No Funny Business (The Lennox Brothers Romantic Comedy)

dressed, with lots of ruffles, glittering gold jewelry and heavy makeup. Her hair was a helmet of tight blonde curls and her eyelashes had to be fake.
The man was big and bald with a heavy, jutting jaw, small eyes, and a mean expression. His clothes looked a little too small for his body and he walked with his arms held away from his body, like his barrel chest was so wide, he couldn’t straighten them.
Emmy motioned to them. “This is Gigi and Butch.”
I choked at their perfect Poodle and Bulldog names. What were the chances the two of them were actually dog shifters using human forms? If so, it wasn’t a very good disguise.
“Um. Hi. I’m Natalie.” I shook their hands, a little wary of Gigi’s ultra-long pink fingernails and the way Butch’s gaze lingered south of my neck. I couldn’t imagine the two of them running a café. Barking at cars, yes. Serving food, nope.
When Kade offered his hand, Gigi grabbed it with both of hers and clung onto it, fluttering her eyelashes at him. “I love your show,” she said in a breathy voice. “I never miss it.”
“Thank you. Nice of you to say.” He gave her a glimpse of his charismatic smile, and she batted her fake eyelashes so vigorously, they were probably generating a decent breeze.
With a smile like his, I could hardly blame Gigi for melting at Kade’s feet like the rest of his fans, but it didn’t stop me from wanting to step between them like a jealous girlfriend.
She still had his hand in both of hers, and though I could see him trying to work his free, she wasn’t letting up. “Why is a superstar like you in a place like this?” She pried her gaze from his for long enough to sweep it disdainfully around the kitchen, her tone implying it was beneath him.
My fists clenched and my jaw loosened. But before I could snap a retort, Kade answered.
“It’s a great café isn’t it? I love Mack’s Place. It’s where I learned how to cook, and I’m glad to be back.” He lifted his free hand to hers so he could extract the one in her grip.
“Do you own a café now?” I asked them.
“No.” Gigi fiddled with one of her flashy diamond earrings, using her long pink fingernails to play with it. “But we eat out a lot, so we know how they work.”
“I work with processed meat,” said Butch. “You can call me The Butcher.”
I was willing to bet he’d told that lame joke hundreds of times, but he still barked out a guffaw.
I forced a polite smile, still smarting over Gigi’s disdain. “So what made you want to buy a café? Are you going to work in it yourself?”
He guffawed again. “Can you see me flipping burgers? Or her? She can’t boil water.”
“We have a great chef all lined up and ready to go.” Gigi wagged her finger at me like she was telling me off. “And no, you can’t have him. He’s all ours.”
I blinked at her. “Why would I need a chef?”
“Well, you don’t have one, do you?”
How did she know I’d fired my chef? I hadn’t told Emmy.
“She has me.” Though Kade sounded as pleasant as ever, I caught an undertone of annoyance.
“Aren’t you clever, Natalie?” When Gigi glanced at me, her pink-lipsticked smile looked like she’d glued it on. “Did you use your feminine wiles on darling Kade here and convince him to work for you today, just to impress us?”
“I… He…” I swallowed, caught off guard. “Well, Kade was nice enough to—”
“What happens when you go back to LA to film your show, Kade?” Her smile was still wide when she turned back to him, but her tone was like a hammer wrapped in velvet.
“The café will be quiet again.” Butch answered her question before anyone else could speak. “It hasn’t been doing very well lately, has it, Natalie?”
Emmy cleared her throat. “The books may reflect a small decline, but today’s proven how much potential the café has.”
“Mack’s Place has been doing okay,” I added quickly. “I just need to hire a new chef, and business always picks up in the summer.” I tried to sound confident, but Gigi let out a tinkling laugh and Butch scoffed in unison, as though they didn’t believe me.
“Good luck finding a chef for the wages you’re offering,” said Butch.
“Excuse me?” Though I was trying to keep my cool, my voice sounded like I was being strangled. “How do you know the wages I’ll be offering?” I shot a glance at Emmy, and she gave her head a small shake as though to say she hadn’t told them.
“If you can’t hire a chef, you won’t be able to stay open.” Butch’s small eyes drilled into mine. “And nobody wants to buy the place when they can’t make any changes to it. The only thing you can do is drop your asking price.”
Drop my asking price? But I’d had to take out a loan for Dad’s apartment in the assisted living center, and I needed the money from the sale to pay it back.
I was speechless, and Kade’s eyes had lost their sparkle. He crossed his arms over his chest, like he needed to physically hold himself back.
Thankfully, Emmy stepped in again. “If you compare similar businesses on the market right now, the asking price is a bargain. Mack’s Place is worth every penny.”
Gigi let out another laugh that seemed fake, as though she’d spent time practicing in front of mirrors. “Not after Kade leaves. Without your superstar chef, this place isn’t worth very much. Surely you have to admit that, Natalie?”
“Who says I’m leaving?” Kade’s tone wasn’t as pleasant as before.
“But darling, you have to get back to your brilliant TV show.”
“Cooking for Nat is more important.”
They both laughed again, and Butch shook his head. “You don’t expect us to believe you’re going to stay here and cook in this little café?”
Gigi patted her tight curls, looking up