Sugar is Sweet Read online

  Sugar is Sweet

  Sam Crescent

  Jenika Snow

  Contents

  Synopsis

  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

  Epilogue

  About the Authors

  Synopsis

  From the moment Millie walked into his restaurant looking for a job, Lucas wanted her. But being with her would cause problems. He was her boss and it was against the rules … his rules. Not to mention, as a single father, he couldn’t just let any woman near his son.

  But Millie was different. He knew she was special from the moment he looked at her.

  No matter what he planned, Lucas knew he had to have her and he was willing to do whatever it took to claim her as his.

  Wanting her boss came with plenty of complications, mainly that Millie knew there was no reason for a man like Lucas to want someone like her.

  Gorgeous, intelligent and successful, he wouldn’t be interested in a Plain Jane girl like her.

  But when he showed interest, Millie didn’t try to fight the chemistry they had. As Valentine’s Day approached and the restaurant was in full swing with everyone wanting to express their love, Lucas and Millie’s relationship bloomed.

  But what would happen if Lucas wanted to take it to the next level?

  Could Millie throw caution to the wind and give herself fully to Lucas in the name of love?

  1

  Millie pushed through the double kitchen doors and headed toward the stainless-steel table that separated the wait staff from the cooks. The kitchen was hopping, with the chefs all working hard to make each meal perfect.

  “I need a beef Wellington, side of steamed vegetables, and mushroom risotto.” She shouted out the order, seeing the chefs get to work.

  As a waitress at one of the most prestigious and popular restaurants in the city, she worked her tail off hoping to get noticed by management...mainly the owner of the restaurant, Lucas.

  Although she loved her job, she would also really love to do something other than serving food to people. Especially given the fact she was going to culinary school.

  But what she’d really like was for Lucas to notice her, to see her as something more than an employee. The thoughts played through her head, and she felt ridiculous for thinking them.

  On the social totem pole, Millie was at the very bottom, whereas Lucas was at the top. No way he would notice her. He probably went after models, gorgeous women who wore gowns that cost more than a month’s worth of her rent.

  And that was saying something, given the fact that rent in the city was astronomical.

  She went back out, did a beeline to the bar, grabbed a bottle of red wine, and headed toward the table. After allowing the patrons to sample the wine, she poured the glasses, gave them a genuine smile, and headed back to the bar. She did this three more times, taking orders and letting the chefs know, then filling drinks.

  For Saturday night it was insanely busy, but it kept her on her toes, and she enjoyed her job.

  As she stood by the stainless-steel table that separated her from the profession she desperately wanted to do one day, she couldn’t help but be transfixed at the way the chefs moved seamlessly together. They were like a well-oiled machine, each one knowing what to do at the right time so everything ran fluidly. It was like an art, watching a masterpiece being created.

  Millie felt transfixed, mesmerized by how gorgeous everything was. The customers outside would eat this, maybe not even realizing the work that had been put into making everything perfect.

  The sweeping lines of the handmade sauces, the precisely placed garnishes on top of the entire meal.

  Each plate was a masterpiece, and one of these days she would be creating them as well. One day she’d be an artist.

  * * *

  Lucas went over the Valentine’s Day menu one last time. February fourteenth was one of his busiest days for obvious reasons, and he made sure to make a special, limited edition menu for the night.

  It gave his customers something to open up their palettes, to experience something new, possibly even foreign to them.

  It’s how he ran his business, how he’d always envisioned it. His restaurant, Brick and Stone, was something he created from the ground up. He’d opened the restaurant as a memorial to his family, his mother and father who had once owned a small pizzeria ... a small brick and stone building that was older than they were.

  It had been on the corner in their little city, a place that had been home, as much as it had taught him everything he knew today.

  Delivering those pizzas as a teen, watching as his father made the crust by hand, his mother creating the sauce the same way. It was because of them that he wanted to do this, bring their legacy to the bigger picture.

  It was because of them that he had a love for all things food related. And since his parents’ passing several years ago, each and every day Lucas strove to make this better than the last.

  He set the menu aside and stood, heading out toward the kitchen. He liked to follow the progress of the night, making sure the plates were perfect. Even though he ran this business, owned the restaurant, he was still a chef at heart.

  On occasion, he liked doing the meals himself, not just creating the menus. Cooking was in his blood.

  Once in the kitchen, Lucas watched the chefs do their magic, everything the way it should be, the way he would’ve done it. And then he looked up and saw her.

  Millie Stein.

  She’d been working for him while she went to culinary school. And from the moment he hired her, Lucas knew that there was something special about her. She was smart and efficient, and gorgeous.

  God was she pretty, the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. And he’d been mesmerized by her from the very beginning.

