Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Amber was standing idly behind the host stand, working almost in autopilot as she answered the phone to book reservations and selected tables for walk-in customers. She looks up, and sees Nicole walk by, quickly waving her over. Nicole smiles and she stands in front of Amber, ready to waste as much time as possible to avoid work. 

"So, I need your advice." Amber says, quickly looking back and forth to see if any of their coworkers were around. 

"What's up?" 

"I think I have a crush on somebody here, but I can't tell if he's actually hot or if it's just cause I work with him." Nicole immediately perks up.

"What?! Who?" She nearly yells before Amber shushes her.

"Oh my god I'm so embarrassed." Amber says as she realizes she probably shouldn't have said a word to Nicole.

"Tell me right now or I will lose it." Nicole stares down Amber as she shakes her head. 

"No, I can't!"

"Is it Clint? It's clint isn't it." Nicole guesses while glancing over at the bartender. 

"No, it's so much worse than that." Amber admits, her face tense. 

"Brad?" 

"What?" Brad says as he approaches the pair. 

"Nothing, go away." Nicole glares at him.

"You know he's yelling for food runners." Brad tells Nicole as he walks off. The whole restaurant could probably hear Chef Joey yelling in the kitchen. Nicole turns her attention back to Amber and sees her face go bright red as she bites her bottom lip. 

"No!" Nicole whispers loudly. Amber looks away for a moment.

"I even like it when he yells at me." 

"Joey?! Chef Joey?" Nicole is still in shock.

"Shut up!" Amber says, hearing her friend's voice grow louder, "I told you, it was so dumb."

"First of all, it's not dumb, chef coats are like catnip to hostesses, but you have to be careful!" Amber tilts her head a bit, waiting for Nicole's explanation. "Hostess and line cook? Fine. Expected, even. Hostess and executive chef? You're risking your job." Amber lets out a small gasp, but she always knew that deep down no one in Bistro Huddy could even think about Chef Joey as a friend, much less a romantic interest. 

"Risking your job?" Aaron walks over, a hot coffee kettle in his hand.

"Go away." Nicole waves him off.

"Who's job?" Brad comes back over. 

"Oh my god I'm so not here." Amber mumbles as she hides her face behind a menu. 

"Guys-" Nicole is cut off before she can get rid of the men crowding the host stand. 

"Yeah-every fucking time- if I can't find servers, I know where to look! Get your ass away from the host stand and run the fucking food!" Chef Joey storms to the front yelling at the group that have accumulated around Amber. He notices for a second how Amber has positioned herself, almost as if she was doing her best not to look him in the eye.

"Daddy is daddying." Nicole whispers and winks at Amber. 

"Shut up!" Amber whispers back at her.

"What the fuck did you just say?" 

"Nothing, I was just gonna go run some food." 

"And Amber, you need to figure out how to spread the reso's out! You're crushing us back there."

"Oh, um-"

"Just say 'Yes, Chef.'" Nicole whispers. 

"Yes, Chef." Amber smiles and nods. She can feel her heart beating faster as the words roll off of her tongue, almost pleading for Joey to say something, anything in reply. Joey looked at Amber for a moment, trying to hide his satisfaction. He quickly looks back at Nicole.

"Go run the food!"

"Yes, Chef." Nicole winks at Amber as she walks off. Amber is left sitting with her mouth wide open, ready to say something back to Nicole, but she was already off to the kitchen. It took her a few seconds to notice Joey lingering around her.

"Oh, Joey, did you need anything else?" She smiled politely, hoping she wasn't blushing too much as she moved her light hair away from her face. 

"Nope, we're good. For now." His voice when talking got a bit thicker, almost as if he was on to Amber. She tried to brush it off, but it was impossible to ignore what he said next.

"By the way, I liked it better when you called me Chef." Amber's eyes widen a bit as Joey walks off, as if he didn't just light a fire in her core. She takes a few deep breaths and sighs while looking at the clock. It was only 1:30PM, and she worked until closing. 

"I just have to get through today and then I can go out with Nicole and she can talk me out of it, everything will be fine." She whispers to herself. 

A few hours go by, but after the start of dinner service, two regulars come in. 

"River, Poppy, I'm assuming you want to be seated with Nicole?" Amber smiles. Poppy and her boyfriend have been coming in for a few weeks now, and after having Nicole once, she was the only server Poppy wanted to be seated with. 

"Obviously." Poppy remarks with an eye roll. River just nods, the only thought in his head being elevator music. Nicole walks up from the back of the restaurant, sighing when she sees Poppy. 

"Really? You're back again?" 

"Just like your mustache after you shaved this morning." Poppy replies. Nicole rolls her eyes and covertly flips off Amber as she walks back to the kitchen to get their waters started. Amber walks them to a table big enough for two and returns to the host stand.

The rest of the night goes by slowly, and after what felt like decades the bistro was finally closed. After helping Nicole with her cleaning, Amber went outside to her car that was parked down the block. She threw her purse haphazardly into the backseat after grabbing her keys, and tried to get the engine going. She felt her car spring to life, then quickly die as she tried getting it to start multiple times, hopelessly turning her car key back and forth. 

"Piece of shit." She mumbles to herself and she gets out of her car. She closes her car door behind her and reaches for the back handle to get her phone out of her purse. She pulls, and the door doesn't budge. She looks through the window and sees that she locked all her things in her car. 

"Well isn't that lovely." She sighs angrily, turning to walk back towards the Bistro. As she spins around, she runs right into someone. She instinctively opens her palm and thrusts her hand upwards just how Nicole taught her. The man grabs his nose and bends over.

"Jesus fuck Amber it's just me!" Joey yells. 

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I thought you were some kidnapper or something!" Amber replies, rushing to see if she broke his nose, "Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" Joey waves his arm as he stands up. 

"I'm good, you didn't hit very hard. You need to follow through, don't just stop when you get to your target." Joey grumbles. 

"Okay, um, anyways, what are you doing out here? It's late." Amber says, trying to ignore that she found what he said incredibly attractive. Would be easier to do if you showed me she thought to herself.

"I could ask you the same thing."

"My stupid car won't start." Amber says, lightly kicking one of her tires. "And you? I asked first so you have to answer." 

"I noticed your car was still here, so I came over to make sure you didn't die or something." 

"So, you were checking on me?" 

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Do you need a ride home?"

"Oh I was just going to call Nic-"

"I'm already here, Amber. Come on."

"Um, yeah, okay." Amber takes a deep breath and follows closely behind Joey, jumping a bit at any noise coming from the surrounding alleyways. 

"Relax. I'm right here." Joey tells her. She nods and tries to be calm, but she can't help but feel a bit uneasy. She wasn't sure if it was because she was out when it was very late, butterflies from being near Joey, or a combination of the two. Probably the last one. "Here we are." The beep of a car unlocking brings Amber back from her thoughts. She gets into the passenger seat, noting the faint smell of cinnamon. 

"Do you have any of your stuff? You normally carry around that big ass purse." 

"Oh, I locked it in my car." She twiddles her thumbs, keeping her head down. 

"Shit, Amber, you could have told me that earlier." Joey starts the car and pulls onto the road. 

"What do you mean?"

"Let's just say I know my way around a locked car, alright? I'll help you get your stuff out tomorrow." 

"You don't have to do that I can call-" Amber pauses, "Fuck, my phone is locked in there and my apartment keys are too." Amber rubs her face with her hand, frustrated with herself. 

"You can just crash at my place, it's too late to call someone now." Joey gestures to the clock on his dashboard. 11:45PM. Amber knew Nicole would still be awake, but for some reason, she just kept her mouth shut.

Chapter Text

Amber was quiet the rest of the ride to Joey's apartment. She didn't know what to do or say, and it made her feel like she was in high school again. As she entered Joey's apartment, she was amazed by the size. Her studio looked like a shoebox compared to this! She let her eyes wander, taking in her new surroundings.

"Wow, this is...nice." She manages to compliment his home, hopefully without sounding too stiff. Joey lets out a scoff and shakes his head. 

"You can have my room for the night." He says, starting down the hallway and waving for Amber to follow, but she doesn't move.

"Where are you going to sleep?" She crosses her arms. 

