Unexpected Rush (Play-By-Play #11) (22 page)

“Thanks, we will.” Ken turned to Amelia. “But I have no doubt whatever you cook up will be fantastic.”

They talked awhile longer about Ken’s husband, Adam, whom
Amelia had met when Ken and Adam had flown up to Portland so Ken could do Amelia’s initial interview.

Amelia gave Flynn her phone number and she got his along with his address. She told him she’d bring the food for tonight.

“If you text me a grocery list, I’ll have the food at the house,” Flynn said.

She shook her head. “If you don’t mind, I’ll do the shopping. It’s important that I choose the ingredients myself. Plus, I need to prepare a few things in advance. So I’ll bring it with me.”

“Isn’t that kind of inconvenient, with you staying at a hotel?”

“I’m actually staying with some people I know, so there will be a kitchen for me to do advance prep.”

Flynn finally shrugged. “Up to you. You’re the chef.”

“Thanks.”

They said their good-byes and she called for a car and left.

“What do you think?” Ken asked.

“Not sure yet. She’s a little quiet. Seems . . . I don’t know.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know what to think about her.”

“Trust me, Flynn. She’s competent, she’s not temperamental and she doesn’t throw pots and pans around.”

Flynn laughed. “You only see those types of chefs on TV.”

Ken slid him a look. “You’d like to think so, but I’ve worked in this business a long time and those kinds of chefs do exist.”

“Really.”

“Yeah. And Amelia is very animated once she gets going on the subject of food. She’s very particular in her kitchen and knows what she wants and how she wants things done. Which is exactly what you need in a head chef. I think once you see her cook you’ll be happy.”

“I hope so. We’ll see what happens tonight.”

“Listen, I gotta run, but I want a full report on Monday.”

“I’ll see you then. You and Adam have a great time tonight.”

Ken grinned. “We will.”

Flynn locked up the restaurant, then walked outside to stare at it. He could already envision the name, the people inside, the kind of food he wanted to serve.

He hoped like hell Amelia Lawrence was the answer to what he was looking for.

She sure was pretty. With mesmerizing, inquisitive hazel eyes that seemed to focus on him an awful lot.

Then again, maybe he was reading way too much into that.

He didn’t need to focus on a pretty woman with gorgeous eyes. The last time that happened he got dumped.

He was always getting dumped.

Food? That he knew. Women? Not a damn clue.

He sure as hell didn’t need a woman in his life right now.

All he needed was a talented chef.

Barrett had taken many trips to San Francisco before, and had pretty much seen everything the city had to offer.

But, he had to admit, seeing it through Harmony’s eyes was fun. There was nothing like playing tour guide for someone who’d never been here before.

There was no doubt San Francisco was a beautiful city, so he’d enjoyed every second of taking her to see all the sights.

They stood at the railing at the edge of Pier 39. He breathed in the crisp sea air, making him wish he were out on his boat right now doing some fishing. A large group of sea lions sunbathed on the boat docks.

“This is amazing,” Harmony said. “They’re so cute.”

She got out her phone to take pictures.

“Well, they’re noisy. And they smell.”

She laughed. “They’re definitely noisy. All that barking. What do you think they’re talking about?”

“Probably things like ‘Move over, you’re in my spot.’ Or ‘Hey, that’s my woman you’re hitting on.’ ”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re such a guy.”

“Come on. Look at those two big ones yelling at each other. There’s a ton of sea lion testosterone flying around.”

“If you say so. And in the meantime the lady sea lions are ignoring it all, sunning themselves on the deck, oblivious to all that male posturing.”

“Imagine that. Just like human women, ignoring all our best moves.”

She leaned against him. “We can’t make it too easy for you.”

Barrett’s phone buzzed. He pulled it out of his pocket and read the text message.

“It’s Flynn. The interview went well and he’s bringing the chef—whose name is Amelia—over to the house to cook dinner for us.”

“That’s great news, right? He seemed eager to hire a head chef, and if he’s bringing her to the house to cook dinner, he must really like what she could bring to his restaurant.”

He typed a text message back to his brother, then shoved his phone back in his pocket. “I hope so. I guess we’ll find out at dinner tonight.”

She slipped her hand in his. “In the meantime, how about a ride on a cable car?”

Now that was something he hadn’t done yet. “Sure.”

They grabbed the cable car on Hyde Street and rode the entire line and back. Barrett had to admit it was pretty fun, especially since the cable car was crowded, so they had to stand, and he had his arm around Harmony the entire time. Her body was pressed to
his and though she held on to a pole, the movements of the cable car shoved her into him.

He didn’t mind that at all. Neither, it appeared, did Harmony, as after a while she turned to face him, wrapping her arm around him.

“You’re missing the sights.”

“I don’t know about that. You’re a pretty hot sight.”

He bent and brushed his lips across hers, wishing he could deepen the kiss and take a full taste of her. But he was mindful of their audience on the cable car, which included children, so he tabled that thought for later.

Once they hopped off the cable car, he took her hand and they headed toward his car. It was getting late and they needed to head back to Flynn’s house. He shoved the bag of souvenirs Harmony had bought into the backseat and drove off.

Flynn’s car was already in the driveway when he pulled in.

“I wonder if he brought Amelia with him?” Harmony asked, as they got out of the car.

“I guess we’ll find out when we go inside.”

She took the bag from his hand. “I’m going to stop in the cottage first to freshen up.”

