Page 7 of Monster Diner

Her cheeks were burning as she tucked her hair behind her ear. She hadn’t been imagining it. He was flirting with her. They’d never had that sort of relationship before, but maybe he’d changed. Goddess knew she had. Perhaps Victor was the player type now. In high school, he’d been swarmed by girls desperate to date him. She shouldn’t be thinking about this. Single. New start. Change the subject.

“You’ve been working for Frank for a while?”

“Almost twenty years.”

She sat up straighter in her chair. “Oh my goddess, forgive me. I had no clue.”

He waved away her apology. “Frank was a man of few words. I’m not surprised he never mentioned me.”

Another beat, and she was tempted to press him for more information, but instead ducked her head down and shoveled a few more bites of pancake into her mouth. The quicker she ate, the quicker they’d get down to brass tacks. And she’d be free of this temptation.

She cleared her plate as he puttered around behind the counter. As soon as she put the last bite into her mouth, he took her plate and disappeared back into the kitchen.

She fiddled with her napkin as she waited for him to return. The waitress finally looked up from her phone and gave her a quick smile before taking orders from customers who’d come in since Lizzy had arrived. She’d stalled long enough. Victor was great eye candy and possibly flirting with her, but as he was her employee, that was an unbalanced power dynamic. At least until the diner sold.

When he came back out, she stood up and said, “Let’s get down to business. Do you have something for me to sign or…?”

He paused and looked at her with an unreadable expression. “Yeah, about that, there’s something I didn’t tell you…”

“Yeah?” she asked tentatively.

“Frank left the diner to both of us.”

“Pardon?”

“We’re co-owners of the house and diner. Frank wanted us to have it together.”

4

VICTOR

Ever since she’d made that filthy sound while eating his food, Victor was having a hard time convincing his cock to be professional. He loved cooking for people, and the fact that Lizzy loved the food enough to moan, well, that was a huge turn-on. More than a few of his past bad decisions had been the result of someone liking his cooking.

With Lizzy, it was ten times more complicated. There was history there and, if he were honest, some lingering feelings on his end. Then she’d walked in, even more attractive than he’d remembered. Her hair was jet-black except for the white streaks framing her perfectly rounded face, her high-waisted jeans hugged her soft belly and thick thighs perfectly, and the low V of her red polka-dot top displayed her breasts like two freshly baked rolls he wanted to sink his teeth into. A dribble of syrup had landed on her tits, and the urge to lick it off was going to haunt his dreams. He hoped she hadn’t noticed. It would only make this conversation more awkward.

He’d been putting off telling her about the stickier part of Frank’s will. When the ball dropped, she’d looked less than enthused. A small part of him had hoped she’d be excited to work together and that maybe they’d rekindle some of that almost-not-really romance from when they were young.

“You’re joking,” Lizzy said. “Why would Frank leave half his assets to you?”

“I’m part owner. Have been for almost five years. As for the house, only Frank could tell you why.” Victor leaned back against the counter, arms crossed as he watched her ample chest heave. He’d miscalculated the delivery, and there were no do-overs. The thought made his scars itch. He had to fix this.

“Why did he leave me anything if you’re part owner? And how are you part owner?” she asked.

He didn’t have a good answer for her first question. Even after working with Frank for close to two decades, he didn’t know much about the man. Frank didn’t share details of his personal life. The single photo in the office was of Lizzy in elementary school. One thing Victor was certain of was that Frank loved his daughter. Even if he hadn’t been good at showing it. Explaining her father to her felt tactless, given the circumstances though.

“Frank’s Diner had been struggling for a while. We had a particularly bad season five years ago. Frank nearly closed the diner. I’d been saving up for a while to buy my own restaurant, and I decided I’d rather keep this place open than risk it with a new business. And we became business partners after that.”

There was more to the story, but he wouldn’t burden her with the truth. Victor suspected Frank wanted to pair them up. He’d made a joke about it once. Or at least he’d thought it was a joke at the time. Victor had secretly liked the idea too. It was a nice fantasy. Marrying Lizzy would mean becoming a real part of the family. Which was ridiculous, of course. They hadn’t even talked since high school.

Whatever Frank’s reasons, Victor had bought half the diner, with plans for Frank to retire a year or two after that, but time marched on and Frank never slowed down.

Lizzy’s face was completely devoid of emotion as she stared at the wall behind him. He shifted uncomfortably, waiting for her to ask more questions. She must have tons, as this was her family legacy. She’d come all this way. Surely she was ready to learn the business and help save the diner from the edge it was teetering on.

“Why didn’t you tell me this over the phone?” she demanded.

“You seemed to be under duress the first time we talked. I didn’t want to burden you with that particular detail.”

The bell above the door rang, and Vivianne, who worked the afternoon shift, strolled in, a bag slung over her shoulder.