"Doesn't matter. Come on." Amber's resolve leaves quickly as she obediently follows down the hallway. When Joey opened his room door, she was surprised to see a well made bed with multiple pillows, a tidy floor, and a meticulously arranged desk in the corner. The only thing messy in the room was the leather-bound notebook on top of the desk, with hastily scrawled notes across the open pages. 

"Bathroom's through that door to the side." Joey turned to leave her for the night.

"Okay, but seriously, where are you sleeping? Do you have a guest room?" 

"Why do you care so much? I can sleep on my couch for one fucking night." 

"I don't care 'so much,' I'm just being polite to my host for the evening." She smiles, her voice slightly higher than usual. Joey hated when she did that. Everytime she got worked up she slipped into customer service mode, like it was the only way she could cope with being frustrated or angry. 

"Did you just use your customer service voice on me?" Amber hadn't even noticed, but after thinking for a moment, she nodded, eyes looking at the floor. "You're taking the bed, I'm taking the couch. End of story." Feeling a bit daring, and also frustrated with being ordered around outside of work, she replies.

"Yes, Chef." She smirks a bit, but her smile immediately fades when she sees Joey's expression. She couldn't tell if he was pissed or confused, and certainly didn't want to find out. "Sorry I thought it would be funny but-" 

"I already told you earlier, I usually like when you call me Chef, just not right now." His voice is frustrated, strained even. It sounds like there are a million more things he wants to say, but he doesn't say anything. He just grabs pajamas from his dresser drawer and leaves the room. Amber is left blushing and confused, and to top it all off she couldn't even text Nicole about it because her phone was locked in her car. She walked into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on her face, looking at herself in the mirror and realizing she didn't have anything to sleep in other than her work clothes. She sighed used some hand soap to wash her makeup off, hoping that it would at least do the job for tonight. As she went back into the room, there was a knock on the door. 

"Yeah?" 

"Do you have pajamas or something?" Amber thinks about what to say. If she says yes, she could find out that he has women's pajamas here from a girlfriend he never spoke of, or he could just give her some of his clothes. 

"Yes."

"Amber, I know you're lying. You didn't have anything in the car." He says as he opens the door and walks in the room. "Now, answer me honestly this time."

"You said you knew I was lying so why-"

"Just answer the fucking question."

"No." She squeaks out quickly. Joey smiles and grabs a shirt and shorts out of his drawer. 

"Take these for the night." Amber nods and thanks him before ushering him out and closing the door. Her breathing was heavy and she felt warm. His words replayed in her brain, his commanding tone giving her butterflies. She changed into the clothes Joey gave her and climbed into bed, debating on whether or not she should tell Nicole about this tomorrow. 

Amber was woken up by Joey poking her arm. 

"Get dressed so we can go get your stuff." Amber yawned and stretched, nodding. She noticed her clothes folded at the edge of the bed, seemingly washed. 

"Did you wash my clothes?" 

"Don't get all sappy with me, just get dressed." Joey left the room. Amber smiled to herself a bit as she got dressed. She knew Joey didn't act the way he did at the bistro all the time, but she didn't expect him to wake up early to wash her work clothes for her. Before she can let herself get too happy, she realizes she probably looks like a mess. While her hair was a long bob length, it was thick and tangled easily overnight. She went into the bathroom and took a look in the mirror. 

"Dammit." She mumbles, seeing how insane her bedhead was. She combs through her hair with her fingers, hoping to tame it at least a little bit. When it looks presentable she walks back into the bedroom, and finds Joey making the bed. "Do you want some help? I am the one that slept in it."

"Be my guest." Amber smiles and starts flattening out the sheets and comforter, the way she would do it at home. She feels Joey's hands move on top of hers as he stands behind her. "You're doing it all wrong, you have to fold this part back like this and then-" Amber couldn't listen. All she could do was feel her body heat up and Joey seemed oblivious as to what he was doing to her. Before she knew it, she heard him say, "There, all done." As he moved away from her, she longed for him to get closer again. When she didn't move a muscle, Joey put a hand on her shoulder, gently shaking her. "Earth to Amber."

"Sorry, sorry, I'm fine." When she turns around, Joey sees how red her face is. 

"Are you feeling okay? Your face is really fucking red." Despite the cursing, he almost sounded worried. 

"Yep, I'm all good. Let's just go." 

"Okay, whatever you say."

Amber walked past Joey and out of his apartment, heading back to his car. After the car was started, she blasted the AC, hoping to get rid of some of the lingering blush coating her face. Joey leaned back and drove with one hand on the wheel, and one resting on his leg. Amber's face got hotter as she realized how much she wanted that hand to be on her leg. Maybe this crush was more serious than she thought. She tried to ignore the thought and stared out the window, counting how many trees there were, but not very successfully. Joey glanced over at her often without her noticing. He loved the way she leaned against the door with her elbow, using her hand to prop up her chin as she looked outside. He loved the way she pointed out any animal they drove past, even if it was a bird. 

"Fuck." He whispered to himself. He knew he couldn't have feelings for someone he worked with. He was the boss, he knew if anything were to happen, and if it were to end badly, Amber could lose her job. Amber looked over at him, hearing his whisper. 

"What? Is everything okay?" 

"Nothing, everything's fine." Other than how bad I want you. He thought to himself. He shook that thought out of his head, pushing it deep down. 

"Okay." Amber smiled at him. Her grin accompanied by dimples almost made him break right then and there, but he somehow kept it together. They finally reached the spot where Amber's car was, both feeling relieved to be out of the confined space. 

Joey walked around Amber's car, figuring out the best course of action. He grabbed a bag of tools from his trunk and got to work. Using the edge of a hammer, he wedged the driver side car door frame up, away from the window. He let the hammer sit there to keep it open, and grabbed a thin, long pole of some sort and used it to reach through the gap and press the unlock button. He pulled the hammer out, making sure he didn't scratch anything up too much. 

"Oh my god, thank you!" Amber said excitedly, giving Joey a quick hug before grabbing her things. She was happy to find her phone still with some battery, so she would still be able to call Triple A to have someone come check out her car. 

"No problem, but you owe me one." Amber nodded. 

"Literally anything you need, I'll take care of it." Joey pushed his first thoughts out of his head, and just smiled and nodded. He put his tools back in his car, grabbed his chef jacket, and walked with Amber back to the bistro. To Amber's surprise, Nicole was already there and working the host stand. Her eyes shot up to greet the next customers, but they widened when she saw Amber walk in with Joey. Joey walked back to the kitchen as Amber set her stuff down behind the stand, shooing Nicole. 

"Um, what the fuck just happened?" Nicole said, smiling. 

"It's a long story, I'll tell you later."

"No, I need to know now!"

"It was really nothing! My car wouldn't start and I locked all my stuff inside of it so Joey let me sleep at his place for the night, that's it." 

"Uh huh, you have something you aren't telling me." Nicole cooed. 

"Well, this morning I offered to make the bed since I slept in his room and he took the couch and I guess I was doing it wrong so he came up behind me," She moved to mimic Joey, "and his hands were like on mine showing me the 'right' way. I couldn't even listen to a word he was saying about it! I just froze!"

"Oh my god he is so into you!"

"No he is not. You said it yourself, it can't happen."

"Um I never said it can't happen, I just said it has to happen carefully. Let me do some recon and see what he says."

"Nicole, don't!" 

"I'll be sneaky, he won't even know I'm asking about you." 

"Fine, but if he figures out what you're doing I'm seating every reservation in your section."

"Deal." Nicole smiles and saunters off to the kitchen, ready to put her plan into action. Joey walks past her with a plate of food, not even acknowledging Nicole's presence. She turns to watch him, and sees him bring the food right to Amber.

"I made you something since you didn't eat this morning."

"You can have it, I'm not really hungry and I don't think you ate-"

"Just take the damn food and eat, Amber. Its dead right now, you can go sit down and someone can take over the host stand for fifteen minutes." Joey looks up and waves over Nicole, telling her to cover the stand for Amber. Nicole winks at her as she takes her place.

"Oh, thanks, Chef." Amber smiles as she takes her freshly made breakfast and sits at a small corner table, happily eating. 

"What was that?" Brad walks over to Nicole, shocked at what he just saw. 

