Max gazed around the renovated dining room with pride. The old café looked like a completely different place now that Jess had transformed it into her dream restaurant. The whole room exhibited an abundance of textures and patterns like the interior of some kind of romantic gypsy caravan.
A huge chandelier hung in the center of the room surrounded by a canopy of bold red fabrics draped from the ceiling. Large gold medallions accented the walls between each arched window. Colorful glass lanterns trimmed with cascading jewels lit every table while throw pillows of rich hues and mixed prints decorated each chair. There was even a vintage dessert cart featuring pastries by Leah’s bakery.
Jessa had finally done it. She’d thrown this new gourmet restaurant together quicker than anything he’d ever seen before, and it was absolutely beautiful.
Two arms wrapped around his waist from behind. “Why are you not helping the others?” a sultry feminine voice said. “Are you trying to conserve your energy?”
He pulled Jessa around in front of him and nuzzled his face into her sweet-smelling neck. “You know it. I need all of it for later tonight after closing time. I have something for you, and I can tell you right now, it isn’t going to fit inside an envelope…even a big one.” He rubbed the hardening bulge in his pants nonchalantly up against her abdomen.
She laughed and gave him a quick kiss. “It better be a penis.”
He lifted his head and then his eyebrow. “A penis?”
“Okay, your penis, if we’re getting specific.”
“You’re my wife, Jess. You better damn well be specific when you’re talking about penises.”
She grinned. “I still can’t believe we had such a shotgun wedding. I don’t think two people have ever married so fast.”
“Well, that’s because your stupid brother wanted to do a double wedding ceremony.”
“Max.”
“What? Logan is stupid. He keeps threatening to hit me. I think he has anger management issues.”
“Well, if you would stop instigating when it comes to him, then I’m betting he would leave you alone.”
Max laughed. “Hell, where’s the fun in that?”
“Well, just for the record, the double wedding wasn’t Logan’s idea. Valerie and I were the ones who came up with it. You said you wanted to get married right away, and they were the ones who already had a wedding mostly planned out. Seemed like a good idea at the time. Especially with us spending so much to open the restaurant.”
“Speaking of which, it looks great, babe. You did an outstanding job.”
Leah passed by them and gazed out the nearest window. “Wow! The line out there is halfway down the block. You’re about to get slammed, Jess.”
Max gazed at his wife. “You sure you don’t want to be in the kitchen cooking tonight?”
Jessa shook her head. “No, Mary and Lisa know what they’re doing back there and can handle it. Tonight I’m going to be out here greeting my customers and making sure everything is running smoothly. Besides, I want to make sure everyone is enjoying the new menu items. But I’ve already told Lisa and Mary to let me know if they need me though. I doubt there will be any problems. Those ladies are terrific.”
Sam passed by carrying some extra chairs toward the dining room. “Val is about to open the doors. Might want to prepare yourself for a stampede.”
Max and Jessa laughed. Who stampeded into a gourmet restaurant?
Moments later, Valerie opened the doors, and a flood of hungry patrons filled the dining room. Jessa had hired a lot of new staff for her restaurant, but they were all experienced and knew what they were expected to do. Everything was under control and looking great. She totally had this.
As she and Max watched the crowd entering, a couple waved at Jessa and the woman rushed over to give her a quick hug. “Hi, how are you?”
“Hey, Cindy. I’m great. How are you?”
“Wonderful. You remember Kevin?”
“Of course,” Jessa said, nodding at him. “Have you guys met my husband, Max?”
Max shook both of their hands. “Nice to meet you two.”
“So you’re Max,” the woman said, giggling as she elbowed her husband who was grinning from ear to ear.
“I am. I take it Jessa mentioned my name?”
“Repeatedly,” the woman said, which made Jessa grin.
After a moment, Kevin finally shuffled Cindy off to their table, and Max turned to Jessa. “Okay, what did I miss? Who the hell were those people?”
“My old neighbors.”
Max chuckled. “Oh shit.”
“Yep, exactly what you’re thinking. They never met you in person, but they were very familiar with your name. Heard it plenty of times. Even said they felt like they almost knew you.”
He rubbed a hand over his face. “Christ. That does it. We’re buying a house in the middle of nowhere.”
Jessa laughed. “Oh, don’t act like you don’t love that you can make me scream loud enough that my neighbors hear every word.”
He winked at her.
They turned and looked out over the dining room together. It was a packed house, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves so far. Jessa’s new dishes on the menu were going to blow these people away. And not only that, but she’d even made sure to come up with a few low-calorie entrées that were just as delicious as everything else she made.
The rest of the gang crossed the room and joined the two of them.
Leah smiled at Jessa. “Congratulations, Jess. You did it. You have officially opened your first restaurant.”
Jessa shook her head. “No, we did it. All of us,” she said, glancing around at their closest friends. “Thank you all for your help. I don’t know what I would’ve done without your support. It means the world to me.”
“That’s what we’re here for,” Valerie replied, hugging her.
Sam nodded in agreement. “Exactly what friends are for.”
Logan slung his arm around Max’s shoulders. “I think the six of us make a pretty good team.”
Max smirked at the kind gesture by his new brother-in-law. He guessed eventually they’d learn to love each other. “Yep. I guess you could say we’re all a perfect fit.”