  He just didn’t know if breaking his own rule of not dating his employees was the smartest thing to do for either of them.

  2

  The next evening

  Millie wiped the sweat from her brow before glancing around the quiet restaurant kitchen. What she was doing was breaking the rules. The head chef had given her the keys as she’d offered to do all the cleaning up for him so he could get home to his sick child. She’d clean the place up and it would all be spotless but in the meantime, she’d practice the skills she’d been training for. There was no way she’d be able to practice at her place. Her place had the smallest kitchen in the world.

  It was placed in the corner of her tiny apartment, one tiny sink and one stove connected with one cupboard and a counter. That was it. Thanks to city living.

  She loved cooking so much, creating dishes that people fell in love with or that brought them together, and because of her financial situation, she couldn’t be picky about the kind of place she rented. One day, she wanted a place that held a kitchen to be proud of, at least four ovens, two stove tops, counters, lots of space and even more counters, a pantry.

  She smiled to herself as she thought about it.

  That would all come around soon. First, she had to keep on practicing and to finally catch Lucas’s eye, not that he’d ever give her the time of day. He was wealthy and gorgeous and he was used to women falling all over themselves for him, while she couldn’t prepare a simple hollandaise sauce. She could do most stews,
casseroles, and butter-based sauces but her hollandaise was just … gross.

  Lifting the sauce out on a spoon, she saw it hadn’t emulsified. Dropping the spoon into the jar, she sighed.

  “Seriously, I can make everything else but this, ugh, I hate you, whoever invented this stupid concoction.” Dumping the disgusting liquid into the trash bin, she checked the time and saw she was in the restaurant way after closing time.

  Wiping at her brow, she wondered what Lucas was doing right now.

  Actually, scrap that, she didn’t want to know. He probably had some beautiful woman underneath him.

  She took out the trash, being careful not to close herself out of the back of the restaurant, then went back inside, cleaned away all the dishes, and made sure no one would know she was there.

  The ingredients she used were her own. She didn’t want a prison sentence in her future for theft. She always picked up the groceries she’d need. The only thing she did in the restaurant pantry was admire the shelves filled with herbs, spices, pastas, and all of the kinds of goodies she wanted to own one day.

  She stared across the kitchen one last time, feeling an overwhelming sense of sadness, flicked the light off, and left the restaurant, locking it up.

  Tomorrow, she’d be in before the chef so Lucas wouldn’t know that she’d been there late. She wondered if he’d make any last-minute changes to the Valentine’s menu. He always had to be in complete control, down to the finest detail.

  It’s why he’d gone through six chefs since she’d been employed by him. If they didn’t do what he told them, they were gone. The panic on everyone’s face always made her stop, but Lucas would simply roll up his sleeves and do the task. His commanding presence alone, the way he held himself, barked out instructions, it all sent a thrill down her spine.

  She would love for him to command her.

  There was nothing he could ask for that she wouldn’t give him. Whatever he wanted, she’d gladly do. He was the only person she wanted. The only man she’d love to kiss come Valentine’s Day.

  * * *

  Lucas watched Millie leave and all he wanted to do was drag her back into his restaurant. Gritting his teeth, he felt an ache in his cock. She looked so good standing in his kitchen, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip as she glared at the sauce. He knew what she’d done wrong with the hollandaise. Like all egg-based sauces, it required patience, be it butter or oil. Her butter was too hot and she’d split the eggs, which had been too cold.

  He wanted her and he shouldn’t want her.

  She broke the rules and now, he couldn’t help but wonder if he could finally have a taste of the woman he’d been watching closely. He wanted to know if he could break his own rules.

  It was wrong of the boss to go after an employee. He’d wanted to fire her several times but he couldn’t do it. She was a hard worker, one of the best waitresses. Her skills in the kitchen needed improvement, guidance, which he could give her.

  She shouldn’t have been in his kitchen nor should the chef have given her the keys to lock up. But he knew she’d done this a few times in the past. It was harmless, and so he’d let it pass. But that was because he wanted her desperately.

  But he didn’t like the thought of her alone.

  He’d left the restaurant early and completely forgotten the menu he was working on. When it came to Valentine’s Day, he wanted everything to be perfect and until he was sure, he wouldn’t sign off on anything.

  He’d been quiet and of course, heard Millie muttering to herself. She drew him like a moth to a fucking flame.

  Running fingers through his hair, he gripped the menu in his other hand. Would it be so wrong to lay claim to her?

  She’d rebuked all of the other men who’d asked her to go out. He knew as he’d been close to firing several of the bastards for even thinking they had a shot with her. Millie wasn’t for any other man.

  She belonged to him.

