Chapter Thirteen

I was now on my second day off from work since I’d given Duncan my schedule, and he still hadn’t contacted me, to make a date, or for any other reason. If this had happened before Corey had called and screamed into my voicemail, I’d be a little cynical, but not too bad. But since I had no idea what the fuck had transpired with that whole deal, not hearing from Duncan put me in a foul mood.

He had, however, had an air conditioning unit delivered and installed in my apartment, so I chose to believe we were still on a good track, even though he hadn’t called.

Either way, I decided not to sit around thinking about it. It was already lunchtime, so fair to say Duncan wasn’t going to call again today. And even if he did, fucker best give me more notice than that if he wanted to make a date. I was crazy about the guy, but New Zach wasn’t gonna be on standby for anyone.

I had no other plans though, so I decided I might as well call Immunity and see if they needed a hand today. If I had to be having a bad day, I might as well make money while doing so. I had just picked up my phone when it rang. I frowned at the number. It was Club Mythic. Which was weird, because if it was Duncan calling, he’d have used his cell, wouldn’t he?

I answered. “This is Zach.”

“Zach, it’s Duncan.”

I frowned. He sounded stressed, his usual smooth, eloquent voice sharp and breathy. “Hey. What are you doing?”

“Drowning in shit. Listen, I want to assure you first that I’m not trying to manipulate you or anything like that. I know you said you need to stay away, but I wouldn’t be calling if we didn’t—”

“Give me the phone!” I heard someone say in the background.

I listened, scowling. “Um, hello?”

“Hey, Zach?”

“Hi Barry.”

“Are you off today?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“We’re fucked and need your help. Chauncy quit without notice, and Steven says he’s only ever made half the menu so he doesn’t know how to make the other half.”

“Bullshit, I trained both of them for everything.”

“Okay, well, that’s what he’s telling me anyway. He’s got the ingredient lists but doesn’t know how to put half the shit together, but he tried anyway and fucked it up. Lunch crowd is swarming in, kitchen’s backed up, it’s a train wreck. Richelle’s been filling in but she called in sick. And there’s lime juice and sesame oil all over the floor, and something that looks like blood but I think it’s grenadine—”

“He doesn’t need all that detail!” I heard Duncan say. “Give me the phone.”

I shook my head. “Hello?”

“Zach, it’s me,” Duncan said. “Will you come in today? I’ll pay you off the books or as a subcontractor or whatever. I’ve been trying to help out but there’s been carnage for two days straight, and carnage is bad in a vegetarian restaurant.”

“I’ll be right there.”

Duncan’s sigh of relief was genuine. “I promise, next time I call it won’t be for this.”

I grinned. “It’s no problem. I’ll be down soon.”

“Thank you, love. See you soon.”

I hung up. I’d heard Duncan call other people ‘love’ before, so I didn’t take it too seriously, but I allowed myself to enjoy it nonetheless.

So carnage at Duncan’s garden of delights. And I had to go save the day. Well that was fine, I was bored anyway. But if he thought I was putting on leaves or twigs or wings for the occasion he could get fucked.

I changed into my sexy jeans and chose a cool tie-dye tee shirt that I knew looked good on me. Hey, I’m not vain, but if the man I’ve got my eye on is going to see me, there will be effort. I sprayed a little cologne on and headed off to Elfy Choices.

The Shire was burning, and they required my wizardry.

****

I skipped the main doors and slipped in the side of the garden fence to Elfy Choices instead. Music piped into the space, an odd but intriguing mix of medieval baroque and trip hop. Most of the tables were full, and the elves looked nervous. A young waitress called Aria passed by me with an empty tray as she headed to the bar, then did a double take and stopped. Despite the pointed ears and colorful costume, I could tell by Aria’s panicked expression she was not having a very magical day.

“Zach. Are you back? Please tell me you’re back.”

I looked up at the Elfy Choices hut, and Robert was mixing drinks—with Duncan. Duncan told me once he preferred to delegate the stressful stuff, so if he was rolling his sleeves up it must be bad. But he was moving fast, and actually looked like he knew what he was doing.

I patted Aria on the shoulder. “Hang in there. We’ll get it done.”

I moved quickly toward the food and drink hut. Duncan was nodding as Robert simultaneously mixed drinks and muttered to him, possibly instructions. Duncan was mixing a set of three drinks, his brow furrowed. I tried not to acknowledge how cute he was, because he was clearly stressed out, but in jeans and a green tee shirt with a unicorn on the front, Duncan was so sexy and adorable and I nearly keeled over.

“Hey.” I pushed through the opening on the side and Duncan and Robert both whirled around.

“Hey!” Robert said. “Can you go help Steven? He’s dying back there.”

“I’m on it.”

Duncan grabbed my face and kissed my forehead. “Thank you,” he said then went back to work.

