A Date with a Foodie (The Dating Series Book 7)

to have him stay with me last night, but if he did, I’d be exhausted right now, and I know I need all the energy I can muster to get through the day. My staff and I are busy setting up our booth for the Taste of Chicago and it’s already getting hot. In just a couple of hours, the streets will be swarming with people. One year, the event had around three million visitors. I’ve always attended the event, but this is my first year as a vendor. Once we’re done setting up, I’ll be able to breathe a sigh of relief. Until then, it’s go time. I can’t rest until I know everything is perfect.
“How did your date go last night?” Camryn asks, trying her best not to give me that I know what you did last night grin. Little does she know that did not happen. Although, I am running off of little sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, my thoughts strayed to Adam.
“My date went great,” I say, smoothing out the tablecloth on our showcase table. “And we only ate and talked. Afterwards, he helped me clean and get things ready for today.” It’s the truth. I only left out the oral sex on the kitchen table part.
Camryn giggles. “Did you kiss?”
I roll my eyes. “Maybe.”
“But you wanted more, am I right?”
“Wanted more of what?” Katy asks, waggling her eyebrows as she comes up to join me. She runs her hands over the part of the tablecloth I already smoothed out. “I was hoping you’d call to dish about Adam.” She moves in closer, keeping her voice low. “Please tell me you got some sexy time in?”
My cheeks start to burn. “What is this, twenty questions? Get back to work.” We all three laugh and I turn around to see the rest of my staff trying to hide their smiles. “I didn’t realize my love life was so interesting.”
Noah walks out of our food truck and chuckles. “It is when we haven’t seen you date.” He walks over and bumps me with his shoulder. “We like seeing you smile. A happy boss is a good thing.”
“Is everything good to go in there?” I ask, nodding at the truck.
Noah beams. “We’re all set for today. I have the sliders and pork chops ready to go. The salad is in the refrigerator along with the chocolate mousse. And we’re serving the peach cobbler warm.”
Camryn squeezes my shoulders. “Everyone’s going to love it.”
Katy agrees with a nod. “How could they not?”
I clasp my hands together in prayer. “I hope and pray they do.”
The time passes quickly, and the streets fill with people. There are many who have heard of us and tons who have already tried our food and want more. My fear was that everyone would walk past and not give us a second look, but that’s not the case. I’m astounded by all the love. My staff is what makes Maddy’s Tavern a success. Their smiles and willingness to go out of their way to make sure everyone enjoys our food is heartwarming, especially Katy, Camryn, and Noah. My hostesses, Abbey and Georgia, have been working nonstop, going back and forth to the truck to grab the hot food. Katy notices me watching her and once she’s done talking to an elderly lady about Camryn’s peach cobbler, she comes over to me.
“You okay?”
I hug her tight. “Thank you for everything. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Are you going to cry on me?”
My eyes burn, but I suck back the tears. “No.”
She lets me go and waves a hand toward the crowd. “We don’t need a review from any food critic for the world to know we’re good. Look at this place. So many people have lined up here from word of mouth. We have done this on our own. That has to feel good to you.”
The burn behind my eyes turns into tears. “It does.”
Her smile widens when she notices something over my shoulder. “Suck it up, buttercup, because here comes your boyfriend.”
Quickly, I wipe my tears away and turn. Adam flashes that sexy smile of his and waves as he approaches. “Hey,” I call out.
He steps up to the side of the booth and kisses me. “How’s it going?”
I breathe a sigh of relief. “Amazing, actually. We’ve been slammed.”
He looks at the line of people waiting to get our food. “I see that. If you want, I can come back later. It doesn’t look like you have time to walk around with me.”
Katy grabs my wrist and pushes me away from the booth. “Sure she does.” I open my mouth to protest, but she shakes her head. “No excuses. Go. We’re fine here.”
“Are you sure?”
She glances over at Adam. “I’m sure. Now go spend some time with Hottie McHotpants.”
Visions of last night swarm through my mind. I fan myself and blow out a breath. “Fine. I’ll go. Call me if you need me. I’ll head right back.”
She rolls her eyes. “Go.”
I take off my chef’s jacket and hang it up before meeting Adam outside of the booth. He takes my hand and kisses it. “Sleep okay last night?”
My cheeks blush. “Not really. My thoughts were on other things besides sleep.”
He leans in close and whispers in my ear. “I know what you mean. I had something hard to take care of, but after that was done, all I could think about was you.
Giggling, I squeeze his hand. “Good. I would’ve taken care of it for you if you stayed.”
His grin widens. “Don’t worry, I’ll collect tonight. It looks like you have a lot of celebrating to do.” He nods over at my booth, at the lines that keep on growing.
“I’m in awe right now. This is just what we need. We’re building a name on our own.”
Adam nods. “You are. You’ve put in the work and it shows.”
Taking a deep breath, I wrap my arms around his waist and kiss him right in