“What can I do to help?” Theo was right at my side.
I held up a finger and pulled my phone from my pocket.
With Loren sorting the cleaning and rearranging staff, I needed to call Scott Waite, Holden’s dad. He answered on the first ring. “Mr Waite, I need half a crate of the Sterling selection, one bottle of each if you have. I’ll have a new shipment in the morning and replace yours. I’ll pay double if that helps.”
Scott didn’t hesitate. “No problem, but I’m really busy, do you have someone to pick it up?”
“Theo will be there in a few minutes.” Before I could turn to ask him, Theo was out the door, pulling his keys from his pocket.
I stared at the door he disappeared through. No questions, no debate. He just did what I asked, like he was used to taking instructions. A strange unfamiliar warmth spread through my chest, and it had nothing to do with the spilled wine.
That was not how I wanted the night to go. Still, less than an hour later, we had the mess cleaned up, secured some stock to tide us over and placed an emergency order with priority shipping. Could we survive without those wines? Probably. But they’re a top seller and the lack of stock would definitely impact the bottom line. Not a single customer was left waiting. The one person who had ordered from one of the broken bottles was taken care of. Her drink was on the house and I offered her and her friends a single round of drinks as well.
I was still bussing tables when Theo stood in front of me and raised a brow.
“What?” There was no need for him to look at me like I was doing something wrong.
“Have you eaten?” He looked around the bar. “Crisis averted, right? You can carry on with what you were doing before all this happened?”
“Thank you for getting the wine.” I loved that he was willing to help, and also that he never took over. He ran a billion dollar empire and I ran a bar. Still, he had no problem taking instructions from me.
“You’re welcome. It was the least I could do. You had everything handled, really.”
I let out a long exhale and handed the tub for the empties over to one of the servers. “You’re right?” I frowned at him. “Why were you here? Just to bring me dinner?”
“Not quite.” The corner of his mouth twitched. “I just think that some requests work better when you’re not operating on an empty stomach.”
“Request?”
“Let’s go to your office.” He wasn’t exactly nervous, but his shoulders were definitely tense.
I led the way to the back room. Once again, he raised a brow and it didn’t take a genius to know what he wanted. I moved around the desk and sat in my chair. I opened the bag from Bowler’s and found my favorite cheese burger. Even though it was cold, it was delicious.
I let out a low groan as I took the first bite. I looked up and found Theo looking at me with a hunger I had never noticed before. “Do you want half?”
He shook his head. “That’s not what I want to eat.”
His words were low and deep and had me squirming in my seat. “So, what were you going to ask me?”
“Would you like to go on a date with me tomorrow?”
My shoulders sagged. I hated that I needed to decline. “I cannot ask my parents to watch the kids two nights in a row.”
“Zoe offered to babysit.” He moved his head from side to side. “Actually, offered is a bit of a stretch. I’m paying her to babysit.”
I gave it some thought. Zoe was sixteen, and responsible. She also loved the kids, which was a big plus in my book. Still, I didn’t want to be too far away in case she needed us. “Not more than fifteen minutes away from my parents’ house.”
Theo frowned at me. “This is Marina De Ferrier, love. Nothing is more than fifteen minutes away.”
“True. Dress code?” There was only one fancy restaurant in town.
“Casual. And layers. We’ll be outdoors.”
So, not fancy. Okay. “Then yes. I would love to go out with you.” I took another bite.
“Good that’s part one out of the way.”
I frowned and swallowed the food in my mouth. “Part one? There are multiple parts?”