"Keep your mouth shut, if Terry realizes that they like each other he will break it up. Do you want Joey to be angrier than he already is?" Brad shakes his head and mimics zipping his lips as he walks off to tend to the one table of customers in the bistro. 

Nicole walked into the kitchen before the end of her shift and went up to Pickles. 

"Hey Pickles, has Joey said anything about a girlfriend or something? One of my friends totally saw him with a girl this morning before work."

"I don't think so, but he did seem less yell-y today than usual." Nicole smiled. 

"Thanks, I was just curious." She went to the front of the restaurant and found Amber doodling on a kids menu.

"So, Pickles mentioned to me that Joey seemed nicer today. I wonder if someone softened him up a bit?"

"Nicole, I already told you, he doesn't like me in that way. He is probably just tired from waking up earlier and washing my clothes for-"

"He washed your clothes?! He's got it worse than I thought." Nicole smirks. 

"Shut up, no he doesn't." Just then, Joey walks to the front. 

"Nicole, I need runners! We are going to start having to remake the fucking food!"

"Sorry, just clocked out. Bye!" She lightly flipped her hair over her shoulder as she walked out, turning back and mouthing to Amber He's got it bad. Amber just rolled her eyes. 

"And Amber, what did I tell you about the damn reservations? I don't care if we have space for them, split them up more!" 

"Yes, Chef." Amber nodded, trying to keep her cool. Joey felt his chest tighten as he tried to keep his composure. 

"This is gonna be harder than I thought." He said to himself as he walked back to the kitchen, yelling at Brad and Bridgette to run more food on the way.  Amber smiled to herself. She pushed more reservations together today, partially on purpose, and partially because Terry told her to fit in as many as possible. 

At the end of the day, Clint asked everyone to stay behind to try some new cocktails he has been thinking of adding to the menu. Joey sat down on the barstool next to Amber, noticing how she lightly tapped her fingers on the bar, as if she wanted to leave.

"Where is everyone else, Clint? Nicole and I have plans." Clint shrugged.

"I guess they didn't want to join." Little did Amber know that earlier in the day Nicole told Clint to get Amber to stay behind with Joey, but only make sure one of them is drunk. "Anyways, I was thinking of calling this one 'Soleada Mariposa.'" He slides a glass to Amber and one to Joey, watching as they both take a sip. 

"Clint this is way too strong," Amber cringes a bit, "I mean it's good, but if we give this to customers we will end up on the news from some bar fight." Despite the strength of her drink, Amber continues to finish the glass, already buzzed by the end of one. She notices how quiet Joey is, and turns to face him. 

"You didn't say what you thought of the drink." 

"It's good, I don't know what I'd pair it with though." Amber and Clint exchange a look at how reserved Joey seems in the moment, both of them equally confused. After trying some different variations of vodka margaritas, Clint hands them both another drink. After one sip, Joey raises his voice.

"You know I fucking hate tequila!"

"You said you would try the cocktails." Clint smirks and turns to Amber, who wasted no time finishing almost half of hers. 

"You should put those umbrella thingies in this one, people will be like 'Oooo tropical.'" She giggles at her own impression of a customer. 

"I think Amber's done for the night." Clint nods at Joey. 

"I have to call an Uber now." Amber whines.

"Your car is in the shop, Amber. You would've had to anyways."

"Ohhhhh, yeah." She laughs and grabs her things, heading to the door, Joey following close behind.

"Amber, let me drive you home. You're too fucking buzzed to take an Uber with a random stranger driving you." Amber didn't have the energy, nor the coherency, to argue. Joey led her back to his car. "Where do you live?" He asked as he opened the GPS on his phone. Amber gave him the address to her apartment, and he drove off. Amber was babbling on about random things, but all Joey could focus on was getting her home. Once they got to the apartments, he walked her to her door. When he turned to leave, Amber grabbed his sleeve. 

"Joey, wait!" He turned back around. 

"Wha-" Before he could finish, Amber stood up on her toes and kissed him. He kissed her back for a second, moving one of his hands to hold the back of her head. He wanted this, but she wasn't sober, and he didn't know if she even knew what she was doing. He dropped his hand and pulled back, much to Amber's dismay.

"Amber, you're drunk." He said as he grabbed her biceps to hold her away from him. 

"But-" 

"You don't even know what you're doing. Just go to bed." 

"I do know what I'm doing."

"If you even remember this in the morning we can talk about it then, just go the fuck inside." She shook her head no. Joey grabbed her keys from her and unlocked her door, grabbing her hand and pulling her inside. "There, now go to bed." Amber once again grabbed his sleeve, not wanting to be alone. 

"Amber-"

"Will you just stay? We don't have to do anything." Joey shakes his head at her request.

"You know I can't do that." He sighed as he shook his arm free and walked to the door. 

"Please? You can take my bed and I can sleep on the couch this time." Joey paused for a moment. 

"I can't. We can talk tomorrow, alright?" He was finally leaving when he heard a quiet sob come from Amber. He turned back to her to see her sitting on her bed with her head in her hands. "Come on, Amber. Don't do that." 

"I just don't understand why you don't like me." 

"Amber, I do like you. A lot fucking more than you think I do, which is why I have to go." He hoped thats something she would forget in the morning.

"But why?" She cried. 

"You aren't sober. I don't know if you even want this or if you are just judgement impaired right now." That just made her cry more. "Fine, I'll sleep here, but that's it." Amber looked up at him, wiping her eyes. 

"Really?"

"Yes, now go to sleep before I change my mind."

Amber woke up around four in the morning, and saw Joey on her bed. Everything came back to her mind all at once. 

"I'm so stupid." She muttered to herself. She got up to go to the bathroom, and heard Joey wake up. 

"Are you okay?" He sat up, the blanket sliding down to reveal his bare chest. 

"Yeah, um, just really fucking embarrassed." She bit her lip and nodded.

"You sobered up fast." Joey commented and laid back down. After Amber came back from the bathroom, he sat up again. "Do you want to switch?"

"Oh, no, it's fine. Trust me, you deserve the bed after dealing with me." 

"Would you have done it sober?" 

"Done what?"

"Kiss me and beg me to stay." Joey smirked, his gaze darkening.

"First off, I didn't beg, I asked. Second off, probably not." Amber said, trying to channel some of Nicole's energy and not get flustered. 

"Let me rephrase that. Would you have wanted to?" Amber wanted to lie, she really did, but she just couldn't. She had been fighting her feelings for a while before telling Nicole about them, and she didn't have to energy to keep doing it.

"Yes." She replied quietly. Joey got up and walked over to her, raising her chin to meet his gaze. The eye contact made her stomach churn and her body heat up, and before she knew it they had both leaned in. His lips felt so right against hers as their kiss deepened, his hands moving up and down her sides slowly, leaving goosebumps and anticipation everywhere they touched. 

"Are you sure you want this?" He whispered against her lips. She nodded, and he lead her back to the bed, laying her down and moving over her. 

"You're so beautiful." He said as he tugged the hem of her shirt, silently asking for permission to do more. Amber reached her hand up and touched his cheek gently, nodding. He carefully removed her shirt, taking a moment to admire her bare chest underneath him. He leaned in and kissed her again, one of his hands toying with her nipple while the other moved everywhere he could reach. She moaned quietly under him as he bit her bottom lip and began to tug down her pants, quickly undoing the button and zipper. She returned the favor, pulling his pants down as much as she could on her own. His hands moved to touch her thighs as their lips met once more, with Amber's arms wrapped around his back. She could feel him grind into her, making her moan. Joey moved one of his hands over her underwear, stroking his fingers back and forth over the thin fabric separating them. He listened to Amber's breathing grow heavier, her gentle moans more desperate. After he was satisfied with his teasing, he pulled her underwear off of her, sitting up to admire her naked form. 

"God you're so fucking hot." He said quickly as he began trailing kisses from her neck, down her chest, across her stomach, before settling down in between her legs. "Do you want me to taste you, baby?" His voice was deep and thick with lust.

"Yes." Amber choked out as he moved a finger over her sensitive clit. 

"Yes what?" 

"Yes, Chef." She said, looking down to make eye contact with him. Joey smirked.

