“Jay is the best chef in the city.” Audrey turns her full attention to Athena. “He works at Axel Tribeca. You should come with us. The food is seriously out of this world.”
Athena glances down at the black sweater and dark jeans she’s wearing. “I don’t think I’m dressed for…”
“Nonsense,” Audrey interjects with a light swat at Athena’s ponytail. “You’re beautiful.”
Athena looks to me. I toss her a shrug because I’ll go wherever she’s inclined to. We can grab some food with Audrey and Jay and still have time alone at her place.
“Liam’s flowers,” Athena says with a sigh. “I should get those for him to give to his nieces.”
Audrey waves her wrist in the air showing off a gold watch. “They’re in bed by now. Wolf’s first appointment isn’t until noon. He can stop by here in the morning, pick up the bouquets and surprise Winter and Reese.”
She’s right. I talked to my brother, Nicholas, on my way here. He had just finished reading a bedtime story to his daughters. They get up at the crack of dawn, so it’s lights out early for the two of them.
Athena and I aren’t going to win this battle. She must sense it too because she pipes up. “I’d love to join the two of you for dinner.”
“I’m in too,” I add quickly.
I’m not letting this woman out of my sight tonight. If I have to sit through a quick meal before I feast on her, I’ll do it.
***
“What did you think of the food?” I ask Athena as we set off down the sidewalk after leaving Axel Tribeca.
I offered to walk her to the subway after she announced that she needed to call it a night.
We spent two hours listening to every detail of Audrey and Jay’s upcoming wedding. When Jay managed to get a few words in, he focused them on Athena.
He was interested in her work, and she was happy to talk about it.
She gained a new customer tonight.
“On a scale of one to ten, it was one million.” She tosses me a smile. “That lobster thing in the sauce…wow. I mean, just wow. It was the best part.”
I admit it was good, but the best part was sitting across a square table from her and watching her every move.
I tried to keep my focus on the conversation, but it was near impossible. Athena is breathtaking.
“Jay seems nice,” she remarks as we wait to cross the street. “He told me I could come by one day when he’s working to check out the kitchen of the restaurant.”
I watched her face light up when he offered the invitation. “You’ll take him up on that, right?”
“Of course, I will.” She tugs on the sleeve of my blue button-down shirt once the light changes. “I’ve already seen the kitchen, thoug
h.”
I huff out a laugh. “You’ve already seen the kitchen of Axel Tribeca?”
She turns to look up at me. “Where do you think all those beautiful floral arrangements in the restaurant come from?”
I crack a smile. “You?”
“Me,” she sounds back with a nod of her head. “I convinced Hunter Reynolds, the owner, to sign a contract with me six months ago. Wild Lilac supplies all the fresh flowers for his restaurants in Manhattan.”
It’s impressive. Damn, this woman is fearless.
“You blow me away.” I reach for her hand. “I want to be more like you.”
That raises her brows. “You want to be more like me? Why?”