  Only, he hadn’t laid claim to her, and that, right there, he didn’t like.

  Something had to be done.

  Millie was going to be his, one way or another. There was no way he’d spend another Valentine’s Day on his own.

  3

  Millie helped clean off the rest of the tables and headed over to the bar, helping the bartender clean everything off and put everything away.

  The chairs were currently being put on the tables, the janitorial staff already making its rounds as it vacuumed and cleaned the floors.

  Lucas was very precise on how things were done, how everything was cleaned each and every night. The granite and brass polished, the glass cleaned. The floors were vacuumed and mopped, and everyone made sure that they shone impeccably.

  No one could ever say this restaurant wasn’t clean as hell.

  She headed into the kitchen, taking off her apron as she pushed her way through the double doors. Gustave, one of the sous chefs, was wrapping up some fresh vegetables and putting them in the fridge when she stepped inside.

  “You heading out for the night?” Millie asked and Gustave looked up and smiled.

  “Yes. I’m beat. Going home and watching a cheesy sitcom.” He chuckled as if he’d told a joke.

  Gustave was Russian, having lived in the States for the last decade. But he’d become a chef in the last five years. In that short time period, he’d climbed the ranks to the position he held now.

  And that gave Millie hope that all this hard work she was doing would pay off in the end.

  He finished cleaning up before heading out of the kitchen. She just stood there and stared at all the stainless steel, the pristine cleanness of it all. Her hopes and dreams. That’s what this was.

  Then she felt somebody watching her. She turned around and saw Lucas standing in the doorway, his hands in his slacks pockets, his expression stoic. He was hard to read on any given day, but the way he stood there, not speaking, just watching her, made her feel like this wasn’t a friendly interaction.

  All her worries sprang forth. Did he know about her late-night cooking sessions in the kitchen? Was he about to fire her?

  She swallowed roughly, twisting her hands in the apron she still held, trying not to act so … guilty.

  “Millie, can I see you in my office please?” He didn’t wait for a response, and instead walked past her and into the back hallway, which led to his office.

  She stood there for a moment, not sure what to say, if she should follow. This couldn’t be good.

  She gave one more lingering look at the kitchen before following him to his office. Once inside, she stared at him. He stood with his back to her, looking at a framed one-dollar bill.

  It was tradition, maybe even superstitious, that every new business kept and framed their first paid dollar.

  “I never thought this place would flourish. I had hope, but I was realistic too.” He turned and faced her. “You know why I brought you in here?”

  He stated it like a question, but she could tell that he already knew, same as her.

  Shit.

  Millie licked her lips but didn’t respond. She didn’t want to incriminate herself just in case she was wrong and this had nothing to do with her using the kitchen after hours.

  “You’ve been using the kitchen after hours.”

  Fuck.

  And just like that she was right. She looked away, feeling her face heat, embarrassment flooding her. This was when she lost her job. Hell, he could press charges if he wanted to.

  “Millie, look at me.”

  She lifted her head, feeling humiliated, guilt eating at her. “Sir, first I want to apologize. Second, I want to say that I never stole anything. I always brought my own food in. I just wanted the atmosphere of the kitchen.” She ran her hands up and down her legs, her palms sweaty.

  He walked toward his desk and sat down behind it, gesturing for her to take a seat in the chair across from him. It took her a moment to comply, but then she found her strength and moved toward the chair, gripping the back of it fo
r a second and staring at him.

  “Am I fired?” she asked, her voice shaking.

  “Millie, relax and have a seat.”

  She swallowed and did as he said, keeping her hands in her lap, her fingers twisted together. He didn’t speak for long seconds, didn’t even move. He just stared at her, the air in the room thickening, her nerves climbing higher.

  “You’re not fired, and you’re not in trouble. I don’t have a problem with what you did, even if it was wrong not to get permission first.”

  He wasn’t upset?

  “But I have been watching you. I know you’ve been using the kitchen for some time, and that’s why I have a proposition for you.”

  She felt her eyes widen but didn’t know what to say, how to respond.

  “I’ll make this short and sweet.” He leaned forward and braced his forearms on the desk, looking her in the eyes. “I know your talent, have seen it when you thought you were alone, when no one was looking and you created those incredible dishes. I know what you can create. And it’s impressive. It far surpasses you being a server at the restaurant.” He gave her a genuine smile. “I want to give you a chance to help me.”

  “You want my help?” She felt her eyes widen, shock filling her. Lucas, the owner of one of the most prestigious restaurants in the city, wanted her help?

  He grinned wider. “I don’t want just your help and input. I want you to help me finalize the Valentine’s Day menu. I want you to help me make it unforgettable.” He leaned back in his chair and waited for her to respond.