Master chef, p.1
Master Chef, page 1
Master Chef
Golden Angel
Cover Photo Photographer - Golden Czermak
Cover Designer - Eris Adderly
Edited by Personal Touch Editing
Copyright © 2021 by Golden Angel
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Other Books by Golden Angel
Prologue
Nick
As much as Nick loved his job, it wasn’t nearly as much fun on nights when his sous chef, Avery, wasn’t working, especially on the weekends. He couldn’t stop thinking about what she might be doing instead.
Not going on a date, he was pretty sure, but all she’d said was she had ‘plans’ and needed tonight off. It made him grit his teeth, but he’d agreed… what else was he supposed to do?
Demand she tell him her plans?
As her boss, that wasn’t allowed.
Despite a few hot kisses and a wild attraction, they weren’t dating. Technically, that probably wasn’t allowed as her boss, but as long as she was willing, he wasn’t pushing her into anything she didn’t want, and they didn’t let it affect their work.
Still, he was in a worse mood than usual when he had to go upstairs to ask his brother’s girlfriend, who was also the manager, about the wine that was supposed to have been delivered today to be the pairing for tonight’s special. He had to do his best not to take his mood out on her because she was his brother’s girlfriend, and his brother owned the place.
Yeah, Nick got his job through good old-fashioned nepotism. At least, that’s how it sometimes felt, even though the other two owners had interviewed him and agreed to hire him. He didn’t consider it a bad thing. It just made him that much more determined to make Marquis one of the top restaurants in the city and prove his place as executive chef was deserved.
Marquis worked a little differently than most restaurants because it was only a restaurant on the main floor. The second floor was a BDSM theater and hotel, which also provided dinner and room service, along with their other offerings.
It was the BDSM part that made Nick uncertain and uncomfortable, in large part because he knew his brother and his brother’s girlfriend were participating in some of those activities.
The fact Luke was Olivia’s submissive, rather than the other way round, made him even more conflicted. When he’d first learned Luke was interested in kink, he’d been horrified—men shouldn’t hit women. Period. It turned out, Luke was the one getting spanked.
Which really fucked with Nick’s head.
His big, strong, bossy brother being spanked—and other things he didn’t like to think about—by a woman?
It didn’t make sense, although meeting Olivia had helped dispel some of that.
The woman was scary as hell when she wanted to be.
He’d also learned a bit more about kink since they’d been together. Not enough to be entirely comfortable with it, but he’d never seen a woman or man leave the second floor look unhappy, as if they’d been abused, or… well, they all looked as though they’d thoroughly enjoyed themselves.
Olivia had been after him to take one of the introduction classes. She thought he’d make a “good Dom,” whatever the hell that meant, but Nick always refused.
For one, he wasn’t sure he could bring himself to spank a woman. Boss one around? Sure. He was bossy—he owned that—but hurt her? The very thought made his stomach tighten to the point of nausea.
Second, he was interested in Avery, his sous chef, who not only went toe-to-toe with him in the kitchen but knew what went on upstairs as well as he did and had never brought it up as a point of interest. If she had, he might be more predisposed to learn more about it, but right now, he was just fine without knowing.
Heading upstairs, Nick nodded to Freddy, who was manning the desk outside the Marquis’ main room where the stage was. Dressed in a pink suit that clashed violently with the red-and-black décor of the room, Freddy looked entirely at home. The blond grinned and finger waved at Nick before returning his attention to the computer in front of him, probably going over the reservations for the evening.
From here, everything looked like a normal hotel lobby, although decorated a bit more boldly than most hotels. However, behind the door to the right of Freddy’s desk, things got wild.
Shaking his head, Nick knocked on the door to Olivia’s office and waited until she called out, ‘Come in’ before opening it. That hadn’t always been the case. For the first few months, Nick would knock and immediately open the door. That had ended the day he’d discovered his brother and Olivia didn’t always remember to lock the door when they were enjoying their intraoffice romance.
He’d seen his brother’s junk plenty of times as a teenager and really didn’t need to see it as an adult. He hadn’t been able to look Olivia in the eye for weeks after seeing her boobs.
Opening the door, he found his brother was there as well, although fully clothed and sitting across from Olivia’s desk, doing something on his phone while she worked.
Looking up, Olivia’s silvery grey eyes locked on him, and a thin smile curved her lips. She was a stunningly beautiful woman with red hair and creamy skin that looked good in the red suits she often wore. Not that Nick was a fashionista, but he knew redheads supposedly didn’t look good in red—Olivia defied that stereotype with ease.
“Hello, Nick, to what do we owe the pleasure?” There was a slightly sardonic note to her voice, as if she was inwardly laughing at him. She’d sounded like that ever since he’d walked in on her and Luke. Apparently, she’d found it hilarious, especially his reaction.