He tugged her against him. “You look pretty fresh to me already.”

She laughed and pushed him away. “I’ll be right in.”

Barrett went in through the back door. Flynn wasn’t in sight, so Barrett went to the fridge and grabbed a beer, went into the living room and grabbed the remote, turned on the television and scrolled through until he found the sports station, then settled in and took a couple of long swallows of beer.

“Making yourself at home, I see,” Flynn said, as he came down the stairs.

“You know me.”

“I do. Did you two have fun today?”

“We did. We did the whole touring thing, or at least as much as we could get done in an afternoon.”

Flynn went to the refrigerator and pulled out a beer for himself, then came into the living room and took a seat on the recliner to watch sports with Barrett.

“When’s Amelia coming?”

“About six.”

“Great. What’s she cooking?”

“No idea.”

“Didn’t you buy the food?”

“Nope. She said she wanted to.”

“Huh. Interesting. So you’re letting her foot the bill, then?”

Flynn shot him a glare. “Of course not. I’ll reimburse her. What kind of an asshole do you think I am?”

Barrett’s lips lifted. “You got time for me to make a list?”

“Fuck off, Barrett.”

Flynn continued to stare at the TV. Barrett’s lips lifted. He knew being insulted by his brother was like being given a compliment.

Harmony came through the back door. “I’m going to grab a glass of iced tea if that’s okay, Flynn.”

“Make yourself at home, Harmony.”

“Thanks.”

Barrett found himself watching Harmony as she reached up for a glass in the cabinet. He stared at her legs. She had great legs. He loved touching her, making him wish the two of them were alone so he could go into the kitchen, skim his hands over her thighs, lift her dress, bend her over . . .

Well, hell. Not the kinds of things he should be thinking when his brother was in the room.

Dammit. They should have stayed at a hotel.

When Barrett heard the word “Cassidy” on the television, he shifted his focus to the screen. “Hey, Tucker’s on TV.”

Flynn looked up from his phone to the TV. “He pitch another no-hitter?”

“He wishes. No, he won his game this afternoon, so he’s being interviewed.”

“Always bragging, isn’t he?”

“Yeah. What a dick.”

Harmony came in and sat on the sofa next to Barrett. “That’s your brother, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

They all sat quiet and listened to Tucker talk about the game, giving credit to the five runs his team had gotten as well as the solid defense his team had put up.

“He pitched a shutout,” Flynn said. “Well done.”

“Yeah. He did good. Like a Cassidy should.”

The sportscaster was all over him, kissing his butt, too. Barrett shook his head.

Flynn smirked. “Next thing you know they’ll be interviewing Grant.”

As if Flynn’s remarks were telegraphed on the screen, mention was made of the Cassidy family, and there was Grant on the screen, talking about the upcoming season for the St. Louis Traders football team.

Barrett looked over at Flynn and rolled his eyes. “Notice how they only interview quarterbacks?”

Flynn nodded. “It’s like the defense doesn’t exist.”

“Which is total bullshit because we’re the ones who win the games for the teams.”

“Really,” Harmony said. “You do manage to score points now and then. And you keep the score close by preventing the opposing teams from scoring.”

Barrett put his arm around her. “See why I like her?”

“I see that. But her brother plays defense as well, so she kind of has to root for the defensive side of the ball.”

“Hey,” Harmony said. “I do not. I just know where the true talent lies and where all the hard work is done.”

“Hell yeah,” Flynn said, lifting his bottle of beer and tapping it against Harmony’s glass of tea.

“How did your interview go today, Flynn?” Harmony asked.

“It went good. Amelia has all the experience I need. We’ll see how her cooking skills measure up when she gets here tonight.”

“I can’t wait. What’s she cooking for us tonight?”

“I don’t have any idea. She wouldn’t let me do any of the shopping, insisting on doing it herself.”

“Really. That’s interesting.”

“She said something about needing to prep stuff in advance and choosing the ingredients herself.”

“What difference does that make?” Barrett asked.

“I have no idea.”

Harmony shifted to face Flynn. “Well, you like to cook, right?”

“Yeah.”

“How important is it to you to be able to choose your own food, your own ingredients?”

She watched as Flynn pondered it for a few seconds, then shrugged. “Not at all. If I walked into a kitchen where the raw ingredients were already there, I could still dig in and cook.”

“Okay, then maybe it’s something that’s important to Amelia. It’s part of her process.”

“I guess so.”

The doorbell rang. Flynn got up to answer it and pulled the door open.

Harmony got up as well and saw a stunning blonde standing at the door with a large roasting pan cradled in her arms.

“Here, take this,” she said. “I have some other things in the car.”

“Barrett,” Flynn said, “come here.”

“I’ve got this,” Harmony said, taking the pan from Flynn. She took it into the kitchen and, since the pan wasn’t hot, laid it on the kitchen counter.

Flynn, Barrett and Amelia walked in with several bags.

“I could have taken you shopping,” Flynn said.

She waved her hand. “I didn’t need you to take me shopping.”

“And what’s this?” Flynn asked, motioning to the pan.

“I’m soaking cedar in apple cider.”

“I could have done that for you as well. Did you buy the roasting pan?”

“I did.”

“I have roasting pans here.”

She lifted her chin. “I have my own methods, and I didn’t mind buying the pan. And if you’re worried about reimbursing me for the pan, don’t bother.”