax, it's just the chef's family and friends," Jason told him with a slap on the back and I swore the poor kid turned a shade paler.

"Don't forget," Lenny added. "You've also got a party of four in the private dining room down here an hour before the rooftop party."

Jake nodded. He wasn't flustered by the party of four as they, along with the rest of the diners, would be served the prix-fixe tasting menu. He was just nervous about the new dishes for my family, but I had confidence in the kid. It was just fun to make him nervous. Chefs are asses that way. Soon enough, the first table arrived and the hustle in the kitchen began. We had a full house booked so the kitchen was humming along continuously. Soon enough, Lenny announced that the chef's table had arrived and had been seated. Making sure that Jason had the pass, I called Jake. He brought a tray with bottled water and followed me up to the rooftop.

"Good evening, beautiful ladies," I greeted them with Jake in tow. They had all had their hair done up and were dressed up for a night on the town, even Claire-bear.

"Look at my nails, Auntie Riley!" Claire showed off her fingernails which had little flowers painted onto them. Then she showed me her toes which were done up the same way.

"Too cool, Claire-bear," I told her. "They're so pretty I might just wanna eat them up!" I was rewarded with a shriek of laughter.

"Ladies, Jake here is going to take care of you tonight," I introduced them to their waiter as he poured water into their water glasses. "Be nice to him, and enjoy your dinner." I took my leave and headed back down to the kitchen and started on the chef's table's dishes.

When I sent Jake and Lenny up with the appetizers, I noted to them that the vegetarian dishes were to go to Alex, the one in the black spaghetti strap dress. When they came back down, Jake went off to take care of the party in the private dining room and Lenny came back into the kitchen. "So, who's the vegetarian?" she asked, a smile on her face.

"That's Alex, Grace's sister," I answered, putting the finishing garnishes on four plates that were going out. As the plates were whisked away, Lenny said, still smiling, "Pretty."

More food was brought up and Jason and I continued to plate the food. "She's straight," I told her without looking up.

"So you have tried hitting on her," Lenny speculated and I heard Jason chuckle beside me.

"No, I haven't," I said finally looking at her. She gave me a skeptical look but then dropped the topic and headed back out to the dining room.

"Have you?" Jason inquired after Lenny left.

"No, I haven't," I replied. "Not really."

Jason laughed at my afterthought and we continued working in rhythm the rest of the service. By the time the entrees were all served and just the desserts were left, I took leave from the kitchen, leaving it in the capable hands of Jason and Allison and the two other cooks and headed up to the rooftop to check on my guests.

Alex

I popped a piece of chocolate covered pineapple into my mouth and savored the sweetness that took over my taste buds. I closed my eyes and heard the moans of approval from my dinner companions as they too indulged in the chocolaty dessert that had been laid out for us. Finally opening my eyes, I saw that everyone at the table had reclined back into their chairs, satiated from the meal. All except for Claire who was happily biting into a strawberry, chocolate smearing all over her mouth. I couldn't help but laugh at her uninhibited enjoyment.

"Ladies," I heard Riley's voice greet us and I turned to look over at the rooftop door.

She was wearing black pants, a white short-sleeved chef's jacket, and a black chef's skull cap with a pencil tucked behind her right ear. She came over to the table and picked Claire up from her seat and sat down in the chair, putting Claire down onto her leg. The little girl was grinning from ear to ear. Unlike this morning, without the sunglasses and with her hair off her face, I could see her high cheek bones and well defined and manicured eyebrows. She really was an attractive girl and her eyes were brighter now that she had sobered up over the course of the day.

"I see you're enjoying the chocolate," Riley said to Claire and she nodded. Riley picked up a napkin off the table and began to wipe off the chocolate from the girl's mouth and cheeks.

I noted the muscles in her forearms flexing as she wiped Claire's face. Her arms looked lean and strong and I noticed the pronounced vein which ran down the length of each arm. I had always had this idea that visible veins on a woman's arms was too masculine and unbecoming of a lady, but as I watched her, I started to realize how sexy her arms looked.

"You realize that now she's gonna be bouncing off the walls for two hours," Sam said to Riley, interrupting me out of my gaze at the chef.

"You're welcome," Riley told her sister and then turned to the rest of us. "So, how was dinner?"

We all hummed and moaned in unison about how delicious it all was and she turned to me. "And Ms. Vegetarian," she said. "How was your meal?"