I found Steven in the kitchen, standing over a tray he’d just pulled out of the oven. It was supposed to be my eggplant rollatini with vegan ricotta and organic marinara, but it looked like burned road kill. “Steven.”

He looked up at me with wide eyes. Any jaded smugness I’d seen in him in the past was gone. “Hey! Zach, Chauncy quit, and I can’t keep up.” He looked down at the eggplant. “And this eggplant doesn’t look like yours does.”

“On that we agree. Okay. Fill me in, where you at right now?”

“I got the last two orders out but there are six more and I’m way behind and I just fucked up the eggplant. And before you say do it again, this is the second batch. I threw the first one away because it was a mess.”

I looked through the orders, then glanced around the space, which was also a fucking mess. “Where’s the fried cauliflower sauce? Is it prepped?”

“Yeah, I was gonna cook those next.”

“You’ve got two stuffed mushroom orders here, did you mix the stuffing?”

“I started. But it still needs…damn, hang on. Shit. Where is it?” He bent over and knocked something off the counter with his ass, and it made a loud clang.

I looked down and winced as liquid spread across the floor in streams. “Was that the sauce for the fried cauliflower?”

Steven looked down. “Shit.”

I closed my eyes and counted to ten. I can fix this. Duncan was depending on me.

Duncan—that’s it. He had to be more adept at following instruction than Steven, and he was sure as shit a lot less frazzled, at least on the surface.

“Steven. Can you mix drinks?”

He shrugged. “Well enough.”

“Go up front and help Robert. Follow his instructions and don’t spill anything.”

“You want me to mix drinks?”

“Yes. Do it now.”

“Okay then.”

“Duncan!” I called out.

Duncan wiped his hands on a rag then came back into the kitchen area. “What can I do?” He frowned as Steven passed by him on his way to the bar. “Tell me he didn’t just quit too.”

“Steven’s gonna help Robert. I need you to help me. Can you do that? If I tell you what to do?”

“Yeah. Okay. Let’s do it.” He rubbed his hands together. “Tell me what you need.”

For the next hour and a half, I was Duncan’s boss. While I prepped and cooked, I called out instructions for him at the same time. He followed them to the letter, and he moved at what seemed like ten times the speed of Steven.

I was high on an adrenaline spike, and found I was enjoying myself. Duncan and I fell into a rhythm, and the kitchen got back on track. We worked closely in the course of it, and I got a little thrill every time our arms brushed or our hips inadvertently bumped together.

I checked on Steven, and he was preoccupied with mixing drinks. Robert assured me that he was doing fine, and was a big help. Things in the kitchen started to slow as Duncan and I got caught up, but he remained behind with me anyway as the last orders trickled in, then eventually stopped coming.

When Duncan told me we were done, I kind of just stared at him, wired but worn out as my adrenaline started to crash. “We’re done?”

“Yeah that’s it.” Duncan smiled. “Those were some slick management skills, Zach.”

“What do you mean?”

“Shifting me to the back and Steven to the front. You’ve got a knack for this.”

“I enjoyed it, to be honest,” I said, and Duncan looked pleased. “I had fun cooking with you.”

He wrapped his arms around me and hung there. “Thanks again.”

I chuckled. “You tired, old man?”

“I’m fine but I feel kind of shaky.”

“Adrenaline. I’ve got it too. Means you kicked ass.”

I was keenly aware that all Robert and Steven would have to do was glance back to see Duncan hugging me. And this was no quick bro-hug, he was hanging on me and it was lingering. We might as well have had a flashing ‘we’ve been fucking’ sign over our heads. I didn’t care. I was wondering if Duncan might, but he seemed content to hang on a bit longer.

Since he was being so damn friendly and normal, I had to assume Corey hadn’t convinced him I was a slime-ball yet.

“Zachary,” he whispered.”

I smiled. “Yeah.”

“I know I owe you a proper date, and while we weren’t able to plan ahead and the last few hours haven’t been great foreplay…do you want to get out of here with me?”

“Right now?”

“Right now.” He stepped back from the hug and looked into my eyes. “May I whisk you away somewhere for the night? Or do you have other plans?” His gaze trailed over me and I knew he liked what he saw. “I know I should have called but I’ve been out straight helping Barry with staffing problems and…well, this. But you’re here now and you look so good I need to kidnap you. I’ll tie you up and throw you in my trunk if I have to.”

My pulse jumped and I looked Duncan over. He had yeast flakes all over his arms, his hair was a sweaty mess, he was wearing a unicorn shirt, and I’d never found him so sexy. “I would love to be whisked away by you. But I’m gonna need a shower. I smell like garlic olive oil.”

“Shower won’t be a problem. Is that a yes?”

“That’s a yes, Duncan.”