Safari Island Shifters: The Complete Collection(56)

That was when his cheetah started to make a fuss. Before he knew it, he was inviting Clem back to his place to work.

Stupid! He was supposed to be avoiding women, not inviting them back to his home.

He wished there was time to get in a run before she came over. Anything to get rid of the nervous energy flowing through his system. This was how he always got himself into trouble, and he could already see it happening. Clem was so cool and nice. First they’d be planning their menu and then he’d be planning to get into her pants. He couldn’t let that happen again.

Parker went around his home and removed anything even remotely soft or inviting. It wasn’t that hard, since Jasminda had moved all of her things out. When he was finished, his placed looked as sterile as a hotel room. It might help deter Clem from feeling too comfortable and wanting to come back.

He changed into the least sexy outfit he could think of, khakis and a navy polo shirt, and minutes later she was knocking on his door.

“Hi!” She came inside carrying a big bag and a laptop case. “I brought everything I thought we might need.”

“We’ll be working in the kitchen.” Parker showed her to the barstools. “Something to drink?”

“Water, please.”

“I’ll take you home later.”

“In what?” She took a tall glass of ice water from him.

“I have a personal golf cart.”

“Oh, a little perk for the big chef on the island.”

He shrugged. “I guess. I think a lot of the workers have them.”

“How do you like working here?”

“It’s pretty good. Good publicity when I started, but that died down the more I came back. Not a bad thing, but not great, either. The pay is terrific, though, and so is the weather. My girlfriend liked it too.”

“Girlfriend? Where’s she?”

“Ex-girlfriend,” he corrected. “I have no idea where she is.”

“Recent?”

He smiled wryly. “You could say that. Why do you ask about working here? Thinking of coming aboard?”

“I am, actually.” She looked surprised. “How did you guess?”

“They just opened Blue Ridge and don’t have anyone booked for the summer yet. You’d be a good choice.”

His cheetah agreed. The animal was growling with pleasure, and Parker had to keep himself from making the noise out loud. Clem was going to become a mainstay on the island? Wonderful. At least he might still have a chance to get to know her later. Unless someone else got to her first.

“Thank you. They’re still hammering out the details, but it looks promising.”

“How would your boyfriend feel about you moving to the island?” He could kick himself for how transparent he was being.

She smiled. “No boyfriend. Kind of hard to date when I’m doing a TV show and working on my career.”

“I know exactly how that is. Except for the reality TV show thing.” Parker laughed. “I don’t think I could ever cook on TV like that. Seems so stressful.”

“It was, but it was incredibly fun too. You have to really stretch yourself and move outside your comfort zones. I learned so much about myself as a chef and as a person.”

“You make it sound so delightful. I still wouldn’t do it.”

She laughed. “That’s fine. More for me to win.”

He looked at the clock on the microwave. “Better get started if we want to finish before midnight.”

They got to work hashing out their menu. Clem had loved his menu at the tasting and wanted to copy that for the wedding. They agreed that she would make the first draft of the printed menu and Parker would okay it. He didn’t care what it looked like as long as the descriptions were correct. Then they mixed and matched their appetizers, entrees, and side dishes.

It worked out fairly quickly. It turned out that their dishes complemented each other well. With a few tweaks to the side dishes, they were able to come up with a menu in less than two hours.

“That was so easy.” Clem stood up and stretched her legs. “I can’t believe we picked so many similar tastes.”

“Me either. This was a first for me, since I usually do more complicated dishes. Makes me wonder if simple is the way to go.”

“It could work for a new place or if you need to revitalize. Seems to me that you’re doing just fine.”

“Seems that way, but my image is getting stale. I’m in the process of closing a restaurant right now.”

“You have to close a place?” Clem’s face reddened. “Sorry if this is crass, but how the heck did you let that happen? You have a big name. I don’t see how someone like you could misstep.”

“I think I spread myself too thin. Though, past success isn’t a determiner of future success. The minute you start thinking of yourself as untouchable, you’ll fail. Maybe this was supposed to be some kind of wake-up call for me.”

Clem nodded and reached for her bags. “That was fun, but I guess it’s time to mosey on back to the resort.”

Parker walked her to the front door, where she lingered. He put out his hand. “Great working with you. I’m happy we’ll be getting you on board full time.”

Clem grabbed his hand, pulled him close, and kissed him.