"It was absolutely wonderful, thank you," I told her and she gave me a nod. "It was hard to eat out back home, unless you were up for Indian food all the time. This has been quite a treat to have vegetarian food at a fine dining restaurant."

She took off her head wear and ran her fingers through her hair, tousling it. It was quite an adorable look and I wondered if she had the same look when she woke up in the mornings. "I'm glad you enjoyed it," she said finally. "I'm not used to cooking for a vegetarian so it was...it was a challenge."

"It was delicious," I said, holding her gaze and smiling involuntarily. "You're a very talented chef."

"You're welcome and thank you," she responded and smiled, and if I wasn't mistaken, I could have sworn she was blushing. I noticed the laugh lines around her mouth when she smiled made her smile quite sexy.

She visited with us for a short while and then it was time for Sam to take Claire home so we all thanked our host and took leave. When we got home, the girls went up to their rooms and Grace asked if I wanted to join her for a glass of wine. I agreed and she pulled out a bottle of red wine from the wine rack in the kitchen. We settled down onto a couple of lounge chairs out on the deck, overlooking the ocean, and she poured us each a generous glassful of the Chianti.

"How are you, darling?" she asked. The age gap between us sometimes led to Grace mothering me, but I suppose it was better than if we didn't get on at all.

"I'm glad I'm here," I answered. "It was difficult leaving London, but I think I needed to get away and as clichéd as it sounds, I think I lost myself in the last five years. Hopefully being on my own, so to speak, will help me find myself again."

"I'm happy to hear it, Alex," Grace said. She reached over and gave my hand a squeeze. "I'm glad you're here too. I've missed this, you and me."

"Me too," I told her and squeezed her hand in return. We sat in a companionable silence, sipping our wine and enjoying the warm nighttime breeze from the ocean.

As much as I tried, the image of Riley smiling and blushing kept popping up in my mind. What was it about this girl that kept me thinking about her all day, from the time she had left Sarah's house until now, not to mention that I kept hearing her voice teasing me about being a vegetarian over and over in my head? It was like she had this coolness, for lack of a better word, to her that I admired. That was probably what it was, I told myself. She was young, witty, charming, talented and obviously quite successful in her own right - those were all very admirable qualities.

"How old is Riley?" I asked, still lost in my train of thought.

Grace gave me an inquiring look and, without changing her expression, replied, "Thirty...why d'you ask?"

"Just curious," I answered and then saw that my sister was still looking at me with her raised eyebrow.

"She's done well for herself," I added. "Quite young, but successful."

"And?" Grace prodded.

"No 'and'," I replied. "I was just curious."

"Darling," Grace said in her motherly tone. "There are two things in this life that should never mix, and that is 'curiosity' and Riley."

"You're a bit hard on her aren't you, given that she's your goddaughter?" I asked, surprised at my sister's display of hostility towards Riley since this morning.

"Don't get me wrong," Grace continued. "I love the girl and she has a huge heart where her friends and family are concerned. But when it comes to women, you can be sure that when Riley enters a room, a girl leaves crying."

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" I asked, taken aback by my sister's comment.

"As much as her father has stayed away from marriage, Riley's stayed even farther away from relationships in general," Grace answered. "I know she doesn't mean to hurt people, in fact she's usually very clear about her intentions. Nevertheless, they can't help but fall in love with her."

"She is attractive," I voiced my observation without thinking which resulted in Grace sitting up and turning her entire body to look at me.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" my sister inquired.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Are you hopping the fence to the other side?" Grace asked again and it took me a brief pause to understand what she was implying.

"No!" I quickly answered shaking my head. "No, I'm - I haven't - no...I was just making an observation." Somehow, I didn't hear much conviction in my answer.

"She's a charming devil that one," my sister said, lying back onto her lounge chair. "Be careful, Alex."

I didn't reply but simply nodded, mentally telling myself to stop thinking about said charming chef.

A couple of weeks had gone by and I had kept busy with my online news blog and my personal blog. I had also met an editor with the L.A. Times at a luncheon, and he had asked if I'd contribute to a column in the Lifestyle section. I told him that I didn't really have anything in the pipelines but he insisted that if I came up with anything to send it to him as he really enjoyed reading my work. I was flattered and had been trying to think of a topic for an article and unfortunately had drawn a blank in the last few days. It was a beautiful Monday afternoon as I sat outside with my laptop trying to do some writing when the phone rang. It was Grace calling from New York.

