Worth Waiting For (6 page)

***

Kate had plenty to do
but she couldn’t help spending some time at the window watching Brock walk back
to his boat. As she’d sat opposite him eating breakfast, she felt like she’d
died and gone to heaven. Shirtless, toned, and tanned, he had a tattoo on his
left bicep. She tried to see what exactly it was but didn’t want to get caught
staring.

“Good Morning,
Katie.”

Kate jumped when she
heard Henri, her chef, in the kitchen. He never called her Kate, but Katie with
a strong emphasis on the
ie
.
He was after all French and a kick-ass chef that she was very lucky to have in
her employ. Seventy-five percent of the reason why they were still open was due
to his skills and visionary culinary talents.

“Morning, Henri. You
survive the storm okay?”

“I’m getting used to
them. So have we decided what will be our specials of the day?” He reached for
his chef’s jacket and put it on.

Kate smiled, remembering
the saying about never trusting a skinny chef. Judging by the robust belly on
Henri, and the fact the buttons on his chef’s uniform were about ready to pop,
you could put all your trust in this guy. “We have some fresh lobsters coming
in later this morning,” said Kate.

“Then let us do
something with them, something that will set us apart from crowd.”

“And I have to find a
new bakery supplier.”

Henri shrugged his
shoulders.
“A small price to pay for never having to see that
husband-stealer again.”

Kate smiled. “Oh, and
I do need to hire another person to help with various things in the kitchen and
dining room now that David is….”

“And yes, yet another
minute price to pay for
never having
to see that rat
of a husband at this establishment.”

Henri and David had
never seen eye to eye. Most of the time David had tried to tell him his job and
Henri, as well he should have, always took offense.

“I stayed here
because of you, Katie,” said Henri as if he were reading her mind.

“Thank you. It’s much
appreciated. I think I’ll put a help wanted sign out front. Who knows, someone
might see it, and I won’t have to pay to place an ad in the paper.”

***

Brock hadn’t been
able to fix the leak himself. Well, he could have but not well enough that it wouldn’t
have leaked immediately after he’d patched it. He reached into his pocket and
was about to pull out his cell phone when he remembered he no longer had one. After
leaving
Boston
,
he knew he couldn’t afford the monthly payments and had ditched it there. He’d
always wondered where he’d be without it, and right this very minute he was
finding out the hard way.

He needed to phone a
boat repair shop and get an estimate. He guessed fixing the boat wasn’t going
to be cheap. Would the shop take a can of tuna and sweet corn in payment?

Kate had told him if
he needed anything she was there to help. She had a phone. That was a start.

***

Kate pinned the
schedule on the notice board by the window as she heard someone tapping on it.
She glanced outside to see Brock standing there pointing to help wanted sign
and then to himself.

Surely he didn’t mean
he wanted the job?

She opened the door,
and he stepped inside.

“You still looking
for someone?” he asked.

“Yes, I only put the
sign up an hour ago.”

“Then I’ll take the
job.”

“It’s hard work. I
mean have you ever worked in a restaurant before?”

“Nope, but I’m a
quick learner and whatever you need I know I can do it.”

“It doesn’t pay that
well, either.”

“Kate, my rent’s free
and all I need is to fix up the boat to start the harbor cruises. To do that, I
have to earn some money to get it fixed.”

“You feel up to chopping
vegetables and clearing tables day after day? What I’m trying to say is it’s
not very exciting.”

“Excitement is the
last thing I need.”

“Okay, how about I
give you a week’s trial?”

“Sounds
perfect.”

“Oh, and you do get
free meals if that helps.”

“This job’s sounding
better all the time. When do I start?”

“Right
now if you want.”

***

Kate spread a white
cloth on the first table and smoothed out the remaining few creases with her
hands. Brock’s first job of the day was setting the tables after she was done.
Out the corner of her eye, she noticed him walking into the dining room with
the large blue container housing the clean flatware under his arm.

Had she made the
right decision in giving him a week’s tryout? Yes, of course she had. He needed
a job, and it was the right thing to do. But deep inside, she sensed she’d have
to keep him at arm’s length. He was too attractive, and she didn’t feel like
getting involved with a man so soon after getting her heart trampled by David.
Not that she was naïve enough to believe that all men were like her ex, but
still she needed to be on her guard.

Brock must have
sensed she was standing there staring at him, because he called over to her. “Am
I setting the flatware correctly? Don’t be afraid to tell me if I’m not. I mean,
I saw you looking at me…”

Kate shook her head.
“I was miles away. They look perfect.”
Miles away thinking about you.

She decided to get on
with her work and spend less time daydreaming about her new employee. She
finished covering the last table and made her way out to the kitchen where
Jenine was talking to Henri.

“I hear you hired
your neighbor. Sensible girl…best way to get over a bum of a husband,” she
said.

“That’s not the
reason I did it.”

Henri gave an
exaggerated cough as Brock stepped into the kitchen carrying the empty flatware
container.

Jenine winked at
Kate.

“So what would you
like me to do next?” asked Brock.

“You can take a break
for lunch if you like.”

“You
sure?”

“Positive. You’ve not
stopped since you started working here.”