"Good girl." He moved his tongue carefully over her, listening to her soft moans as they grew louder. 

"Fuck, Joey." She whispered in between heavy breaths as he began to gently suck on her clit. He slipped a finger into her, making her gasp at the added sensation. He quickened his pace, using his other hand to keep her thighs open. 

"Come on baby, come for me." 

"Joey that feels so good." She managed to get out in between breathy moans. He sucked on her once more, making her legs jump in reaction. Unphased by the sudden movement, he continued on, each sound she made making him want her even more. 

"Ah, fuck, Joey!" She cried out as she came, clenching around his fingers. He sat up and licked his fingers slowly, savoring her. He quickly took off his boxers and moved back over her, kissing her hard and allowing his tongue to slip into her mouth. She ran her hand along his torso, slowly feeling every muscle. He pulled away and looked down at her, her eyes glassy and face red. 

"Are you sure?" She nodded and reached to her nightstand to pull out a condom. She handed it to him and he smiled. "Unopened box, am I your first guest in a while?" He teased. 

"Oh shut up." She mumbled and she pulled him back down to kiss her again. He opened the condom and slid it on, stroking himself a bit as he lined himself up with her. 

"Are you ready, baby?"

"Yes." She smiled. He slowly pushed into her, his mouth dropping open. She moaned softly as he bottomed out and slowly began to move. 

"Fuck, Amber you feel so good." He moaned into her ear as he leaned close to her. She kissed his neck and cheek as he moved faster. He could feel her pulsing around him as he moved. "You gonna come for me again like a good girl?" Amber moaned loudly as he moved a hand down to play with her clit as he thrusted. 

"Yes!" She cried in between moans. 

"Come on baby, come for me....be a good girl and come!" He almost sounded demanding as his fingers quickly moved over her and his hips moved against hers. Amber cried out his name as she finished again, breathing heavily and heart pounding. 

"Just a little more baby, you feel so good, you're taking me so well." He said sweetly as he chased his own release. His breathing became more rapid as he got closer, finally snapping his hips quickly as he came. He collapsed on top of Amber, her hands gently stroking his back as they both caught their breath. They stayed like that for a bit, then Joey got up and tied off his condom before throwing it away. He grabbed her a bottle of water from the fridge and handed it to her. 

"Drink." He said in a commanding tone. She nodded and took a sip, not even realizing how thirsty she was beforehand. "Do you need anything else?" She shook her head no and placed the water bottle on her nightstand as Joey crawled into bed next to her. He pulled her on top of him and kissed her softly as he wrapped his arms around her in a loving embrace. 

"Is this just a one time thing?" Amber whispered, her anxiety creeping up on her.

"God, I fucking hope not." Joey replied and kissed her again, dispelling her anxiety for now. 

Chapter Text

Waking up in Joey's arms felt so right. Amber didn't even want to move, but after checking her phone, she sprang up. 

"Damn, I was having a good dream." Joey said with a raspy voice as he felt the bed next to him, realizing Amber wasn't there.

"Joey, it's one! We should've been at work-"

"Woah woah woah, you're yelling like me now. It'll be okay, being late once isn't a huge deal, Amber." Joey yawns as he tries to wave off her concern.

"I guess I could just blame Clint for having us try drinks." She mumbles. Joey starts to get up and slips his boxers back on. Watching him dress, Amber is suddenly aware of how exposed she is. Her arms instinctively move to cover her chest, but Joey grabs them before they can. 

"I already saw everything last night, unless you forgot?" He smirks. Amber blushes and drops her arms to her sides, sighing. 

"I remember that just fine." She smiles a bit, looking at the ground. Just a little more baby, you feel so good, you're taking me so well. His words flooded her brain once more. 

“Good, I’d hate to have to remind you.” Joey gently lifts her chin and kisses her softly. As much as he wanted to keep her here all day, he knew if she missed a day of work she would be in some deep shit with Terry, especially if it was because she was busy with the executive chef. Amber went to dig through her dresser and find something fitting for the day, then grabbed some accessories to add on after she was dressed and placed them on her small table. Joey got dressed in his clothes from the day before, doing a sniff test before putting on his shirt. 

“We could go to your place so you can change if you want.” Amber said as she bent over and looked in a small mirror on her dresser, putting her earrings on. 

“I should drop you off at work first.” Joey sighed as he pulled on his shoes, “It would be a bit obvious if we walked in together.” Amber was confused for a second, thinking he must’ve been embarrassed of her, then remembered what Nicole said. You’d be risking your job. She nodded in understanding, knowing it would be best for both of them if this was their little secret. 

At the bistro, Joey walked up front more often than usual, pretending he was yelling at the servers as he stole glances at Amber. He watched the way she would tuck her hair behind her ears while doodling when it was slow even though her headband held her hair back. He noticed how her eyes would smile before her lips ever curled upwards, and how they seemed to smile on their own whenever she looked his direction. Unfortunately, Joey’s trips out of the kitchen weren’t going unnoticed. 

“So, want to tell me why you never made it to the bar yesterday?” Nicole asked as she approached the host stand. 

“Oh my god I’m so sorry! Clint asked everyone to stay behind to try some new drinks and then after I was home I was so tired and loopy I just totally forgot to text you about it.” 

“Tired and loopy, huh? Was someone a bit tipsy?” 

“That’s a bit of an understatement.” 

“How’d you get home?” Nicole raised an eyebrow, but they both know she already knew the answer. Amber paused, choosing her words carefully. 

“Joey dropped me off at my apartment, he was the only other person here other than Clint and he only had a couple of sips.” Nicole nodded, but her face said she was unsatisfied with this reply, hoping for something more juicy. 

“He just, dropped you off? That’s it.” 

“Yeah, that’s all. Why?” Amber titled her head, trying to play dumb, but not too dumb. 

“Pickles did say Joey was in a better mood yesterday, so I thought maybe you guys had a little more going on last night.” Amber took a deep breath through her nose trying to keep the memories of the previous night at bay. 

“No, we’re just friends now I guess.” Nicole nodded and walked off when she heard Joey in the kitchen yelling for runners, again. Amber blushed when she heard him yell, thinking about how assertive, yet sweet, he was with her. Before she could think about him too much, the real thing was in front of her stand. 

“Someone I know was trying to make a reservation at seven-o’clock tonight, he said something about a date with this hot blonde?” Amber quietly chuckled at Joey and nodded, interpreting this as his way of discreetly asking her on a real date. 

“Tell him we can definitely fit them in, but the chef did want the reservations spaced out more so we may have to put it at - let’s see here - 7:30?” Joey nodded. 

“That’ll work, I’ll let him know.” Joey gave a quick nod and headed back into the kitchen, leaving Amber with the fluttering feeling in her stomach that she had gotten used to over the past couple of days. She got off at 6:30, so that gave her an hour to get ready. The only problem was, she didn’t know where they were going, so she wasn’t sure what to get ready for. Nicole suddenly popped out from around the corner, a knowing smile plastered on her face. 

“I knew it!” She whisper-yelled.

”Shut up! No one is supposed to know!” 

“Don’t worry, I don’t even like most of the people here, let alone gossip with them.”

”I know, I know. It’s just all so new and it kind of just…happened? If this doesn’t work out I would rather not have everyone know.” 

“So, did you get a chef’s special?”

”Oh my god I’m going to kill you.” Nicole just chuckled and walked off, winking as she left.

Amber stood against her bathroom wall, trying to see as much of her outfit in the mirror as possible. She opted for a black dress with cap sleeves that just barely reached her mid thigh. It was fitted, but still looked more casual. She did some light makeup, not wanting to overdo anything. In her jewelry box, she found some small silver hoops with a matching necklace to wear. She threw on some strappy, short black heels, and then when she was done getting ready she realized her hair was a mess. She quickly brushed it out and lightly curled it to accentuate her natural curl patterns, and tried to prevent frizz with some hairspray to hold things in place. As she put down the can and went to check the time, there was a knock at her door. She smiled as she opened it and saw Joey, taking a moment to admire his appearance. His hair was gelled back, a stark contrast from the unruly mess that is generally contained by his hairnet. He had a button up shirt on, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and some slacks. Suddenly, Amber felt a bit underdressed. Joey finally caught her gaze and pulled her in for a quick greeting kiss. 