"Darling, Kristen's school called me and they wanted to have a meeting with me this afternoon," she told me. "I'm not back in L.A. until tonight and Sal's doing a show in New Orleans. I'm sure they're just wanting a donation or something. Would you be a dear and go for me and find out what kind of money they're asking for now?"

I looked at my watch and realized I had been sitting outside for almost an hour and had not written a single thing. "What time?" I asked her and she told me Kristen's school dismissal time. After I hung up with Grace, I went inside to change and headed off to Kristen's school. By the time I pulled up to the school grounds and parked the car, I spotted Kristen out on the front steps of Sacred Heart Academy. She looked like she was on the look out for someone. I walked towards her and waved.

"Auntie Alex! What are you doing here?" she asked. Clearly, I wasn't the one she was looking for.

"Your Mum called and said the school called her," I explained. "She asked me to come in her place."

"Oh," my niece said, looking as if her stomach had just dropped down three floors. Then her face brightened up and she waved at someone in the distance. I turned around and saw a figure with a familiar swagger walking towards us. The figure, clad in a green t-shirt and black motorcycle jacket, low riding blue jeans and black boots, waved back with one hand while the other was carrying a helmet. Gone was the black shaggy hair. Instead, her hair was now incredibly short, especially on the sides and back, and blond, like Claire's. It was styled forward and across her forehead, giving it that "wind swept" look which was complimented quite well with her aviator sunglasses.

Riley

"Hey, kiddo," I said to Kristen when I reached her and Alex. "Alex."

"Riley," Alex greeted in return. "You changed your hair...it looks great."

"Thank you," I said, running my hand through the short hair on the back of my head. I hadn't had my hair cut short like this in a long time and so was feeling a bit self-conscious and exposed. "My hair has seen every color in the rainbow and both my stylist and I figured it was time to go back to what I was born with."

"Claire's a spitting image of you," she commented.

"Yeah, we took after the Carson side of the family," I confirmed.

"Aren't you working today?" she asked.

"We close on Mondays," I answered. Remembering why I was where I was in the first place, I turned to Kris. "What's going on, Kris?" It wasn't unusual for Kristen to call me, but usually it was because she was in trouble and needed someone to help her out without being judgmental. So when she had called me earlier in the day, asking me to pick her up from school, I knew something was up. When I saw Alex standing with her in front of the school, I knew this must be a big deal.

"My principal wants to talk to my parents but they're both out of town," Kris began to explain. "So I told her that I'd call my guardian to come in after school."

"Where's your sister?" I asked.

"She's not old enough to be my legal guardian," Kris answered. "Besides, she'll just rat me out the first minute she gets."

"Rat you out for what?" Alex asked. Apparently I wasn't the only one in the dark.

"Kristen!" a voice called from the school building entrance. "Ms. Petersen would like to see you now."

With a long sigh, Kris turned on her heels and ascended the stairs to the school building. I gave Alex a questioning look and she simply shrugged her shoulders. "I know about as much as you do, I suspect," she said. I had to bite my tongue. Even in a state of uncertainty, her accent was cool and soothing to my ears.

As we entered the school and rounded the corner into the school office, I saw a woman in a black skirt suit and my jaws involuntarily clenched. I forced myself to relax.

"Ms. Petersen, these are my guardians while my parents are away," Kristen said nervously. "This is my aunt Alex and this is Riley."

The principal looked first at Alex and held out her hand for a handshake which Alex readily gave. Then she turned to me and there was a momentary pause which I hoped Kris hadn't noticed. "Riley," Ms. Petersen said in greeting as her soft hand shook mine firmly with a nod of her head. "Please, if you'll all come into my office." She opened up the mahogany door to her brightly lit office and we all entered. We seated ourselves in the chairs which faced the Principal's desk, with Kristen in the middle. I could tell the kid was nervous as hell.

"I'm glad that you could both come in on such short notice, but an important matter has arisen," the principal began as she walked around her desk and sat down in her leather chair. When she passed by me, I noticed the absence of a panty line under the fabric of the skirt which was hugging her backside quite nicely. "Kristen was caught smoking behind the school's main building this morning."

"Smoking what?" I asked before my brain could stop me.

