Slices of Life by Georgia Beers Read Free Book Online Page B

to her. As she signed, he leaned forward on his forearms and said, “Hope your night wasn’t a total bust.”
    She lifted her gaze to his, noted his mischievous grin. “Nope. In fact, it turned out better than I expected.” Stretching toward him, she kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
    He flushed a light pink and took his leave.
    Cassidy picked up her stuff and headed out into the night. As she breathed in the crisp autumn air, she said aloud, “Deb? Deb who?”

THE CHEF
     
    “I cannot believe I just did that. Oh, my god.”
    Kate Martindale walked back into the kitchen of her restaurant in somewhat of a daze, feeling both energized and horrified by what had taken place at the bar just minutes ago. She’d asked a woman out. A woman she’d never met. A woman about whom she knew squat. A woman whose very presence in her restaurant caused Kate to feel warm and soft inside. It was the weirdest thing she’d ever experienced. Jason had come in and told her about this hot chick at the bar who had been stood up by her blind date. Her female blind date. Kate had peeked out at her and felt an instant, inexplicable stab of desire to know her better.
    “Did what?” Jason asked as he breezed in to fill his five-gallon pail with ice from the icemaker. One glance at Kate and his eyes went wide. “Holy shit, you asked her out, didn’t you? That’s what she meant!” He set the bucket down, wrapped his arms around Kate, and twirled her in a circle. “I’m so proud of you!”
    “Oh, for god’s sake. Put me down.” Kate smacked his shoulder. “And what do you mean, ‘that’s what she meant?’”
    “She said her night had turned out better than she’d expected. I wasn’t sure what she meant, but now I know.”
    Kate blinked at him.
    “This is good, Katie. This is very good.”
    “What’s good?” Charlotte Becker, Kate’s sous chef, asked as she reached into the refrigerator.
    “Kate asked her out.” Jason’s face beamed like a proud father.
    “The hottie at the bar?” Charlotte mimicked Jason’s earlier wide-eyed expression. “Oh, my god. Did she say yes?”
    “She did.” Kate still felt a little dazed. “I’m making her brunch on Sunday.”
    “Ooo, brunch. Very good call.” Jason nodded his approval. “Not as intimate as dinner, but not as casual as coffee. Nicely done.”
    Kate looked at him, her eyes beseeching. “What the hell was I thinking, Jay?”
    Jason tilted his head in a gesture of fondness and sympathy and reached out to touch her cheek. “Oh, Katie, you deserve this. You deserve to be happy. Who knows if this will go anywhere? It’s way too soon to know that. But maybe you’ll have some fun for a few hours. There’s nothing wrong with that, and it’s nothing for you to feel guilty about. Okay?”
    Kate nodded. “Okay.”
    She hoped she sounded more confident than she felt.
    She hoped she wasn’t a disappointment to Cassidy Freeman.
     
    ***
     
    “Cassidy Freeman. Cassidy Freeman.” Kate rolled the name around on her tongue as she pulled into her driveway. “What a great name.” Saying it aloud conjured up the oval face of creamy skin, the enormous brown eyes, and the short hair the color and richness of dark melted chocolate. “And let’s not pretend you didn’t notice the rest of the package,” she muttered to herself, distinctly remembering how hard it was to keep her eyes on Cassidy’s face and not travel over her breasts, her hips, her thighs. God, she was pretty.
    And young.
    Kate didn’t really notice until she approached her. Cassidy couldn’t be older than thirty-five, almost twenty years younger than Kate. She almost chickened out right then, but Cassidy didn’t seem to be the least bit put off. Kate liked to think she looked a bit younger than she was, but she didn’t look forty. Cassidy not only accepted Kate’s flirtatious comments, but she flirted back. That had to be a good sign, didn’t it?
    She unlocked the side door and dropped her stuff on the