Free Catering to Love by Carolyn Hughey

boss. It was because he couldn’t stop thinking about her, and that was making him angry too. This was something he hadn’t done since his break up with Victoria. The more he got to know Gabi, the more he liked her, but he’d never let her know.
    Admittedly, the worst part of this whole thing was Gabi was the type of woman he’d always wanted in his life. She was confident and had the same type of entrepreneurial spirit he had had before his restaurant was pulled out from under him. His body stiffened thinking back to the worst time in his life, when his business went down the tubes and his world crashed around him. Victoria saw to that, despite his pleas to his investors to hang on, even going so far as to give them assurances he would rebuild the business. But they’d mistrusted him and backed Victoria because of her social standing, and reputation, and that of the newspaper where she worked. It was hard to watch his once-thriving business dwindle down to next to nothing, and that’s when his backers forced him to liquidate. He punched his fist against the wall, but nothing helped to relieve the tension he felt then, and the return of it again today. Having Gabi take over the inn was just one more disappointment. He didn’t want to think of Gabi as the same as Victoria, but Nell screwed him and so did his former girlfriend—chances were, she’d do the same. It seemed like all the women screwed him—royally, and it wasn’t for pleasure.
    The fact that Gabi was too young to have enough money to buy the inn meant she either had rich parents or financialbackers. He should have realized what was going on when Gabi’s parents came here to see the Carters. He didn’t realize who they were at the time, but thinking back now, he could see a definite resemblance to her mother. Victoria was a spoiled little rich girl who was an only child and used to getting her own way. He wouldn’t allow another woman to set him up for another fall. Victoria had destroyed the one thing that mattered most to him—his restaurant. No sirree.
    And then along comes this Gabi woman, petite, cute, jovial, and she never puts on airs. She was the real deal, or so he thought. But he’d started out thinking Victoria was that way too, and look where that got him: in financial ruins. He just couldn’t trust another woman. And to think he had almost let his guard down. He felt like a jerk for even having those thoughts in the first place.
    He shook his head. He couldn’t continue to beat himself up over this. What was done was done.
    He had to admit Gabi was trying really hard—maybe too hard. But he wasn’t buying that cutesy stuff she was pulling. Seriously, what boss asks employees to develop their own dishes? None that he had ever known. If working at the inn hadn’t been so nice, he’d have left a while ago. He just wished
she
wasn’t his boss.
    Corey splashed on some cologne and headed out the door to meet Rocky, another chef from town. Maybe he knew of someone looking for help.
    He pulled into a parking space in front of Peter and Paul’s, a local hamburger joint with nightly live music, locked the car and walked inside. A folk singer was performing a Janis Joplin bluesy rock ballad. Easing throughthe crowd, he walked to the bar and ordered a beer. Rocky hadn’t arrived yet. He slugged back his beer and enjoyed the music. He wasn’t looking for a woman, although he noticed a few looking in his direction. He ordered another beer and turned to face the vocalist, when he saw Rocky enter. His friend headed in his direction.
    “What’s happening, man?” Rocky asked, extending his hand in greeting.
    “It’s official. I have a female boss.”
    “Sorry about that, dude. So what are you going to do?”
    “I don’t know. I’m thinking I should just quit and find something else. Problem is, I like working at the place.”
    “Is she bossy?”
    “Not yet. She’s a little too syrupy if you ask me. She walks around talking to everyone