I Am the Boss

Stella

The woman standing right in front of the counter has to be Vance’s new partner. She fits his preferred mold down to the last detail—poised, sharp-featured, and dressed in understated neutral tones. Better yet, she carries herself with a haughty tilt of her chin, peering down her nose at pretty much everyone in the dining room. She is the exact version of a woman Vance spent our entire marriage trying to turn me into.

Right behind her, Vance hovers with stiff shoulders and a tight expression, and the sudden sight of him makes my wolf perk right up. Honestly, I can’t even sort out my own headspace right now. Having him walk into my establishment with another woman on his arm is jarring enough, yet I have no clue how I actually feel about it.

Our gazes lock across the short distance, holding me still for a beat too long. Back when we were together, getting lost in his eyes was one of my favorite things in the world. They were always the richest shade of brown, growing even more striking whenever a genuine smile warmed them up. There is no trace of a smile on his face tonight, though, and I make myself break the contact first.

Part of me—the softer, overly generous side—still wants to let Vance have whatever he came here for, which immediately sets my wolf off inside my head. *Don't you dare give in to him,* she snaps, making me wince inwardly. *You cannot hand him what he wants.*

Watching him stand there with his hands balled into tight fists against his sides, I can't help wondering if his own wolf isgiving him an earful right now. He barely seems to be tracking what is happening between his companion and me at the counter. For all I know, the man and his beast are locked in a heated debate of their own.

*I’m dying to reach out to his wolf,* mine admits wistfully, *even if I'm nowhere near strong enough yet to open a mind-link.*

*Drop it,* I tell her firmly. *He obviously has selective amnesia about how he landed himself in this mess to begin with.*

She lets out a low, rumbling grumble in the back of my mind before finally falling silent.

No matter how good-looking or magnetic the man still is, none of it erases the hell he put me through. Those bleak months following our divorce marked the absolute lowest, darkest stretch of my entire existence. It nearly broke both me and my wolf.

Putting on a practiced, polite smile, I look at the two of them. “Hi there,” I greet them evenly.

The woman beside him looks down at me with undisguised arrogance, though my expression doesn't waver an inch. Dealing with entitled, condescending diners comes with the territory in this industry, and I’ve had plenty of practice handling them. Who she walked in with changes nothing; caving to their pressure is completely off the table.

“We are getting ready for the Alpha party, and word is your tables are completely booked up,” she begins, while I give a polite nod. Considering they already heard the place is full, showing up in person seems pretty pointless. “Are you quite certain about that?” she adds, dropping a subtle, veiled threat into her tone.

Squaring my shoulders, I draw myself up straight. “I’m afraid so. As much as we try to welcome every guest, our seating capacity is strictly limited.” If she assumes a little intimidation will make me fold and magic up a table for her, she is sorely mistaken.

Giving me a disdainful once-over from head to toe, she steps right up to the counter and lowers her pitch. “Bring me your boss right now. Clearly, you have no idea who you're dealing with.” I flick a brief glance toward Vance, only to find him watching the exchange with a blank face, making zero move to step in.

“Then you can speak directly to me,” I reply calmly.

Her eyes narrow into slits before her hand shoots out, fisting tightly in the collar of my shirt. With a few inches of height on me, she easily yanks me forward across the counter. “Go fetch your manager,” she demands, clipping each syllable slowly as though speaking to a slow child while her knuckles dig against my collarbone. “You ought to realize that your attitude is dragging down the standards of this entire establishment.”

It takes real effort not to roll my eyes right in her face. Around us, the chatter in the dining room has died down noticeably, and I don't need to look to know half our guests are tuning in for some free dinner theater. I know three different holds that could break her grip on my shirt in a second, yet using force would only turn an awkward standoff into a full-blown brawl.

Before I have to decide, Vance moves between us, planting his frame in front of me like a barrier. “Take your hand off her, Valerie.”

At his command, Valerie lets her fingers slacken and pulls back right away. As I tug my rumpled collar back into place, Vance pivots to face me directly. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

His eyes sweep over my face, and I have to rein my wolf right back in. Having him stand this close after so long has her far too restless, especially with his familiar body heat radiating straight across the narrow gap between us.

That proximity drags up old habits faster than I’d like, reminding me of how effortless it used to be to lean into him. Whenever he wrapped those solid arms around my shoulders, I would press my face right against his broad chest and tune out the rest of the world. Nobody held me the way he did, making me feel completely sheltered and at ease.

“Are you positive?” he presses, his voice cutting right through the haze of memory. Stepping back to put some much-needed space between us, I remind myself to snap out of it. Everything between us is dead and buried now, and feeling safe around Vance is the furthest thing from my reality tonight.

Giving a brisk nod, I look past his shoulder. “Really, I’m fine.” Out of the corner of my eye, I catch Valerie rolling her eyes toward the ceiling. Honestly, the two of them deserve each other—she is the exact archetype he always wished he had married.

“It has been a long time, and I had no idea you ended up working in hospitality,” Vance says, his gaze drifting around the dining room as his tone drops into something softer. “If you ever want to come back, I can easily line up a few… positions for you.” Letting out a slow breath, he brings his attention back to my face. “Regardless of how things ended, you were my wife. I’m sure we can arrange something suitable for you.”

One of my brows arches up on its own. We haven't even been talking for two full minutes, and he is already offering to rescue me from my supposed dead-end job with his classic superiority complex. He and Valerie really are a match made in heaven.

“And what is that supposed to mean? That you’ll hand me something less beneath you?”

My sharp reply draws a deep frown onto his face.

“Listen,” I continue, angling my body so I am addressing the pair of them together. “I am well aware of your status, and we still don't have a table for you tonight. This happens to be one of the most sought-after dining rooms in the entire capital, which means wealthy elites walk through those doors every night. Being an Alpha doesn't automatically buy you a seat at the last minute.”

“Pardon me?” Valerie snaps, folding her arms tightly over her chest.

Offering her a smooth, customer-service smile, I hold my ground. “Since neither of you is a regular here, we have no way of squeezing you in. Every single table is spoken for tonight, just like I told you.”

Right on cue, Cole approaches the front desk wearing a puzzled expression. Having clocked out of his waiting shift ten minutes ago, he has already swapped his uniform for a sharp suit before heading home. Both Valerie and I pivot toward him at the exact same moment, and before I can even ask what he forgot, she cuts right in front of me.

“Excuse me,” she starts, shooting me a sharp, vindictive glare that takes all my willpower not to laugh at. “The receptionist you have working this desk is atrocious, and you ought to let her go immediately. We are VIP guests heading to the Alpha gathering, and we require a table right away.”

Seeing him dressed in a tailored suit, she clearly jumped to the conclusion that he runs the floor. Watching utter confusion wash over Cole’s face is way more entertaining than it has any right to be, especially since the guy only joined our staff a few months back.

“Wait, what?” Cole blinks at her, pure disbelief ringing in his voice. “You’re asking me to fire my own boss?”