“You look great.” He smiled, looking her up and down slowly. 

“Oh, thanks. I didn’t know where we were going so I just kind of threw something on.” She said, doing a small twirl. 

“Amber, I could take you to a five star restaurant with you wearing a t-shirt and shorts and still think you are the most beautiful thing there.” She blushed a bit and bit her lip. Joey reached out to take her hand, and she grabbed it instantly. His heart beat a bit faster at her lack of hesitation, as if she would follow him anywhere he wanted to take her. He opened the passenger door of his car for her, trying to be more of a gentleman than usual. The car ride was slow, mainly because Joey took the longest route possible to be able to listen to Amber talk about anything her heart desired. 

“…and then I was like ‘Woah there buddy, you aren’t going to curse me out because you decided to wait until the day of your anniversary to get a dinner reservation!’ Some people are just so entitled and normally I just take it but today, I don’t even know what happened, I just was more assertive when customers were rude to me.” Amber looked over at him, waiting for a response. Joey moved one of his hands from the steering wheel and placed it on her exposed thigh.

“I would like to think I may have had something to do with that.” Amber blushed, looking down at her feet, “Well, here we are.” Amber looked out the window and gasped. 

“You brought me to Issa’s?!” Amber exclaimed as Joey pulled up to the valet. Joey got out of the car, and before handing his keys over, he opened Amber’s door and took her hand. They walked in to the famed restaurant and admired the decoration adorning every wall, the only way it could be described was gilded. Small floral arrangements were placed delicately on every surface, creating a soft, roseate aroma. Even after they were quickly seated by the host, Amber was still in awe of her surroundings. “It’s supposed to be impossible to get a reservation here.” She said as she looked at the chandeliers carefully arranged on the ceiling. 

“Maybe for people who didn’t go to culinary school with the chef, but for me it was pretty easy.” 

“How did they fit you in when you called this morning? I can’t even do that at the bistro.” 

“I have my ways.” Joey smiled. A waiter came over for their drink order, and Amber realized she hadn’t even glanced at the menu. She picked the only brand of wine she recognized, while Joey ordered an expensive whiskey. As they sipped their drinks, Amber had a thought. 

“Are we dating? Like dating?” 

“Do people still do that?”

”We are literally on a date right now.” 

“You got me there. Then my answer is yes, we are dating. Now, can I ask you a question?” 

“Yes.” 

“Did you tell Nicole?” Amber gulped. 

“Well, um, you kind of did.” 

“What do you mean?” Joey raised an eyebrow. 

“She overheard you make a ‘reservation.’” She said with finger quotes, “But I told her she absolutely can’t tell anybody!” Joey rubbed his face with his hand. 

“Amber-”

”It’s not my fault! You’re the one who asked me on a date at work.” Joey took a deep breath. 

“Amber, I’m going to say this once. No one else can know.” Joey’s voice was deeper, almost commanding. 

“I know, I’m sorry. I just told Nicole I liked you on Friday because I didn’t know what to do and-”

”Wait, you told Nicole you liked me on Friday? Meaning you liked me before Friday?” 

“Yeah, pretty much.” Joey laughed a bit. 

“I told Nico’s dumbass that I had a thing for you two weeks ago. I didn’t realize you felt the same.” 

After eating, Joey brought Amber to his apartment. As they walked through the door, Amber could feel her body heat as she stood behind Joey, anticipating what could happen next. 

“Do you need anything to drink?” 

“No, I’m okay.” Amber smiled softly. 

“Do you want to shower?”

”That would be nice.” Joey led her back to the bathroom, laying out an extra towel for her and some of his clothes to wear. When he reached for the doorknob, Amber stopped him. 

“Everything okay?”

”I thought you meant shower together.” Amber looked to the side, avoiding eye contact. 

“Is that what you want?” Amber nodded in reply, but that wasn’t good enough. 

“Out loud.” 

“I want you to shower with me.” She mumbled. Amber’s eyes were now staring at the floor. 

“Good girl.” 

Chapter Text

Amber stood under the warm water of the shower as she wet her hair, Joey looking her up and down. She could only imagine the things he was thinking about, and it excited her. Joey squeezed some shampoo into his hands, rubbing them together to make a foamier lather. 

"May I?" He asked, looking at Amber's wet curls. She nodded and turned her back to him. She leaned her head back and felt his hands begin to massage her scalp gently. She quietly moaned as the relaxing feeling now washed over her as his hands slowly moved from the front of her head to the back, eventually moving down to her neck and shoulders. Joey's calloused hands felt rough, yet stimulating as they glided down her arms. He moved his hands to her sides and leaned forward to her neck, leaving short kisses starting at her shoulder and ending right under her ear. Amber turned around and smiled softly at him. She rinsed her hair and then switched spots with Joey, making it her turn to wash his hair. She stood up on her tiptoes a bit to reach better, gently massaging shampoo into his roots. After she finished the top of his head, she fell back down on to her flat feet. She began to massage his neck and shoulders, attempting to work through the countless knots he has no doubt built up at work. 

"It's a miracle you can even move your neck with how tense you are." She grunted as she worked her hands harder into the knots at the base of his neck. 

"I know something that may help with that." Joey smirked as he spun around, tilting his head down slightly to look at Amber in the close quarters of the shower. Joey put a hand on her back, pushing her closer into him and pressing their chests together. Amber wrapped her arms around his neck as she looked up at him. He closed the small gap between them with a kiss, starting slow but quickly turning heated as his hands explored her body, leaving trails of fire behind every touch. He moved one of his hands and squeezed her ass gently, making her jump a bit. "Too much?" He stopped and searched her eyes for any hesitation. 

"No, I liked it." She smiled. 

"God, you don't know what you could make me do with those fucking dimples." He said as he leaned back in, kissing her with a hand on the back of her neck. She moaned softly into his mouth as she felt his other hand begin to trail down the front of her body, fingers circling around her sensitive nipples. Joey began kissing down her neck before making his way all the way down to her breasts, taking a nipple into his mouth and sucking. Amber gently tugged on Joey's hair as he pushed her back into the shower wall and then moved to kneel. He put one one of her legs over his shoulder as she leaned back into the cool, ceramic tiles. She stared down at him intently as he spread her thighs more, beginning to slowly lick over her clit. She leaned her head back against the wall as she moaned and desperately tugged at Joey's soft locks.  He watched her expression carefully, taking in every twist, breath, blush, he noticed everything . When he saw her breath hitch after doing things a certain way, he would do it again. He wanted her to squirm as he teased her with his mouth, purposefully never doing enough to make her come. 

“Joey, please-” she moaned, but was cut off. 

“Not yet, baby.” He said with a smirk before sucking on her clit and moving his tongue painstakingly slowly over the sensitive bud. She desperately bucked her hips upwards into him, her legs beginning to shake as she tried to hold her release back. Joey sunk a finger into her, pumping slowly as she shook and her moans grew louder. 

“Joey!” She cried, the desperation in her moans growing more and more apparent as he increased his pace. 

“Now, come now baby.” He commanded as her whole body flooded with pleasure, shaking as she was unwound by him. She breathed heavily as Joey dropped her leg and stood up, kissing her cheeks softly. “You’re always so good for me, baby.” He praised as she regained some composure, but still needed more. 

“I need you.” She whispered as she leaned in right next to his ear. Joey smiled and kissed her quickly before getting out of the shower, then swiftly returning with a condom in hand. He pushed her back into the wall once again, this time noting the anticipation in her eyes. He took a moment to just take her all in, thinking about how she was vulnerable and exposed just for him. He rubbed his hands down her sides slowly before he opened his condom and put it on, slowly stroking himself before entering her, lifting her legs to his side as her arms wrapped around his neck. She nuzzled her face into his neck as she moaned. 

“Fuck, baby, you feel amazing .” He moaned into her ear as his hips moved against hers, quickening his pace. 

