While I appreciated his effort to help Tommy, suggesting my girl as a way to do it didn’t sit very right with me. Joe and I leaned against the bar, waiting to hear what ridiculous crap would come out of his mouth next.
“Did he mean Thea?” Joe mouthed to me.
When I nodded slowly, he cracked up and shook his head.
“I’m serious,” he pressed when Tommy tried to ignore him. “Watch, I’ll go outside, and in five minutes I’ll have a date for tonight, or my lunch break.”
When Joe straightened and opened his mouth to say something, I held my hand up to stop him. Maybe I was a dick too, for looking a little too forward to his reaction when he realized how far he lodged his foot into his mouth.
When he turned to go outside, Thea was already back in the restaurant and heading back over to us with Caterina wheeling Ava behind her. Ben rushed over to approach her, chatting her up for a minute before leaning in to mumble something I couldn’t quite hear. I bit back a smile when her eyes widened and she shook her head.
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m with someone, and he’s the jealous type.” She backed away and met my gaze with a half-smile tilting her lips.
“I don’t care.” Ben shrugged. “I won’t tell him if you won’t.”
Caterina gaped at Joe and me, Joe covering his mouth with his fist to hide his smile. I leaned back on the bar and crossed my arms. It wasn’t her refusal that made my chest swell since she would have shot him down whether or not I was in the picture, but she said she waswithsomeone.
I had another straw to go along with all the others I’d grasped at this summer.
“He’s right behind you, if you’d like to ask.” She motioned to me with her chin.
Ben turned around, speechless and pale. This was the most amusement I’d had during the breakfast rush in a long time.
Thea made her way around Ben and wrapped her arm around my waist.
“Caterina is going to drive me back. We’re going to take Ava to that little beach by the hotel. You don’t have to be disturbed after all.” She drifted her hand over the collar of my polo. As many times as I made fun of Joe for not so nonchalantly dragging Caterina to his office, I wasthisclose to whisking Thea back to my apartment and not giving a single fuck who was watching.
“You don’t disturb me, sweetheart.” I pulled her in for a kiss. No tongue but hard enough to make the message loud and clear. “See you tonight.”
She nodded with a tiny smile. “See you tonight.”
“Make sure you cover up,” I told her as my hands drifted up and down her arms. “I don’t want you to get burned.”
“I will, promise.” She kissed my cheek. “How long are you going to make him suffer?”
“Only a few more minutes.” I shrugged. “You have to make your own fun around here.” I pecked her lips, searching her gaze for a long minute before she turned to join Caterina.
“Hey…look…um…if I knew,” Ben stammered as he came closer. As comical as it still was, I decided to put him out of his misery.
“If you knew what? If you knew that she only hooks up withme,then you wouldn’t have been talking all that shit about her in front of me?”
His eyes widened at my raised brow.
“A word of advice, women don’t like to be conquests, no matter how decent your abs are.”
I left to check on the busboys toward the front, peering over at Thea as she made her way out. A sexy grin stretched across her lips before she followed Caterina out the door.
Warmth exploded in my chest as a smile drifted across my lips.
Maybe we were more together than I thought.
31
Thea
Ava babbledto me while I bounced her in my arms. She was an adorable, feisty little thing. Her brows furrowed as she rambled on, already with so much to say.
“Her big mouth comes from my side of the family.” Caterina laughed as she packed up the rest of their things into a huge beach bag. “Thanks for letting us come by. I’m used to the Ocean Cove crowds, so it was nice to spread out and relax.”
