“What’s that mean?”
“You said you knew what you were doing.”
“I do. I just haven’t been a server in an upscale restaurant.”
“Clearing from the right, honey? You don’t have to be an upscale server to know that.”
“So I forgot. Like you’ve never made a mistake?”
“Did you see me make any?” he challenges. He stands there, eyes dancing, daring me to name a single flaw in his performance.
“Actually, I did.”
He looks amused. “What?”
“Staring at a customer’s tits.”
He tries to wipe a hand over his mouth before I see his smile. “I wasn’t staring.”
“Would you prefer the termogling?”
“They were right on the table when I put her food down. I was trying not to burn her damn nipples off with that bowl of soup!”
I hide my amusement by turning to reach for my bag. “Right.”
“Look, I hope you don’t expect me to share my tips with you.”
“I don’t.” Actually, I was hoping he would, but I get it. He didn’t take this job for the fun and friendships.
He pauses like he’s deciding whether to say more. “I have a lot of expenses at the moment,” he explains. I find itslightlyendearing that he thinks he owes me an explanation.
“Of course you do. I’m sure the nightly gift bags add up.”
He stops in the doorway. “Gift bags?”
I’m pleased. For once, I’ve caught him off guard. “You haven’t heard what they say about you? Supposedly you send your conquests home with a little gift bag as a thank-you for, well, you know. Just like that famous athlete.”
Reeve smiles that high-watt smile, and I understand, briefly, why he can get any girl he wants. “You must have heard wrong, honey. Iamthe gift.”
I watch him disappear from the doorway, and I let out a long breath. Suddenly I’m exhausted, and it’s not because of work. It’s him and this high-alert state I’ve been in all night. I have to remind myself I don’t care what he thinks about me, or whether he thinks of me at all. I couldn’t think any less of him.
My mind goes back to that instant during our shift when he adjusted my tie and it felt as though all the heat in his body moved through the fabric and straight into me. And eventhough he’s not my type, for one fleeting, unfamiliar moment, I find myself wishing I was his.
TEN
jade
Two nightslater I’m back to working the hostess station.
“I’ll put you on another training shift next week,” Cecily says irritably when she catches my disappointment. “We have a lot of regulars tonight, and I’m not subjecting them to an evening of trainee mistakes.”
When I walk out of the office, I spot Reeve coming from the server station and immediately head his way. “What did you do, give Cecily the play-by-play of my screwups from the other night?”
“Pretty much,” he says. His eyes linger on the front door. I turn to see what he’s staring at: two leggy women in bodycon dresses and stilettos that look like they must be twins.Pig.
“It was my first night. I didn’t do that badly.”
“Never said you did.”