“Mm, Joey.” Amber moaned. He loved the way his name sounded leaving her lips anytime, but especially now. He moved even faster, listening to her beg him for more. He tried to be the one in charge and hold back a bit, but Amber just did something to him that no one else had done before. He found himself losing any sense of control as he pulled out and turned Amber around, her chest pressing into the wall as he fucked into her from behind, harder and faster than before. Amber’s cheek pressed into the wall as she moaned and held his hand that sat on her hip. Her moans grew louder as Joey chased after his release, continuing his fast pace. 

“Amber, fuck.” He groaned, “Come again for me baby.” He moved a hand in front of her and down to her clit moving his fingers quickly over her. She screamed his name again as she came on his cock, her sensitivity now enhanced. She felt him twitch as he reached his climax. 

“Fuck, Amber!” He moaned as he came, slowing to a stop and shuddering. He caught his breath then slowly pulled out of her, turning Amber back around to hold her as she leaned into his chest. “We can take a real shower in the morning, I think it's time for bed.” 

“Mm, you still have shampoo in your hair.” Amber giggled as she looked up at him. 

After rinsing off and getting out of the shower, they got into bed. Joey pulled Amber on top of him and kissed her softly. She smiled and moved her head on to his chest, drifting to sleep while listening to his heartbeat. He would never admit it, but that was the first time that the word love creeped into his mind.

Chapter Text

Amber and Joey had managed to fly under the radar over the past month for the most part, but Joey’s frequent visits to the host stand weren’t going unnoticed by the rest of the kitchen. It also didn’t help that Joey insisted on Amber trying specials before everyone else, and any food that was made wrong she always got first dibs on. 

“There’s a ribeye you can’t serve?” Aaron and Brad peeked around into the kitchen. 

“I can never get servers to run anything but as soon as there is free food you come running! Oscar, go grab Amber.” Joey grunted. Ruby’s eyebrow perked with interest from behind him. 

“Amber, I made this for you.” Pickles looked slightly offended at Joey’s offering because he had actually made the steak- which is probably why it was wrong- but he knew better and kept his mouth shut. Nico, on the other hand, applauded Joey’s efforts. Joey offered Amber a box, and she instead brought over her own. Ruby made snide comments under her breath, which Amber pretended not to hear. After Amber left, Joey scolded Ruby. 

“I don’t understand what your problem is. You shouldn’t be talking about Amber like that.” Ruby rolled her eyes. 

“Well, we all know what ho stess starts with.” If there was a world record for how quick someone could make Joey mad, Ruby just beat it, by a lot. 

“Ruby, keep her out of your mouth.” Joey practically growled. Nico and Pickles pretended to work while listening, trying to avoid any aftermath of Joey’s anger. 

“Maybe you should take your own advice.” 

“That’s it, you’re done for the day!” Joey turned around to Nico, giving him orders. 

“You can’t just kick me out of the kitchen!” Ruby stood her ground. 

“If you can’t respect your coworkers then I sure as hell can!” Joey whipped back around, his face inches from Ruby. Terry ran into the kitchen, their yelling match could be heard throughout the entire bistro. 

“Joey, calm down! Take a walk!” Terry ushered him out of the kitchen while Nico and Pickles tried talking to Ruby. Amber could just barely see Terry take Joey out through the sidedoor. 

“Sounds like you may be a hot topic.” Nicole walked over to Amber, smirking. 

“He’s the one that said we had to keep things on the down low, and yet he is having a screaming match over Ruby because she, well, is just being Ruby!” Amber shoved her face into a menu, trying to avoid the prying eyes of the servers that have been circling her stand, waiting for a reaction. 

“Amber, are you okay?” Bridgette asked. 

“Bridgette, not the time.” Nicole whispered and shooed her off. 

“I’m going on my break. Nicole, can you cover the stand?”

Amber lost track of time while in thought, and hadn’t even realized her thirty-minute break had turned into an hour. She anxiously bit her fingernails while sitting on the side door step in the alleyway, thinking the worst. When Terry walked out with Joey, what if Joey told him everything? What if Terry makes them separate? What if she loses her job because she didn’t stay away like she would have if she was smarter? She felt a tear trail down her cheek, but before she could spiral anymore, the door behind her opened. 

“Oh, sorry-” she started to move out of the way. 

“You’ve been out here a while.” Amber turned her head to see Joey standing behind her, a gentle, tender look in his eyes. Amber quickly wiped her face and stood up. 

“Oh, yeah, I just lost track of time.” She mustered up a smile, but the wet trails still on her face didn’t help her out much. 

“Are you okay?” Joey wiped her cheeks with his thumb, then held her face in his hands, “You can talk to me.” 

“You won’t get mad?”

“That’s a hard ask, but I’ll try my best. For you.”

“Okay,” Amber nodded, “I just think you need to ignore anyone’s comments. Everyone has pretty much already caught on except Terry, and I don’t want to make you look bad or lose my job and-”

“Amber, you don’t know what she was saying.”

“Joey, it’s Ruby . I can easily guess what she said, and you need to ignore it.” Joey took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down and be reasonable. 

“I’ll try.” 

“Thank you. I know you are just trying to defend me, which I appreciate, I do, but you really need to try harder to avoid favoring me.”

“But I do favor you.” Joey whispered as he gave Amber a quick kiss. She giggled a bit, then jumped back as the door opened again. 

“Chef, are we able to remove the- oh, sorry!” Pickles whispered before going back inside. 

“Fucking hell.” Joey grumbled as he went back inside, followed by Amber. 

I hope we can make this work. Amber thought to herself as she walked back to the host stand, trying her best to distract herself with work. 

Back in her apartment, Amber tossed and turned in bed. She had feelings for Joey, strong feelings at that, and she didn’t want to let that go, but if it keeps affecting work will she have a choice? Her phone buzzed, and she couldn’t help but smile seeing it was a text from Joey. 

How are you feeling?

I’m fine, just having a hard time going to sleep. 

Me too. 

Do you want to come over? 

You know I can’t say no to you, beautiful.  

About half an hour later, she heard the door to her apartment start to unlock. She sat up in bed, and smiled when Joey came inside. 

“Hey, baby.” He said as he kicked off his shoes and walked to the bed. 

“Hi.” Amber said as he climbed into bed next to her, giving him a kiss as he laid down. She moved to lay her head on his chest, suddenly feeling much more serene. Joey wrapped an arm around her and used his other hand to play with her hair, gently twirling the soft, blonde hair in his fingers. “Thank you.” Amber whispered. 

“For what?” 

“Coming over. I just couldn’t sleep by myself tonight.”

“I’m not that selfless, I needed this too.” Amber giggled quietly at Joey's response. She nuzzled into him more as he kissed the top of her head, still giving her butterflies even a month later and while she was half asleep. A few minutes later she finally fell asleep as Joey softly stroked her back. He looked down at her face, she looked so peaceful when she slept, as if all was right in the world. 

"I don't know how many nights I'll be able to go without this." Joey whispered as he closed his eyes, both of them sleeping in each other's embrace.

Chapter Text

“Do you want to ride to work with me?” Joey asked as Amber poured coffee, his arms wrapped around her from behind. 

“I’m off today.” 

“You’re telling me I have to go to work to deal with people I barely like without you?”

”Hey, Terry is the one who makes my schedule! Besides, I have stuff to get done.” Joey raised an eyebrow as Amber turned around to face him while holding two mugs.

“Oh really? Now what kind of stuff would that be?” 

“You know, groceries, cleaning, laundry, boring life stuff.” Joey nods and smiles a bit. 

“Amber, you’re aware there is hardly anything to clean here, right?” He gestures to her very tidy apartment. 

“Hardly anything isn’t nothing.” She hands Joey his mug and goes to sit on the couch, staring at her empty coffee table, “Can you remind me to get a T.V.? Studying this wood grain is getting boring.” Amber grumbles as Joey sits next to her. 

“Why don’t you have one already?”

“I couldn’t afford it when I moved in and I just never got around to it.” Amber shrugged and took a sip of her very caffeinated breakfast. 

At work, Joey knew Amber wasn’t there, but he still found himself leaving the kitchen and looking at the host stand every so often, just out of habit. 

“Did ya lose something?” Pickles asked when Joey returned. 

“What?”

“You keep looking around, I thought maybe you lost something.” Pickles smiled as he continued cooking. Nico chuckled to himself a bit.

“He’s upset because Amber isn’t working today.” 

