No Funny Business (The Lennox Brothers Romantic Comedy)

it’d be Kade Congeals.” Though I was being flippant, I was well aware I had the best job in the world, and screwing things up wasn’t on my to-do list.
“What if you can’t come up with enough recipes for the new season?” asked Asher.
“Then it’ll be Kade Cries. Or more likely, Kade Gets Cancelled.” I picked up a spoon to give the quinoa gloop a frustrated poke. “I need thirty-six new dishes. So far I’ve come up with four.”
Asher wasn’t one for dramatic reactions, but he did give an extra long blink, which in Asher-language meant he was shocked.
I dropped the spoon into the sink with the fork, and turned to the far counter to collect the dirty dishes for washing. When I turned back, Asher was standing over the stove, sampling the quinoa. My brother could move as fast and silently as Nemesis, his sneaky, thieving black cat.
Piling the pans into the sink, I watched him try not to grimace.
“How much do they pay you to make meals like that?” he asked.
“They pay me not to make meals like that.”
“Then they’re not paying you enough.”
If we’d been twenty years younger, I might have stuck out my tongue. Instead, I folded my arms and shot him a glare. “I was experimenting with flavors. Sometimes it works. And sometimes I get to poison stubborn family members.”
I dumped the quinoa in the trash and was chopping onions to try a new variation on the dish when there was a knock on the door. I heard Asher answering it, and then a female voice. I knew it couldn’t be Asher’s girlfriend, because when I’d dashed out to the grocery store for extra ingredients, I’d volunteered to give her and her dog a lift to her art studio.
Sure enough, when our visitor walked alone into the kitchen, it turned out to be Carlotta, my brother Mason’s girlfriend. And she wasn’t here to see Asher, because I heard the door of his office shut as he disappeared back into it.
“Hey Kade,” Carlotta said with a smile, sitting on one of the kitchen barstools. “What’s cooking?”
“Have you dropped by to taste my hot sticky buns?” I made the question sound suggestive.
Carlotta and I had a running joke where we both tried to embarrass each other. She always won. Carlotta wouldn’t blush if she were caught naked with hot sticky buns of her own. In fact, she’d be likely to take photos and post them online.
“I’m not putting your buns in my mouth today. I’ve come to ask for a favor.” She dropped her elbows onto the counter and rested her chin on her hands.
“A favor?” I raised my eyebrows. “So as I suspected, Mason’s not satisfying you? Sexually, I mean.”
She smirked back at me. “Actually, he did the best thing this morning with his tongue. He was between my—”
“Okay, okay, you win!” Laughing, I covered my ears. “I’ll do any favor you like, so long as you don’t finish that story.”
“I win?” Her eyes gleamed. “Then you’ll do whatever I want?”
Studying her face, I was already regretting my choice of words. “Anything within reason,” I corrected, putting the diced onions to one side and starting to slice some vegetables. “I’m not as comfortable with nudity as you are.” Nobody in the world was as comfortable with nudity as Carlotta. Her Instagram feed was proof of that.
“Relax,” she said. “I’m not asking for anything terrible. All I want is for you to spend a day helping out at Mack’s Place. Nat needs a chef for tomorrow.”
My hand jerked and pieces of chopped carrot rolled all over the counter.
To cover my slip, I widened my smile, though I was pretty sure Carlotta had taken note of my reaction. “How is Natalie?” I asked in a casual tone. “I heard she was running the café on her own now?”
“Hmm.” Carlotta cocked her head, studying my face thoughtfully. “You haven’t seen her since you guys dated, have you?”
“It’s been a long time.” Though not all the vegetables were chopped yet, I turned to the frying pan and scooped in a big spoonful of lard. It meant Carlotta could only see my profile.
“You know Nat’s father lost a foot to diabetes?” she asked.
“I heard, and I’ve been planning to visit him. It’s hard to imagine Mack having to slow down.”
“Nat’s been taking care of the café for the last couple of years. Her chef just left and she has a big lunch booking tomorrow. It’s an emergency. Nat’s planning to cook for twenty-eight people herself.”
“She’s going to cook?” I spun to face Carlotta, my voice rising incredulously. But it’d been so many years since I’d seen Nat, everything could have changed. “So she’s a lot better at it now than she used to be, I take it?”
“Not even a little.” Carlotta made a face. “I don’t know how someone who practically grew up in a café could be such a terrible cook. She desperately needs your help.”
I threw the vegetables into the lard and listened to them sizzle. “Did Nat send you here to ask for help?”
Carlotta shook her head. “She doesn’t even know you’re in town. I thought I’d better talk to you before I give her the good news.”
Seeing as Carlotta was Nat’s best friend and was dating my brother, there was a pretty good chance I’d be forced to see Nat eventually. But I was in no hurry.
Nine years after Nat turned her back on me, I still thought about her far too often. No matter how many dates I’d been on, I didn’t seem able to forget her. And seeing her again might make it worse.
“Listen, I’d like to help, but I have to come up with a whole lot of new recipes for my new season, and—”
“Working at Mack’s Place might give you the inspiration you need for your show,” Asher interrupted from the door. He walked into the kitchen and leaned on the counter next to Carlotta. “This could be the answer you’ve been looking