Taking a seat in the chair next to his brother, Nick gave Luke a quick smile before turning his attention to Olivia to ask about the wine shipment. Of course, because Luke was there, they chatted for a few minutes after business wrapped up.
The dinner hour was fast approaching, and Nick felt the urge to get back downstairs, although he knew his staff would have everything handled. He was the control freak Avery often accused him of being, and being away from the kitchen during a busy hour made him itchy.
“I’d better get back to work,” he said, getting to his feet. Luke reached out so they could fist bump, causing Olivia to roll her eyes at him.
“Talking to me doesn’t count as work?” Olivia teased, clearly amused.
“Never.” Nick winked at her, which made her laugh, and Luke shook his head in amusement.
Sauntering back to the door, Nick opened it and stepped into the lobby of Marquis’ second floor, then came to a grinding halt. Blinked. Surely, he wasn’t seeing what he thought he was seeing…
“Avery?”
His buttoned-up—though still sexy as sin—sous chef was standing in the middle of the lobby of a sex club, dressed as if she belonged there.
The tank tops she wore under her chef coat had revealed she was curvy, but the corset pushed her breasts up into a deep cleavage that wasn’t possible with mere fabric. It also pulled in her waist to improbable proportions that made him want to rip the damn thing off so she could breathe again.
Uh-huh. Sure. That’s why you want to rip it off her.
The black leather skirt hugged her legs and was so short, he was pretty sure if she bent over, it would roll up to her waist. His dick pulsing at the idea, Nick shifted his stance uncomfortably, hoping his erection wasn’t obvious. Fortunately, his drawstring pants were loose in the crotch. Three cheers for chef pants.
She stared back at him, eyes wide with horror, lips dropping open in shock at seeing him. The two women behind her, Domi and Rae, he’d met when Avery recently started hanging out with them.
“What are you doing up here?” he asked without thinking, even though he knew—knew—there was only one reason for her to be on the second floor of Marquis dressed like that. His brain couldn’t quite believe what his eyes were seeing.
“What are you doing up here?” Her voice was higher, squeakier than normal, as if she couldn’t believe she was seeing him, either.
“I had to ask Olivia a question.” Nick raked his hand through his hair. “Do you… do you do this?” He gestured toward the door to Marquis’ real entrance, where the shows were put on.
Avery
Shit, shit, shit! What do I do? The wailing in the back of her brain was incredibly distracting, b ut she couldn’t quite make it go away. Panic. That’s what she was feeling. Straight up panic. It was too late to run, even if she wasn’t wearing ridiculously high heels, which would probably cause her to trip, fall, and break her neck if she tried to dash down the stairs.
Pressing her lips together, she straightened, gathering her courage.
I have nothing to be ashamed of.
Behind her, Domi and Rae moved up on either side of her for support.
“I used to,” she answered Nick’s question. “I used to do ‘this.’ Be submissive. Kinky. I came here tonight to watch the show and get an idea if it’s something I still want.” Her eyes darted to Freddy, who worked the front desk at Marquis. Nick’s appearance had interrupted the conversation they’d been having. Should she admit she’d been trying to figure it all out in case she and Nick started dating?
She wasn’t sure if Nick would be okay with her outing them as a couple, especially since they weren’t really a couple, more like a possibility. She definitely didn’t want to be outed where she worked, though there was no one from the kitchen up here right now. Freddy wouldn’t rat her out. She hoped.
Although they might not be a thing anymore, not even the possibility of something. She couldn’t interpret the expression on Nick’s face, one she’d never seen before despite months of working together and flirting. He was silent.
She’d heard a few of the remarks he’d made about Marquis’ second floor. They weren’t derogatory, exactly, but it had been made clear he wasn’t into kink and didn’t really understand people who were. That was why she needed to figure out whether or not she still was.
Of course, because it was her, she had to run into him on the way in. There was no way to hide that she was one of those people he didn’t understand.
He turned around, turning his back on her, and her heart sank. But then he marched back into Olivia’s office. Crap, he wouldn’t get her banned from watching the show or something, would he? He didn’t have that kind of pull… except Olivia was his brother’s girlfriend, and his brother did part-own the place.
“Nick?” She hurried forward, a small kernel of anger stirring in her gut. It wasn’t any of his business what she did in her free time.
He completely ignored her as she came up behind him, addressing Olivia—who was sitting behind her desk, watching both of them like a hawk.
“Okay, Olivia, you’re finally getting your way. I want to sign up for the Dominant 101 course.”
Olivia’s lips curved in a smile, and Avery gasped, her hands flying to cover her mouth.