“Keep your damn mouth shut, Nico.” Joey grumbled. Nicole walked into the kitchen, immediately pulling her phone out of her pocket. 

“Shouldn’t you be working?” Ruby brushed past her as she came back inside from her break. 

“One, I have been working. Two, you smell like cigarettes. Three, not that it's any of your business, Amber is having an emergency.” Nicole stated very matter-of-factly as she resumed her quick typing. Joey pretended not to care, and he knew Nicole was probably exaggerating, but he could feel his heartbeat pick up speed at the thought of Amber in trouble. 

“Is she okay?” Pickles asked, glancing over at Nicole’s phone. 

“It’s girl stuff, you wouldn’t get it.” She waved him off then shoved her phone back into her pocket. She grabbed some plates of newly finished meals to run to tables and swiftly left. Although Nicole didn’t seem too concerned, Joey wondered if there was more to Amber’s “emergency” than she was letting on. He tried to think of a way to ask her without others hearing, but ultimately private conversations in the bistro didn’t quite exist. 

Joey’s worry began manifesting in various ways throughout the day. First, he burnt two Santa Fe chicken orders, then he forgot to put onions on the side with a sirloin (he did give it to Oscar though since Amber wasn’t there), and to top it all off he had barely yelled at anyone. He was too lost in his own spiral to even be mad at people. Hell, he wouldn’t have known what to be mad about. 

“It’s quiet today.” Brad snickered as he walked past the kitchen. 

“Shut up.” Nicole whisper yelled as she followed behind him. Joey tried his best to ignore them, but as he looked up he noticed all the eyes on him. He knew people had suspicions, but he didn’t realize they all actually knew . He felt like a stray dog surrounded by animal control, fight or flight bubbling in his veins. He couldn’t blow up again, it would make things worse. He thought about Amber, “You need to ignore it,” her words from the previous day encouraging him to take a breath. He calmly stepped outside and checked the time. Only one more hour , he thought to himself as he ran a hand through his hair and sighed. Get your shit together, Joey.

As soon as he could leave, he was in his car and headed to Amber’s. Given, he didn’t tell her that he would be coming over, but he assumed she wouldn’t mind. Even if nothing was wrong and it really was just “girl stuff,” he needed to see for himself that Amber was okay. Despite his worry, and him having a key, he knocked on the door. He could hear quiet shuffling on the other side, and then Amber opened the door. 

“Joey, what are you-”

“Are you okay?” He quickly cut her off, looking her over. 

“Joey, I’m fine.” She led him inside, “Why did you come over?” 

“I overheard Nicole say that you were having an emergency.” Amber’s eyes widened a bit. 

“What exactly did she say?” 

“She said it was ‘girl stuff’ and that was it.” Amber let out a breath, “So, what happened?”

“Well, I realized my period was a week late, and I got paranoid.” Joey blinked twice, shock slowly spreading throughout his body and cementing him in place. 

“Are you-”

“No, no, I took a test. I was texting Nicole while I was waiting for it to say the results.” Joey nodded. 

“Why didn’t you text me?”

“Because if I texted you, you would’ve gotten all worked up and if it was negative, which it is, I would have freaked you out over nothing.” 

“Baby, anything with you could freak me the fuck out.”

“Is that your way of saying you care?” Amber smirked. Joey just replied by kissing her forehead. 

“ Always .”

Chapter Text

The next day, Terry announced that they would be hiring a new hostess. He said they had the job posted for a few days but had no applicants yet. Little did he know, Nicole had been chasing any female applicants off on the off chance that Joey found fresh meat more appealing. 

“Any new hostess resumes?” Terry asked Amber. 

“Nope, none today.” Amber shrugged. 

“Really? I’ve had the ad out for two days now, nothing.”

“People just don’t want to work anymore.” Nicole chimed in. 

“Oh, bullshit. If any new applicants walk in just get me, I’ll interview ‘em on the spot.” Terry argued before walking off.

“So how many have come in?” Nicole leaned in to talk to Amber. 

“A lot, and they’re all really cute .” 

“And absolutely not getting hired.” Nicole added, “And it’s not because you’re insecure or anything.” 

“No, it’s 100% because I’m insecure.” Amber sighed. “I’m not letting a cute, new hostess parade around in front of Joey!”

“The only thing chefs like more than hostesses are new hostesses.” Nicole agreed. 

“He was so aggressive to me on Valentine’s Day, he screamed at me for two minutes straight for flat seating the entire dining room.” Amber confided to Nicole that she actually found herself enjoying being yelled at because it gave her an excuse to see Joey. In the middle of their conversation, a girl approached the host stand asking about the open job, but Amber and Nicole quickly turned her away. Terry then came back up front, hoping for an applicant, followed by Joey. 

“Heard you were hiring a new hostess.” 

“Maybe.” Amber mumbled. 

“Yeah, well do me a favor. Move all the hot ones up to the top of the stack, you know what I’m sayin?” Amber’s face instantly dropped. She didn’t know whether to feel hurt or incredibly pissed off. 

“That’s so gross.” Nicole said, rolling her eyes. 

“Oh, please. Nobody wants to come into a restaurant and be greeted by a troll.” Joey rebutted, “They wanna see a pretty face, like Amber.” He slyly winked at her when he turned around so Terry couldn’t see. 

“I am so sorry babe, men are the worst.” Nicole meant to comfort Amber, but she seemed perfectly content in the moment. 

“He said I was pretty.” She giggled to herself. Nicole laughed a bit before leaving to tend to her tables. 

Left to her own devices, Amber kept drifting back to Joey. What was the point of bringing up “hot” hostesses? Was it part of his cover? She also thought about Valentine’s Day. Of course they were both working, but he never even got her a box of chocolates or flowers. What did that mean? Did he just forget? Does he not think they are serious enough yet for things like that? Her mind began to race once again. For someone she had a pregnancy scare with, you’d think some caramel milk chocolate was the bare minimum. When Joey came up to the host stand just as the thought crossed her mind, she jumped upon hearing her name. 

“Hey beautiful.” He smiled

“Joey, I’m kind of busy at the moment.” She quickly smiled and brushed him off. 

“Doing what exactly?” 

“Oh, you know, moving some reservations around for a group of 20.” Joey’s eyes widened. 

“Terry said you can’t seat groups bigger than 15 on weeknights.” 

“Mm, yeah but this reservation was made before that rule, so they are grandfathered in.” Joey didn’t know what he did, but he somehow knew this must’ve been to spite him. 

“You can’t do it, call them and tell them they have to move to Friday or Saturday.” Amber just shook her head no. 

“I can’t cancel their dinner plans the day before.” She shrugged as she tapped on her screen more, pretending to ignore Joey. Joey leaned in to whisper to her. 

“You think you’re hot shit now, but just wait until we close.” His words were seductive despite their poor formation. Amber felt heat moving across her body, and goosebumps along her arms. She didn’t know how he could make one whispered phrase across a host stand so intimate. Despite what his words did to her, she decided to keep up with her attitude. 

“We’ll see.” She smirked as she turned around to organize some stacks of menus. One of Joey’s eyebrows quirked up as he let out a chuckle. 

“Yeah, we will.” Amber rolled her eyes at his need to get the last word, but she knew who would win their little battle, and it definitely wasn’t her.

Chapter Text

Amber leaned her head forward against her steering wheel as she sat in the parking lot outside of Joey’s apartment. Her phone buzzed, and she had hoped it was Nicole or Bridgette. 

You know I can see you right?

It was Joey. Amber peeked up through her windshield and saw him looking through his apartment window. She awkwardly smiled and waved, and she could see Joey chuckle. She sighed and got out of her car, grabbing her purse. She walked up to Joey’s door, but before she could knock he had already opened it. 

“Hey, baby.” He smiled as he stepped aside to let her in. Amber didn’t say anything as she walked past him and sat on the large, cushioned sofa, crossing her legs. “I see we still have this fucking attitude going on.” Joey chuckled a bit and sat next to her. “So, what’d I do?” Amber finally looked at him.

“Do I actually mean anything to you?”

“What?”

“I mean, we didn’t do anything for Valentine’s Day and today at work you were talking about hiring a ‘hot’ hostess. It doesn’t really make me think you care.” 

