Knox (Chicago Blaze 4)

“Of course I do.”

I pay our bill and we catch an Uber to Magnolia. Our driver recognizes me and talks hockey the entire ride, not stopping until he parks at the front entrance of the restaurant.

“Do you get that a lot?” Reese asks me as we walk around the building to the back door where supplies are delivered.

I shrug. “I wouldn’t say a lot. I think Anton and Jonah are the most recognized guys on our team.”

“Jonah, he’s the one who lost his wife a couple years ago, right?” she asks as she scans a tag on her key ring to open the restaurant door.

“Yeah…man, I guess it has been about that long. Sometimes it still feels like it just happened.”

As soon as we walk inside the building, the sounds of a busy kitchen surround us. From sizzling flames to raised voices giving orders, my ears try to take everything in. We’re in a small storage room, but as we round a corner, I can see inside the compact but organized kitchen.

The place is like an intense episode of a timed cooking show.

“Plate it,” a man in a white uniform says, immediately turning to someone else to say, “I want it grated fresh tableside.”

Reese leads the way down a hallway, turning around to whisper, “I’d take you in if they weren’t so busy.”

“Hey Reese,” a female server clad in black says as she zips past us in the hallway. She gives me a quick smile, but is gone too fast for an introduction.

Reese leads me past a tiny room with three desks crammed up against the walls. All three desks have paper everywhere, but only one desk is super organized.

“My office,” she says, pointing inside. “I share it with the chef and the manager.”

“I assume your desk is the organized one?”

She grins at me over her shoulder. “Really? You still don’t know me all that well, then.”

“I thought you were off tonight,” a male server says to her as he passes us in the hallway.

“I’m not really here,” she says.

He nods and glances at me. Two women pass us next, both studying me closely. Everyone seems curious about the guy Reese brought here.

When she opens a huge stainless-steel door and leads the way into a big walk-in cooler, the sounds of the busy kitchen vanish with the closing of the door. I briefly take in the racks lined with eggs, milk, butter and all sorts of containers, but I can’t focus on anything but Reese for very long.

Her cheeks are rosy and her smile is pure happiness. She’s in her element here, and seeing it makes me fall even harder for her.

“So I made this yesterday,” she says, walking over to a set of shelves in the corner and bending down to get something from the bottom shelf. “It’s not perfect yet, so no one but me has tried it. But I’m curious what you think of it.”

She takes out a small tray with a fancy little basket made entirely of chocolate. It even has little lines that make it look woven. When she breaks off a piece and hands it to me, I frown.

“That’s unbelievable to me, Reese. That you made that. It’s amazing. Seems a shame to break it.”

Laughing, she says, “Well, that’s the way you eat it.” She holds back the piece of chocolate before it reaches my hand. “Close your eyes; you’ll taste it differently.”

I comply with a huge grin. “I see, you brought me in here so you could have your way with me.”

“Uh huh. Open your mouth.”

“There are so many dirty things I could say right now.”

“Knox…” She laughs, and I open my mouth.

I feel the warmth of her fingers as they approach my lips. As soon as the chocolate touches my tongue, I close my lips around her fingertips, eliciting a sharp inhale from her. She brushes her fingertips over my lower lip as she takes them from my mouth.

The creamiest chocolate I’ve ever tasted is melting in my mouth, hints of coffee and vanilla cream mixing with it. I give a low moan as the flavors combine. It’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted in my life.

I open my eyes to see Reese looking at me expectantly.

“Holy shit,” I say softly. “That’s incredible, Reese. Seriously. You made that?”

She shrugs like it was no big deal, but the shine in her eyes tells me she’s pleased by the compliment. I don’t want to speak, because there’s magic in this moment. As our gazes stay locked on each other, I cup Reese’s cheek in my hand, brushing my thumb over her cheek. She leans into my touch, and it hits me all at once.

She doesn’t want to admit she wants me, but she can’t deny the truth I feel every time we’re together—she needs me. There’s more than just an attraction between us. I’ve never let her down, and I never will. That need I feel to be close to her, to take care of her and if I’m really fucking lucky, be taken care of by her, isn’t fading. It gets stronger every time I see her. Hell, every time I think of her.