What the…?
1
Nick
This is a terrible idea.
“Seriously?” Avery’s voice rose to a high shriek behind him, a reaction he’d never gotten from her in the kitchen, no matter how much he’d ticked her off—and he’d done plenty of that. Their arguments about food preparation and the menu could get heated, which was fun as hell. “Nick, you can’t… you don’t…”
Her insistence he ‘couldn’t’ take the class made him want to do it even more. Luke would probably say that was to be expected. He claimed Nick had always been contrary.
“Yes, I can, and I’m going to.” He glanced over his shoulder. “This is what you want, right?”
Avery was right behind him now, Domi and Rae only a few feet away, their heads together as they whispered. Both of them seemed unsure how to react. He’d only met them a couple times, but he knew they were kinky, submissive, and had made friends with Avery not long ago. How, he didn’t know… maybe doing stuff on the second floor?
Fuck, he didn’t like that idea at all. Had Avery been coming up here all this time, and he’d not known?
Putting her hands on her hips, Avery took a deep breath that drew his attention to the tops of her breasts as they heaved within the corset. Seeing the direction of his gaze, she blushed bright pink, but it didn’t slow her down.
“This is what I might want,” she stressed. “And you and I, well… we haven’t… we aren’t…” Her tongue flicked out, licking her lips as if to help her think of what she wanted to say.
“We aren’t a couple?” He arched his eyebrow at her. “No, not yet.” That was when he realized his decision had already been made. No, they hadn’t done more than flirt and exchange a few hot kisses, but that was absolutely where he’d been heading. He hadn’t admitted it to himself yet, but he would have never fooled around with a co-worker if he didn’t want an actual relationship. It never ended well.
Not that any of his previous relationships had ended well, but that was probably why he’d been attracted to Avery. His previous girlfriends hadn’t understood a chef’s schedule or his dedication to his work and moving up in the restaurant industry. Avery did, although she didn’t have any ambition to become an executive chef—he’d asked her once if that was what she was looking to do. She was happy being a sous chef. She understood his schedule because she worked the same one. Even though she didn’t want an exec chef position, she understood the pressures he was under and why he was a workaholic.
He’d never tried dating anyone from work, but that might have been because he’d been working his ass off to move up in the kitchen and saw everyone else there as a rival. Now that he was in the top spot, all he had to do was prove he deserved to be there. Avery wasn’t a rival. She was an integral part of the team that was helping him do that.
They could talk about work and food to their heart’s content, and she wouldn’t get sick of it—or him.
Avery gaped at him. Apparently, she hadn’t been quite on the same page.
“You’ve never even asked me on a date.” Rather than shrieking, she was whispering as if it was some kind of secret. Her hazel eyes darted back and forth, looking behind him, and it didn’t take a genius to know she was looking to see Olivia’s and Luke’s reactions.
“Fine.” Nick crossed his arms over his chest. “Want to go on a date?”
Instead of answering, Avery hushed him, looking as though she was going to have a conniption.
“Avery?” Domi stepped forward to take Avery’s arm. She was a cute little thing, petite in every sense of the word, with tight, springy curls that bounced around her head with every movement she made. Behind her, Rae was glaring suspiciously at Nick, watching over both Avery and Domi with a protective gaze.
When Nick met her gaze, she tossed some of her long braids over her shoulder and crossed her arms over her chest. Do not piss off the girlfriends. He quickly turned his attention back to Avery. “Do you want us to stay out here with you?”
Closing her eyes for a moment, Avery reached up to rub the center of her forehead, a move Nick recognized from the kitchen, which meant he’d gotten on her last nerve, and she was doing everything in her power to hold back her desire to yell at him. As always, it made him smirk. Normally, she was so cool, calm, and collected, he considered it a badge of honor to get under her skin.
“Domi, Rae, why don’t you two go inside. Freddy can show you to your seats.” Olivia came up beside Nick, making him jump. He hadn’t heard her approach. How the hell did she do that in heels on a wood floor? The office had a rug, but he was standing on the wood. “Avery will be in with you shortly, but I think it might benefit her and Nick to have a quick talk first.”
Avery
A quick talk? Avery wasn’t sure that was possible. There was way too much to talk about.
Nick discovering she was kinky.
Nick suddenly deciding he was going to try being kinky, too.
Nick thinking he would try to be kinky because he wanted to date her.
She’d barely gotten used to the idea dating the executive chef at the restaurant where she worked wasn’t the most insane idea in the world—this felt like they’d skipped a few steps. Getting into kink wasn’t something someone did for a casual hookup or even after a few dates. Yes, they’d known each other for months, but that time had been spent working together, not dating!
