Or maybe she could sense he was hungry, because she was walking toward him carrying a platter of something that smelled delicious.
GiGi looked at him and smiled. My God, he would do anything just to have this woman smile at him like that and bring him food every day.
“Enjoying your time with the unwashed masses?” she said, but not in a resentful or haughty kind of way.
“I’m enjoying the view more than anything else,” he said.
GiGi glanced over at the view of Bourbon Street. “It’s a great spot for a party. Our Ash has excellent taste in real estate.”
“Don’t play coy, Peaches. I mean I enjoy looking at you.”
He winked at GiGi as he picked up a pig in a blanket.
GiGi smirked. “Let me stop you right there. I don’t do one-night stands.”
Then the taste of her appetizers hit him, and he thought he might die. “Oh good god. Do you have a patent for this, because this needs to be trademarked immediately.”
GiGi narrowed her eyes at Vann. “Why, so I can put my name on a bag of frozen appetizers that resemble nothing about what I do and earn a paycheck? No thanks.”
“Fair point,” he said. “When am I going to get something special from the famous GiGi’s Café?”
GiGi eyed him suspiciously. “Ash tell you about my restaurant?”
Vann tried to look mock offended. “He didn’t need to. I saw that article about you in Food & Wine. I knew who you were as soon as I saw you.”
GiGi rolled her eyes. “It was a blurb at best.”
“I was in love the second I saw the photo.”
“Listen, Buster, that was a photo of the shrimp and grits.”
Vann had his witty rejoinder already chambered, but something stopped him in his tracks.
Buster. She’d called him Buster.
And that voice. And those eyes.
He suddenly knew why she seemed so familiar.
He had eaten her food before, but not as a guest. He’d eaten it from the back alley, right out of her delectable, lickable fingers.
Now wasn’t the time to reveal to her who he was, though. “There’s no quicker way to my heart than shrimp and grits. I knew I was gonna marry you on the spot. And I was right, your food is incredible.”
He could be mistaken, but he distinctly smelled something. Arousal. And heard the increase in her heart rate.
“Listen. I can’t just let you waltz into my restaurant; my entire wait staff has the hots for you.”
He blushed. Oh God, was he really blushing?
“Well, I’m only interested in one woman while I’m here. And I don’t do one-night stands, despite what you heard.”
“But you date a lot,” she countered.
“Sure,” he answered. “How else am I supposed to find my mate?”
“Oh my God. You’re one of them,” she said, a look of fright mixed with fascination breaking over her face. “You’re Ash’s friend, after all. I should have guessed. You’re one of the wolf shifters.”
May as well own up. “Yeah? And?”
She chuckled. “Look, it’s all fine and good that Ash and Rosemary are getting married, but I can’t have a relationship with a wolf too.”
Vann smirked and wolfed down the rest of his food on his tiny cocktail plate. “Why? Uncle Lionel have a hold on you too? Holding some money over your head or something?”
“No,” she said, sounding a little too defensive.
“Then what are you waiting for? Take a chance, have some fun. And for God’s sake, hire a manager.”
GiGi drew back. “How do you know I don’t have a manager?”
Fortunately, Vann didn’t have to answer that, as Rosemary came to drag GiGi away to talk about the cake.
That was okay. He had a lock on her scent, and she was never going to be too far away from him now. He could wait a minute to ask her out. Or he could whisk her off to his den right now and show her what he could do for her.
But GiGi seemed to prefer to be civilized, and he would do whatever it took to bring her to him willingly.
Chapter Six
GiGi
What an annoying man. What a self-centered, egotistical, tall, friendly, charming brute of a man.
Eating my food and eyeballing me at the same time, making it look like…well, making eating look like sex. Who does that? Who undresses a person while they’re eating? That’s just…weird. Right?
All these thoughts took up real estate in GiGi’s head all the next day after the engagement party. She was annoyed by this too. She was tired, always tired, but she still had a small crowd to feed every day at the café. She needed to focus.
Before the crew arrived to prep for lunch the next morning, GiGi seated herself at the kitchen stool and enjoyed the quiet time. She downed her coffee, put that giant flaxen-haired chef out of her mind, and mapped out the plan for the wedding cake.
Both Ash and Rosemary had agreed they should let GiGi brainstorm ideas on her own, and then meet with them next week to tweak those ideas.
With a Sharpie and a roll of deli paper, GiGi went at it. She didn’t know why she liked to draw out her pastry ideas this way. She worked for hours until the kitchen crew arrived, bustling around her, getting ready to open for lunch.
By the time she had finished and looked up, she realized the restaurant was open, diners were being served, orders were coming in and going out. All without her constant attention. This stirred up a feeling in her that Vann was right. She didn’t need to be on top of everything all the time. Maybe she had created a well-oiled machine. Or well enough oiled that she could look away for a few minutes.
As it was, she’d been in the flow of creativity for two hours, and now she had a complete sketch of the wedding cake. She was inspired and excited to add more detail
