Page 7 of Mariah

“Thank you,” Mariah answered meekly. She took the Tylenol she didn’t need and drank the water, setting the empty glass on her nightstand to deal with later.

Jade went back to her own bed, and Mariah burrowed even deeper under the covers, grateful for a place to hide so Jade wouldn’t see her burning cheeks.

She couldn’t believe that had just happened!

Chapter 4

Graham

When Mariah finished her shift and left for the day, Graham breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn’t a bad worker—in fact, she seemed quite competent—but he’d caught himself having to work at keeping his guard up too many times.

That hadn’t happened in ages, and he didn’t like how easy and natural it had felt to adopt his Daddy-Dom persona after two years of not using it. Not only had he actually gotten to know things about her, he’d somehow let himself get roped into creating a special menu for her birthday. He had to find a way to get out of that, or he’d get stuck in a never-ending loop and have to do it for all of them. He’d met Baze’s other Littles, Mariah’s friends, at the breakfast service and while they had seemed nice enough and minded their manners, they were definitely Little and he was definitely not in Kansas anymore.

While he concentrated on dinner prep, his mind raced. Maybe he’d been fooling himself into thinking taking this job was a good idea. He’d pretty much thrown himself into the lion’s den with no protection. If he wasn’t careful, he’d get eaten alive.

I should just quit—get out now before I’m in over my head. The thought popped into his head unbidden and he rolled it around in his brain. There was nothing he hated more than being a quitter. That was how he’d ended up sticking it out with Kaylie as long as he had.

He shook his head. He hadn’t uprooted his entire life and moved three states away for his dream job only to quit after the first day. That wasn’t an option. He just needed to talk it out with someone. Preferably someone who wasn’t his brother. Pierce would just throw him a big fat, I told you so and hop in his car to come get him before Graham could tell him not to.

No, he needed to talk to someone more level-headed, someone who knew what he’d been through with Kaylie but hadn’t been there with him in the thick of it. He debated between his therapist, Carl, and his mentor, Trey.

Deciding Trey was the better option, he pulled his phone from his apron pocket, set it on the counter beside him, checked that his Bluetooth was connected and dialed.

It rang five times before Trey’s voicemail picked up. Graham decided not to bother leaving a message. Trey was notoriously bad at bothering to actually check and listen to his messages. Picking his phone back up, he shot off a text, asking Trey to call him later and dialed Carl, knowing it was during office hours and he’d probably be in an appointment. As he’d anticipated, it went straight to voicemail and once again, he declined to leave a message.

He was debating calling Pierce once more when a quiet voice cut through his thoughts.

“Oh darn. Did I miss lunch?”

Graham jerked his head toward the voice and found a thin young man dressed in all black with a white collar standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

Graham instantly went on high alert as he’d met everyone working at Utopia over the weekend. And he definitely hadn’t heard anything about Utopia employing a pastor, though he knew they did have a chapel. “Yeah sorry. Lunch ended about an hour ago.”

The man frowned and shook his head. “Darn it. I’m not used to eating on a schedule. I got here last night and am still acclimating. I missed breakfast too.” The man’s stomach growled and he blushed, chagrined. “Guess I’ll head into the strip and check out the city of sin. At least I know I won’t have to travel too far to find food. Sorry to have bothered you.”

Graham wanted to send him on his way and be left alone with his problems, but he was too superstitious to believe that a pastor showing up in his kitchen right when he needed to talk wasn’t kismet. And he couldn’t help but wonder what a pastor was doing living and working at a place like Utopia.

“No, it’s fine,” he said, gesturing to a stool in the corner of the kitchen. “Sit. Stay. The least I can do is whip you up a sandwich or something.”

“Are you sure it’s not too much trouble?” the man asked, even as he hurried to the stool to sit where Graham had pointed.

Graham’s gut twisted. He had to be honest. “Well, truthfully, you showed up right when I was trying to work through a personal problem and was wishing for someone to talk to. I hate to take advantage, but…”

“But it seemed like divine intervention?” the man cut in with a wry grin.

“It kinda did, yeah. But don’t worry about it. We don’t have to talk. And I’ll still make you a sandwich,” Graham said, already opening the fridge to dig for ingredients.

“No, please. I love to talk. And I’m a naturally curious sort. Especially in a place like this. I can’t help but wonder about everyone and their stories. Just the little bits I already know are fascinating. I’d love to hear your story and hear your problem. But before I do that, let’s get on a first name basis.” The man stuck out his hand with a smile. “I’m Pastor Ryan.”

Graham, who was pulling bread from the pantry, took three steps and took his hand, admiring Pastor Ryan’s firm handshake. “Chef Graham. I’ve been here since Friday, but today is my first day on the job.”

“Ah. We’re both new then.” Pastor Ryan beamed. “All right, Chef Graham. Tell me your problems.”

The words tumbled out of him, faster than they ever had, even in therapy, and he knew Pastor Ryan had a gift for putting people at ease. He told him the whole story, everything that had gone wrong with Kaylie, how hard he’d tried to fix it, the emotional toll her antics had taken on his own mental health and the work he’d had to do to get over her once he realized he couldn’t fix it. He talked about how he’d started to dip his toe back into the lifestyle by simply checking out the website of the club he’d once frequented and finding a job listing for Utopia there.

“I’d just finished up an internship and graduated from culinary school; it seemed like it was meant to be,” he explained, topping off the sandwich and handing the plate to Pastor Ryan.

“But now that you’re here, you’re having second thoughts?”