"Cigarettes," Ms. Petersen said slowly and gave me an arched eyebrow. I looked over and Alex had an incredulous look on her face and Kristen looked like she was about to die from embarrassment. I simply nodded my understanding.

"Aside from it being illegal because of her age, it's also against the school's policy," the dark haired principal continued. "An infraction such as this is subject to a possible suspension...but Kristen's been with us since Kindergarten and she has never gotten into any kind of trouble like this in all the years she's been here, I'm inclined to overlook a suspension. You will be, however, sent to detention during your lunch hour for the next week. But if anything like this happens again, I will have no choice but to suspend you. Seeing as how this is your senior year, I don't think you want that to happen."

"This is the part where you tell her you understand and say thank you," Alex leaned over and whispered to Kristen.

"I understand," Kristen said meekly. "Thank you, Ms. Petersen."

I leaned over to Kristen and added, "And it won't happen again."

"And it won't happen again," Kristen repeated.

The principal nodded. "How are things at home?" she asked, her voice softer this time.

"It still sucks," Kristen replied. I laughed inwardly at the eloquence of youth. "But it's getting better. At least they're not yelling at each other anymore."

Petersen nodded. "If you ever want to talk, my door is always open," she told the teenager beside me. Then she turned and looked at me and then Alex. "Thank you for taking the time to come in. I trust you'll have a chat about the health risks of smoking?"

"Yes, absolutely," Alex replied and we all stood up to leave.

"Riley, can I have a minute please?" the principal asked me and I looked at her and nodded. Then I turned to Alex and Kristen and told them I'd meet up with them outside the office. Ms. Petersen walked them to her door and opened it up for them and closed it behind them. I stood up and perched myself on the edge of her desk. I picked up the name plate off the desk and read it: Principal M. Petersen.

"Like I said before, this is a first infraction for Kristen so I'm inclined to keep this off the record...I just think that there are some things we should keep between us," she told me as she came over to the desk and sat down beside me on the desk's edge. I nodded, flashes of what had transpired between us the last time we had met flitted through my brain.

"I like what you've done with your hair," she said quietly. "You look good,"

"Thanks, so do you," I replied. I held up the placard. "Principal? Really?"

"We all have our secrets," she joked, her eyes on my mouth, which was smiling as I noted the blush that had crept its way across her chest. "Except for you, right?"

"What you see is what you get," I answered.

"Speaking of seeing, I haven't seen you at Girl Bar in awhile," she said, her eyes fluttering between my eyes and my mouth.

"I've, ah, been busy," I said, realizing how clichéd that sounded.

"I'm sure you have been," she said, teasingly and finally closed the gap between us. I was instantly reminded of how soft her lips were and like that night months ago, they tasted like strawberries. She parted her lips and I granted her tongue access to my own as she tangled one hand into my hair. Our lips and tongues reacquainted themselves and I could hear a deep moan emanating from her chest.

When we finally broke apart, she smiled.

"Do you wanna go for a drink?" I asked. I often avoided sleeping with the same woman multiple times if I could help it, but since I had been too busy for any hookups in the past couple of weeks, I was willing to bend the rules a little.

"Are you asking me out on a date?" she asked teasingly.

"I don't date, remember?" I answered, "But since I am trying to get in your pants, or skirt, the least I can do is buy you a drink."

"Always straight to the point," she observed.

"No sense in being coy," I answered. I always believed in honesty when it came to sleeping with women. That way they can't claim to know what my intentions or lack of intentions were.

"I'd love to go for a drink right now but I can't," she answered, breathlessly. "I have a staff dinner meeting. In fact, this whole week is shot."

I nodded my head. "Do you wanna come over Friday night?" she asked.

It was my turn to smile and nod. "Sure, but I don't get off from the restaurant until about midnight."

"I’ll keep the light on," she offered.

"Okay, I'll see you Friday night," I told her and stood up, placing the placard back onto her desk.

"Don't you need my address?" she asked.

I shook my head. "I still remember from last time." She gave me a curious look and then reached up and wiped her lipstick off my lips with her thumb.

"See you Friday," she said. "Oh, and ride your bike. I like you in leather." I chuckled and I let myself out of her office.

As soon as I closed the door behind me, Kris and Alex both stood up from where they were seated in the office and I followed them out into the hallway.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-16