“I didn’t know you wanted the whole Valentine’s Day thing, and today I just meant that people like a nice face greeting them. That’s it.”

“I get that, but you didn’t say it.”

“Say what?”

“That you care.” 

“Amber, of course I care. Do you remember what happened when Nicole said you had an emergency?”

“Yeah, I just wish we could show each other more often I guess.” Joey smiled softly and took Amber’s hand in his.

“Yeah, I guess there is more we could do. We can definitely work on that. On that note, I don’t think we ever finished our conversation from earlier today.”

“Oh, yeah. What was it you said about me having to ‘just wait until we close?’” Joey pulled Amber on to his lap so she was straddling him. Amber gasped as Joey began to kiss and gently suck on her neck while his hands gripped her hips. Joey wrapped his arms around her back and stood, carrying her to his bedroom as her legs wrapped around him. He laid her on his bed and hovered over her, smirking at her reddened face and labored breathing. He sat up and slowly peeled off his shirt, his eyes locked with Amber’s. He stood up and took off his work slacks, leaving him in just his boxers. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked back at Amber.

”It’s your turn, baby.” Amber nodded and stood up, walking over so she was right in front of Joey. She started by taking off her shirt, mimicking Joey’s earlier movements. She then removed her pants and placed her hands on Joey’s shoulders. 

“There.” She smiled. 

“Nope, your bra is still on.” Amber quickly took it off and threw it to the side then moved her hands down to take off her panties, but Joey grabbed her hands. “Not so fast, I’m doing that part.” Joey stood up and turned Amber around, pushing her down onto his soft bed. He climbed on top of her and began kissing her deeply. Amber wrapped her arms around him and held him close, pushing their chests together. After a minute, Joey pulled out of her grasp and began slowly peppering kisses down her body, starting at her forehead, then cheeks, then neck, chest, stomach, and settling in between her thighs. He ran his fingers over her wet panties, making her moan quietly. He pulled her underwear off and kissed her thighs. He moved to lick her, but first bit her thigh as he noticed her eyes closed.

“Watch.” He commanded, and Amber obeyed. She moaned as he began to taste her, his tongue slowly moving over her sensitive clit. She had to fight the urge to lay her head back as she watched Joey unravel her. Having their eyes locked on each other only built up the heat in her core more. Joey slowly sunk a finger into her, pumping slowly as she moaned his name. Amber felt herself about to reach her climax, and she threw her head back as she cried Joey’s name. Her chest moved up and down quickly as she caught her breath. Joey got up and slowly licked his lips then walked over to his dresser to grab a condom. He walked back over towards the bed and as soon as he was in arms reach, Amber tugged down his boxers. 

“Someone’s enthusi- oh fuck.” Joey suddenly paused his sentence as Amber kneeled in front of him and licked his length. She took the tip into her mouth and swirled her tongue around it, then began to suck as she moved her head back and forth. Joey’s hands gripped her hair as his moans grew more frequent. Amber could tell her was getting close, but he pulled her off of him. He leaned down and placed a finger under her chin to have her look up at him. 

“Not yet, love.” He helped Amber back up and onto the bed.  He opened the condom and slid it on, then moved over Amber. She spread her legs for him, and he smiled. “Are you ready?” Amber nodded and he thrusted into her slowly, both of them moaning. Amber placed her arms around him and held him close as he quickened his movements. 

“Fuck, Joey.” She moaned into his ear.

“I know baby, I got you.” He reassured her in between breathy moans. “You feel so good, Amber.” He moaned as he thrusted quickly, hitting Amber deeply in all the right places. They both neared their climaxes, Joey holding back until Amber finished. 

“Joey, I’m gonna-”

”I know, let it out my love.” Amber screamed Joey’s name as she reached her peak, her body finally giving out. “Just a little more.” Joey whispered into her ear as he reached his own climax, throbbing and finishing inside of Amber. He collapsed on top of her and took a moment to catch his breath before removing his condom and throwing it away in his bathroom trashcan. When he came back to the bed, Amber looked up at him and smiled, but looked troubled. 

“Is everything okay?”

”You called me ‘my love.’”

”Oh.”

”So?”

”So what?”

”Did you just say it because its more intimate or did you say it because you, well, you know.” Joey sighed.

”Amber, I- I love you. You don’t have to say it back, and if its too much I can back off for a while or-“

”Joey, it’s okay,” She placed a hand on his cheek as he sat next to her, “I love you too.”

Chapter Text

“Amber, can I talk to you for a minute?” Terry said in a hush. Amber glanced up from the host stand and nodded. 

“Sure. What about?” 

“Maybe it would be best to speak somewhere a little more private.” 

“Oh, um, okay.” Amber felt her mouth get dry. She knew what this was about. Of course he would find out eventually. Amber and Terry walked to a more secluded corner of the restaurant near one of the waiter stations. 

“Now, I’ve heard some whispers around, but I don’t like assuming things so I figured I’d ask you. Are you and Joey, you know, seeing each other?” He awkwardly looked to the side.

“Even if we are, if it’s outside of working hours does it really matter?” 

“Well, yes. You’re work has been great, you’ve been very consistent. On the other hand, Joey has been more,” he paused for a moment, trying to think of the right word, “He’s just been more distracted. We can’t have that.” 

“Shouldn’t you talk to him then?” 

“Amber, he is the head chef. I need him at his best.” 

“I understand that, but if my work is fine then you really should just talk to him about it.” Amber smiled innocently hoping to avoid any further questioning. 

“Maybe I will.” Terry walked off towards the kitchen. 

Shit. Amber thought to herself. Joey is going to be pissed. Amber returned to the host stand and fiddled with the computer a bit, and after five minutes of quiet she heard it. Joey is pissed. Before she could even try to listen to what he was saying, Nicole and Bridgette flanked the sides of the host stand. 

“So, what’s that all about?” Nicole said quietly. 

“Terry found out about us and I told him he should talk to Joey.” Nicole laughed. 

“Wow, you really fed him to the wolves like that?” Bridgette whispered. 

“Yeah, I did.” Amber sighed. “I should go try to calm Joey down before we have no manager anymore.” Amber walked to the back. In the kitchen, Nico and Pickles were standing together to the side watching the argument between Terry and Joey unfold. 

“Joey, let’s be reasonable here-”

“Leave her alone! You don’t need to know who I’m fucking! It doesn’t matter outside of this building!” Joey yelled while Terry took a step back with his hands up. 

“Listen, I just noticed you’ve been more distracted lately, that’s the only reason why I’m asking.” 

“Oh, now you’ve done it.” Nico chuckled as he and Pickles ate a plate of fries like popcorn at the movies. 

“Really? You’re not happy with my work? I’m the only reason this restaurant even fucking functions! I made the entire menu from scratch, I order ingredients, and I make the food, and what the fuck do you do? Nothing, because your staff doesn’t listen to you!” Amber had heard enough and finally stepped in. 

“Joey-”

“Amber, you don’t need to get into this.” His voice softened just the tiniest bit when he addressed her. Amber knew she needed to be more assertive and end this before it got even worse. 

“No, Joey. You need to calm your ass down.” 

“What?” Joey turned to look at Amber, her soft expression replaced with something he never quite saw her express before. 

“Joey, listen to her. I’m just trying to do my job here. If Amber is distracting you, then you two need to break things off or she needs to go.” 

“Excuse me?” Amber looked at Terry, her anger being fueled by his statement.

“Now do you see why I was yelling?” 

“Amber, listen, I can’t lose the head chef.” 

“Oh, so I’m just expendable? It doesn’t matter how much time and effort I’ve put into this place?” 

“There are tons of people who can be hosts, but not many can be chefs like Joey.” 

“Oh don’t try to fucking compliment me like you’re going to fix anything. You know what, if Amber goes, then I go too, so make your choice.” The kitchen got silent other than Pickles’ audible gasp and the sound of the wait staff scrambling over each other to listen from outside. Terry sighed and rubbed his forehead. 

“Fine, but if your work gets sloppy I will consider it.” Terry stormed out of the kitchen as Amber stood in shock. 

“Now that’s romance.” Nico nodded as he returned to working.