Personal Entanglement (Thorne and Dash 2)

Riley hated having to agree. “It is, but I’m still not sure if I can do it.”

“You want to go for a drink? Talk it out some more?”

“Maybe tomorrow. Thorne’s sister is coming over tonight, and I’m making dinner.”

Marc scoffed. “He’s got you cooking after a day at school?”

“Trust me, there’s no real cooking in cooking school. He offered to just get takeout, but I want to practice a few techniques before tomorrow’s class.”

“Think about Thorne’s offer. You might be a lot happier working with Susan, and it would be great for her.”

Was Riley being unfair to Susan by not accepting Thorne’s offer? She’d told Riley she was happy to wait to open a storefront for their business until he finished his three-semester course. But she was ready to expand, and he hated to hold her back if the courses weren’t going to benefit them in the future. Maybe they should just find a space and dive in.

He was glad his train arrived a few seconds later and he could distract himself with boarding and finding a seat. He pulled up one of his favorite playlists, put his headphones on, and tried to tune out everything for the length of the ride. Thorne was having the groceries Riley needed delivered, so once he was home he could lose himself in the joy of cooking.

CHAPTER FIVE

“That was truly incredible,” Kathryn said as she polished off a final bite of chai-spiced cheesecake with caramel-ginger sauce.

Thorne nodded his agreement. Riley had already excused himself and retreated to the bedroom to study. Riley had served them eggplant parmesan and grilled chicken Caesar salads followed by an amazing and inventive New York style cheesecake. But he’d seemed distant and much quieter than usual during the meal. Thorne was impatient to get his business with Kathryn sorted so he could try to puzzle out what was bothering him.

Kathryn hadn’t said anything about the apartment and how it looked exactly like it had before Riley moved in. But Thorne had seen her glance toward the guest room where, fool that he was, he’d left the door open, exposing the stacks of boxes to her view. Her silence was almost more annoying than questions would have been.

“Are you listening?” Kathryn asked.

Thorne snapped out of his reverie. “What?”

“You weren’t listening, were you?”

“I…no.”

“What’s wrong?”

Dammit. Thorne wanted to take care of business, not discuss his feelings, and he certainly wasn’t going to have a sharing session with Riley in the next room.

“Just a bad day at work, that’s all.”

Kathryn gave him an assessing look. “Right.” She didn’t believe him for a second.

“You said there was a problem about the spring fundraiser. Let’s solve it.”

Kathryn looked like she was going to protest, but ultimately she didn’t. “The caterer bailed on us.”

The cheesecake felt heavy in Thorne’s stomach. “What?”

“They realized they were double-booked, and the other job was bigger.”

“That’s… We have a contract.”

“And you’re welcome to set your dogs on them over it, but for now, we have to find another caterer.”

“The gala is in two and a half weeks.”

Kathryn nodded. “Yes, it is.”

“I’ll call Lauren, she can—”

“What about Riley?”

Thorne stared at her. Why hadn’t he thought of that? Because you’re afraid Riley won’t take work that comes from you since he won’t take your money? Fuck, what was happening to them?

“Did you forget your boyfriend is a caterer?”

“He’s… They… That’s a perfect idea.” It didn’t matter that Riley and Susan had mostly done small jobs, or that they didn’t have a commercial kitchen. He’d find them the space they needed. This would be a great opportunity for them to meet more potential clients. But… “He might refuse.”

“What? Why?”

Thorne lowered his voice, praying Riley was wearing headphones like he usually did while he studied. “He won’t take money from me.”

“It’s not coming from you. It’s coming from the museum.”

“Yeah, but he won’t like that I got the job for him.”

Kathryn waved a hand dismissively. “That’s ridiculous. I’ll ask him.”

She jumped up from the table and headed across the room before Thorne could stop her.

“Kathryn, no, wait.”

She ignored him and knocked on the bedroom door. “Riley? I have something to ask you.”

Riley opened the door, headphones hanging around his neck. He’d changed into sleep pants and an I-“heart”-the-eighties T-shirt. Was it wrong to be in love with a man who thought Thorne’s childhood was a fun period of history?

“What’s up?”

“We have a problem with the museum gala, and we need your help,” Kathryn said.

“My help?” Riley’s baffled expression was so fucking adorable.

Kathryn gestured for Riley to follow her. She sat on the couch, and Riley joined her. When she turned on her full charm, no one could resist. She could sway even the stodgiest executive to donate a large sum to rebuild a museum wing, or convince an employee to cheerfully put in hours of overtime entering data and making numbers balance. Thorne had seen her in action far too many times to doubt her powers. Even as a kid she could always make the perfect soft sale.