Bite Me

When Caroline walked through the employee entrance to the restaurant on Thursday, she nearly ran directly into Lilly. She put her hand over her heart and said, “Jesus, Lilly.”

Lilly laughed and asked, “Scared you, did I?” as she rested a hand against her very pregnant belly. Then she added, “You're just who I wanted to see anyway. I know you sat down with Magnus the other night. Was he cooperative?”

Caroline nodded and said, “Absolutely. He was actually pretty nice once he wasn't in the middle of something. Helped me tweak a drink. We're supposed to sit down tonight after close so we can go over some of the pairings.”

“Ooh,” Lilly exclaimed. “Maybe I'll stop in. God knows I've been eating for three, it feels like.”

“I can mention it to Magnus so he can make enough for three,” Caroline offered. “My menu stays unchanged since you clearly can't have the booze.”

Lilly studied her face for a minute and said, “Yes. Do that. And I can still sip. I just can't drink any.”

“Are you seriously gonna make me get you a spit can, Lilly? Holy hell.”

“No,” she sighed. “I can count on you two not to kill each other if I let you handle it?”

“I can't speak for him, but I'm getting a free meal out of it, so I'll be a good girl,” Caroline promised. Not to mention the fact that she wanted to crawl all over him.

Lilly frowned and added, “My ankles are huge already today anyway. I'll head upstairs after service.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am. I need to get going. Don't take any crap from him, Caroline. I mean it,” Lilly called over her shoulder as she walked away.

“I've got it under control, Lilly,” Caroline promised, giving her a wave.

As she opened the door, she could already hear Magnus yelling about seared mushrooms. He was a tyrant in the kitchen. A very sexy tyrant. When the door flung open, she made a beeline for the bar.

She hadn't seen more than a quick glimpse of him yesterday. It would be interesting to see how things played out tonight. Part of her wondered if, now that he'd had a moment to consider things, he'd ba

ck off. There was only one way to find out, she supposed.

Chapter Three

Magnus breathed a sigh of relief when dinner service was finally over. As the kitchen staff put things back together, he finished up on the last of the tasting dishes. Though it had been a long night, he was still looking forward to seeing Caroline. Other than her brief email asking what drinks he was planning on cooking for tonight, they hadn't spoken.

He had made three entrees and three appetizers. If they were splitting them between the two of them, he imagined that they'd finish most of it. Maybe he would wrap the rest of it up for her. Better to eat leftovers than microwave meals.

Caroline popped her head in the kitchen and said, “So where did you want to meet? Should I just get the drinks and bring them back here?”

“No, no. I'll take these out to a table, if you want to get the drinks and bring them in?”

A few minutes later Caroline arrived carrying the drinks. She took in the spread on the table and said, “Wow. That looks amazing.”

“It is,” he assured her with a grin.

“So humble,” she praised as she set the drinks down on the table.

He grinned and asked, “Where shall we start?”

“I dunno. It's your show, Magnus. I'm just here for the free food,” she admitted.

“Is that it then?” he asked, arching an eyebrow. “Using me for my culinary talent?”

“If the ravioli was any indication, then absolutely.”

A teasing grin on his face, he asked, “One plate got me a kiss on the cheek. Technically this is a six course tasting. What does that get me, do you think?”

She studied him, her face deadpan, for so long that he was beginning to think that he'd offended her when she finally smirked at him and said, “I guess that all depends. If those are white truffle shavings I don't think I'm gonna be able to control myself, Magnus.”