"Sorry," she murmured, the word barely audible. "Karras overload."
I smiled into her hair. "That's a real thing. You should get a doctor's note."
"Will you write one for me?"
"I'm not a doctor." I laughed the words into her hair before I kissed the side of her neck and released her. We might have been alone when I hugged her, but Wes was due in any minute, and given the questions he'd asked about why she and I hated one another so much, it would have led to even more questions.
Questions I didn't want to answer, because I didn't have the answers.
"Is this the stuff they didn't deliver yesterday?" I picked up the tub of black pepper.
"Yep." She smacked her lips together and leaned against the edge of the side, then she folded her arms. Luckily for my concentration, the dress wasn't too low-cut, but I still lingered there a little longer than I really needed to. "The guy is an idiot. I don't like him, and as soon as I can find another supplier for this stuff that doesn't charge me my firstborn, I'm going to switch."
"I can look," I said, grabbing a couple things to put away.
"Can't you just take the deliveries? Last week, he asked me if my skirt was meant to be so short or if it'd ridden up because I'm so hot." She rolled her eyes, handing me a bottle.
"Valid question. I've seen the things you wear."
Her look went from indifferent to exasperation. "I barely had a chance to change and come back down when he was at the door. He asked me if I'd put the dress on especially for him."
I ran my gaze across her body. "Did you put it on for me?"
She slapped my arm. "I put it on for the poor suckers who keep coming back to the bar just to see me bend over."
I frowned. "I've seen you bend over behind that bar. I'm not exactly sure how I feel about that."
"Morning. Fuck, it's afternoon. Afternoon, shit." Wes stepped through the door and stopped dead when he saw Raven in the kitchen. The door he'd come through was the heavier one, and it swung back, hitting him in the back and making him jump forward at the impact. True to form, he grabbed the side table where we kept all the keys and knocked that bowl onto the floor. The plastic rattled and the keys screeched as they all skidded across the floor.
Raven pursed her lips, fighting a smile. "Hey, Wes. How was your morning?"
He opened and closed his mouth like a desperate fish before his cheeks heated. "Good. It was good. Thanks. Sorry about the...you know. The language."
"Don't worry about it." She grabbed the empty crate and swept it off the side before heading for the door back to the bar. "Fuck is my favorite...f-word." She shot me a sly glance before disappearing out into the bar.
Wes stared at her leaving. "Is it me," he said slowly, "Or is she in a better mood than normal?"
"Careful." I put the last bottle on the shelf and looked at him. "She's got the hearing ability of a supernatural creature."
"Noted." He finally dragged his attention to me. "What do you need doing, Chef?"
I rattled off a list of things he could do-giving him a little more freedom by the end of the list-and headed out for the bar. Pushing the door open, I stepped into the bar and picked up a packet of napkins that had fallen onto the floor.
Raven glanced at me. "Oh, thanks."
"Stop being so happy. You're scaring my staff."
That glance became a lingering stare with a wide grin. "Yeah, yeah. I was just being nice."
"That's why he's scared."
"I've always been perfectly nice to Wes." She snatched up the napkins I just put on the bar.
"But you were nice to me."
"I'm sorry, I'll be a raging bitch to you next time." She smirked, but it came off too amused to have the affect she obviously intended. "Can you get back to work now?"
"In a minute." I paused. Irrational nerves twisted my stomach, making me feel almost sick. I knew what I wanted to do, and asking someone on a date wasn't exactly something that made me uncomfortable on a regular basis, but something about this woman just threw me.
Raven narrowed her eyes. "What?"
"What are you working tomorrow? Are you closing?"
Slowly, she shook her head. "Sienna and Rosanne are covering closing. Why?"
I leaned on the edge of the bar. "I kinda wanna stay with you tonight," I said under my breath. "But I can't. So, let me take you out tomorrow."
"Aren't you working?"