In all that time, I've never seen another chef who looked anything like Tyler Monroe. One caught my eye once. He was definitely hot, but he couldn't hold a candle to Tyler. The man is in a class all by himself.
"I've looked at him." I cast a glance back at the bartender who is busy talking to a man at the end of the bar. "You're right about him being gorgeous, but I'd never call him the complete package."
"Why not?" She studies my face before her gaze drops to my simple black dress. "I have a red leather wraparound belt that would completely change the look of this. I wish I would have thought of that before we left home."
She's done what I wanted to do. It has nothing to do with the dress and everything to do with getting off the topic of my hot as hell boss.
It's Saturday night. I'm hanging out with my best friend, making serious eye contact with a cute bartender and trying to get my mind off of work, especially the part of my work that includes Chef Monroe.
"Let's dance." She jumps to her feet and grabs hold of my hand. "Unless you're big one is the bartender."
I lean to the right so I can peer past her shoulder to where the bartender is now stroking the cheek of a beautiful brunette who is practically crawling over the bar to get to him. "Looks like that one got away but we still have a few hundred to pick from."
She nods before she tugs be by my hand to lead me to the dance floor.
CHAPTER 5
"Do you go to Club Aeon often?" Tyler asks as he stands in the doorway.
I can't exactly ignore him. I'm the only one in Nova's kitchen right now. Everyone else is in the dining room enjoying the early dinner we all prepared together. I opted not to eat, instead focusing the time I would have given to that to prepping the salmon that is our feature menu item for dinner service.
"It was my first time." I look across the room at him. "I take it you were there on Saturday night?"
I don't take it. I know it. I saw him out of the corner of my eye when Sophia and I were leaving. We had danced for more than an hour, pushing away the earnest hands of a half dozen guys who didn't ignite anything in either of us.
When I noticed Sophia yawning for the fifth time in the span of ten minutes, I grabbed hold of her elbow and hauled her out the exit. We were on the street, waiting for an Uber, when she leaned into my chest and almost fell asleep standing up.
I used the time to catch my breath after seeing Tyler staring at me inside the club. His eyes were dark, his clothing a perfect match. While he watched me walk out, I wondered if the woman hanging on his shoulder would have a taste of him at the end of the night.
"Briefly." He walks across the kitchen toward a tablet sitting on the counter near a set of knives that belong to one of the senior chefs. I know better than to invade that area. It's strictly off limits until you've earned a place there. "Who was the woman with you?"
It's not the first time a man has asked me that after seeing me with Sophia. She's exquisite, her facial features as delicate as the rest of her. I have a good six inches on her when we're both barefoot.
"Sophia, "I answer evenly. "Her name is Sophia. She's my roommate. We're close friends."
"She reminds me of my sister." He picks up the tablet and heads toward me. "They have a similar look."
"Sophia's beautiful." I set the filleting knife I'm holding down before I wipe my hands on the white side towel I keep tucked in my half apron.
His eyes graze over my face, slowly, meticulously as if he's studying me for the first time. "Sophia is almost as beautiful as my sister. A lot of women in this city have the same look as the two of them. There's a pretty, blue-eyed, brunette around every corner."
I don't see it that way but I'm not a visual connoisseur of women the way he is. "There are a lot of beautiful women in New York."
"I agree," he says huskily. "There are a lot of beautiful women, but few are beautiful and talented. That's a rare breed."
"A rare breed?" I question warily. "There are at least four beautiful and talented women working for you right now. It's actually more if you count the women outside the kitchen."
He steps closer. When he's this close, there's no longer any wonder about why Pamela, the television host, was aroused. I can sense the energy that flows from him. It's intense. He's a force of nature in the kitchen. I can't imagine what he'd be like stripped naked in a bed.
"There are several talented women who work for me, Cadence." His dark eyes wander over my face. "Some are beautiful, but only one is captivating."
I don't break his gaze, not when my co-workers rush through the door, not when one stops to ask him a question and not even when he tells me that he needs me, and only me, to stay after the restaurant closes tonight.
***
"You're likely wondering why I asked you to stay." He walks toward me after saying goodnight to the rest of the staff.