Page 9 of Biker Daddies' Vows
“I heard the news. Welcome to Matt’s Lounge, where we serve mouthwatering food during the day and even better drinks at night. Oh, and we have a kickass taste in music.”
I looked up at Sebastian in surprise. “You work here?”
“Yes, but not in the office. I would hate for our patrons to miss my face.”
He winked. Just like that, I was at ease with the idea that I would be working with this man. Matthew eyed us both, then gave Sebastian a look. I couldn’t read what he was communicating, but he turned to me after.
“Sebastian’s our manager and monitors the operations. He’ll give you a tour and tell you what you need to do. He’ll also answer your questions. You don’t have to start today, of course.”
“A tour sounds lovely,” I said, beaming. It faltered a bit when I glanced at Matthew and realized he was already retreating to his office. Longing pinched my stomach, but Sebastian’s voice forced me to look at him instead.
“Well, then, shall we?”
I nodded and walked beside him as we circled the dining area, noting the European theme going on in the establishment. We passed by staff who had come in early and he introduced me to them. Beyond the general introduction, he lingered a bit to greet them more personally, his smile transforming into a smirk. It changed his features completely from easygoing to mischievous. Dangerous.
“Darla, you look lovely today. I bet it’s the hair. I’ve never seen your hair this vibrant.”
Darla was a middle-aged woman who blushed at the attention and playfully smacked his arm. “You’re just saying that because I don’t have gray hair for once.”
“I liked the gray hair just fine,” he assured. “But this… whew. I bet Frank went crazy when he saw it.”
“He liked it.”
“He should. Only an idiot wouldn’t.”
“Yeah, well, he paid for it, so he’s not an idiot this time.”
He whistled in approval. “Good man. And he’s a lucky man, Darla. You look great whatever your hair color is.”
Darla laughed, then glanced at me. “Watch out for this man, my dear. He’s quite the charmer.”
Curiosity stirred and I waited for Sebastian to talk to me like that, too, but he went back to his casual friendly stance as we continued going around.
“Come on. Let’s introduce you to the kitchen staff.”
There weren’t a lot present yet, but those who were there were busy preparing ingredients. Then we rounded up the tour to the back, where he pointed out where most of the restaurant items were stored.
“There’s a separate storage room for perishable and non-perishable items. There’s a cleaning storage supply, too, and we have couches for when employees want to rest their feet or take a nap during their breaks. Smoking employees can only smoke in the alley, accessible via the back door. Oh, and that’s the pantry. We stock it up with fresh snacks all the time so our staff will always have options.”
I made noises, impressed. It was much more seamless than I expected, and I suspected Matthew spent sleepless hours just to get this up and running. I didn’t know much about his life beyond his friendship with my family and his kindness to me, but I overheard my dad talking about Matthew’s financial struggles to my mom once. It looked like that wasn’t the case anymore.
“It’s so organized. My old boss would love this.”
It was the wrong thing to say because now I was thinking about Sam, and by extension, Brett. Sebastian continued explaining things, his voice a cheerful murmur. It took me a while to register the long silence that followed when he stopped speaking. I shook Sam and Brett off my mind.
“I’m sorry. Did you ask something?”
I tried to play it off as casual, but the man’s coffee-brown eyes were peering at me with too much wisdom.
“Okay, spill.”
“Spill?”
“You’re preoccupied. Normally I don’t mind that, but you’re different.” He sidled closer. “I want your full attention on me, Sophie.”
Something about the way he said that had the spike of heat returning, but perhaps it hadn’t really gone away. I swallowed at his nearness, aware that we were alone. I wasn’t stupid enough not to know what happened when two people attracted to each other were stuck in spaces like this, and my body sparked in response to the idea. What was going on with me? First Matthew, now him?
“You do?” I whispered, unable to say anything else. His handsome face hovered even closer as he nodded earnestly.