“Fine,” Nova said, turning back toward the locker. She opened it, stowed her purse and phone inside, and re-locked it. When she turned back around, Torin was still standing there, staring at her.
“What?” she asked.
“You put your phone in the locker,” he said.
“Um, yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re paying me to be a hostess, not to be on the phone. I can check my messages and stuff on my breaks, which I do take every couple of hours,” she said.
His bright blue eyes were thoughtful as he studied her.
“If it’s a problem, I can put it back in my pocket and check it every so often,” she offered.
His mouth twitched again, and she wondered if he was actually capable of smiling.
“No, that’s okay. It just…surprised me.”
Nova wasn’t going to touch that comment because her temper was still sparking, just a bit.
Torin took a step back and headed down the hall toward the kitchen. Nova followed him and found Addie waiting by the door that led into the dining room. She was glaring at Torin, her brown eyes hot.
Frankly, this surprised Nova, too. Torin didn’t strike her as the type of male who would let his employees get away with anything remotely disrespectful.
“If he’s mean to you,” Addie said to Nova, gaining her attention. “Just let me know and I’ll take care of it.”
Nova couldn’t suppress her smile. It spread across her face even though she knew Torin had turned back to look at her. She risked a glance at him and saw that lip twitch again before he controlled it.
Yeah, it was probably a good thing he refused to smile. His face might break if he tried.
“I will,” Nova finally said to Addie.
The manager looked between the two of them and shook her head. “Just my luck. I finally find a hostess worth having and a potential candidate for assistant manager and the two of you have already butted heads before she was even hired,” she grumbled.
Nova laughed a little, moving to the disgruntled woman. “Sorry, babe. If I had known, I would have told Veronica I wasn’t—”
Before she could finish her sentence, Torin interrupted, “Are you two gonna stand here and jaw all night or get the restaurant ready to open?”
“Don’t be a dick,” Addie shot back, but there was no heat behind her words.
Nova took a moment to study Torin again. She saw the glint in his eyes and the faint flush in his cheeks and she realized he didn’t want Addie to know that he was using a matchmaking service.
He stared at her, his shoulders tense, until she gave him a slight nod. The date incident was already out of the bag, but he deserved to have privacy if he wanted it.
At her nod, he visibly relaxed.
As she walked out of the kitchen with Addie, the craziest urge hit her.
She wanted to know what it would take to get a smile out of Torin.
Even worse, she wanted to be the one to make him do it.
ChapterFour
He hated being wrong. Fucking loathed it.
But Torin Gallagher could admit when he was wrong. He didn’t like it, almost as much as he didn’t like being wrong, but he could admit it. At least to himself.