Brock looked at his
watch. “Yeah, all of three hours ago, but I do need to use the phone to call
the boat repair shop to see if they can help me with that leak.”

“Sure, go ahead. There’s
one in my office down the hallway, and we keep sandwiches and soft drinks in
the refrigerator when you’re ready to eat.”

Kate watched as Brock
left and then turned back to see Jenine and Henri, both smiling at her.

“What?” she asked.

“Kate, such a fine
looking man and perfect for you to date,” said Jenine.

“I don’t date
employees.”

“Every rule is
supposed to be broken at some point,” said Henri, waving his finger at her
before he got back to work.

“Okay, we’re not
going to push you,” Jenine assured. “I’m guessing being around him all day…well,
we don’t need to do that because your hormones and libido will do perfectly
fine without us.”
 
With that, she left
the kitchen.

Kate took a deep
breath as Brock headed back in.

“Good news is they think
they can fix the leak in a few days. Bad news is it will take a few days.”

“You can stay here
till then.” That had escaped her mouth before she’d realized it. Yep, Jenine
was right, hormones and libido would do all the pushing.

Chapter Five

Brock had the best of
both worlds. Here he was sitting in the kitchen, eating the lobster gratin that
Henri had pulled together earlier that day. For the first time since he’d taken
French at the private school his father had insisted he attend when he was ten,
Brock had been able to put it to good use in conversing with the chef.

Okay, he’d been a bit
rusty, but the Frenchman had at least understood him. He’d been able to make out
what Henri was telling him about the dish and how he came up with the idea for the
recipe.

Shit, this guy knew
how to cook. The lobster and sauce glided over his tongue and down his throat.
Brock took a sip of water and looked over at the other fantastic thing about
working at the restaurant, the view of Kate. Well,
not
 
all
of Kate, just her cute little ass.

Tonight she was
wearing a white crocheted dress. As she leaned over to grab some plates it rode
up slightly on her butt, giving him the best view yet of the top of her legs,
and oh yeah, the slightest glimpse of her white lace panties. He imagined what
her legs would be like wrapped around his hips and thighs while he slid in and
out of her.
First class
ticket to ecstasy.

His cock responded.
He downed more water but knew he should have thrown it on his face, maybe on
his crotch, because drinking it wasn’t going to cool him down any. He’d be
spending the next couple of nights under her roof and how he was going to
control himself was anyone’s guess.

She turned around and
looked at him. Had she been aware he was staring? Well, not only starring, but
ogling her legs and ass?

When he saw her
coming his way, Brock draped the napkin across his crotch.

“How was the lobster
gratin?” she asked.

“To
die for.
I’d say it’s a definite keeper for the
menu.”

“Glad to hear that.
All we need is to draw people in here to eat it.
So how about
some dessert?”

“Jeez, I’ll be
gaining weight by the day.”

“It’s one of the
drawbacks of the restaurant business. You’ll have to work out more.”

“Okay, you’ve twisted
my arm. I’ll try some and then figure out a way to burn some calories after I
eat.”

“There’s an apple and
blackberry crisp if you like a fruit-based dessert.”

“I love them.”

“It’s over in the
fridge there and I think we have some ice cream, too.”

Kate turned and made
her way into the dining room.

Brock rubbed his
stomach.
So many damn
temptations in this place.

***

Kate put the bolt
across on the door that led outside from the kitchen, and then turned off the
entryway light after seeing Henri out for the night. Business had been slow
again but at least they’d had some customers. She knew of a few smaller
restaurants in town that had already gone out of business. Even if they were
her competitors she hated to see that happen. However, she hoped their
customers would migrate toward her restaurant before it suffered the same fate.

She jumped when she
heard a noise coming from the dining room.

That’s right…Brock had
told her he’d go and shut the windows in there. There’d been such a pleasant
breeze all evening she’d opened them, thinking the customers would appreciate
it while they dined.

He walked into the
kitchen and took off the green apron he’d put on while he’d loaded the
dishwasher. “I have a few more plates to rinse and then I’m done.”

“I can do them,” said
Kate.

He put the dishes
into the soapy water in the sink as she stepped toward him.

“You’ve done a lot
for your first day so I can deal with these,” she said.

“No, it’s what you’re
paying me for.”

“No, really, it’s
fine.”

Truth was she wanted
him to go upstairs to the spare room where he’d be out of temptation’s reach.
Kate put her hands in the sink intending to pull the plates out, but instead
their hands met underwater. Neither of them moved but looked at one another as pinkies
touched, then middle fingers, index, and finally thumbs greeted one another.

He was about to kiss
her.
 

Should I let him?
Oh God, yes, she
would. In fact, she hoped he never stopped.

His lips were mere
inches from hers; his minty
breath
tickling her nose.

She closed her eyes,
feeling his mouth take hers. They locked their hands together as Kate opened to
him, and he ran his tongue around her lips before sliding it inside her mouth.

Her pussy pulled and
throbbed, her nipples ached, and she wanted this to go one step further but at
the same time wanted to run and hide. She wanted to escape to a place where
there wasn’t temptation, and where she wouldn’t risk getting hurt.