I lifted my eyes to meet John’s. “Little liquid glue, and I should be right as rain, but I appreciate the gesture.”
“Regardless, my number will be up front. Call if you needanything, Ro.”
Okay, time to extract myself from the situation because I wasn’t in any position to be accepting numbers from men. I might be on the run, but I was still legally married to Gio, who very much believed that I was his property. God help anyone who so much as looked at what was his, let alone touched it. They would be marked for death, no questions asked.
I hitched a thumb toward the kitchen. “I gotta go handle this.”
“Of course.” John ducked his head. “Sorry again for the mess.”
The minute I cleared the swinging doors to the kitchen, I let out a deep exhale, and my eyes fell shut. When I opened them again, I found my co-worker, Alexis, peeking through the circular window toward the dining room.
“Who isthat?” she breathed.
Turning around to see who she was referring to, I found John still standing there, his green eyes staring directly at me. Groaning, I muttered, “The guy who bumped into me so that I dropped table forty-three’s entire order.”
Alexis rolled her eyes. “Obviously. I saw the whole thing happen.”
“Funny, I didn’t see you rush over to help,” I grumbled.
“Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome seemed to have it covered.” She waggled her eyebrows. “You’re going to call him, right?”
“Definitely not.” I moved further into the industrial kitchen, relaying to the cooks that I needed a refire on forty-three.
Alexis was hot on my trail. “Why not?”
I blew out a frustrated breath. “Because I don’t date.”
“Girl, you need to get over your psycho ex and get back on that horse. That guy out there?” She gestured toward the door to the dining room. “He looks like he could give you the ride of your life. Did you see how big he was? Imagine if he’s that bigeverywhere.” She widened her eyes for emphasis, like I hadn’t already figured out she was talking about his dick.
“Bigger doesn’t necessarily mean better,” I huffed, grabbing the first aid kit and wrapping gauze around my injured hand.
She snorted. “That’s something people say when they’ve never been dicked down by a monster cock.”
“Let me rephrase that. It’s the guys who are packing below the belt who are usually the biggest assholes.” I knew that from experience.
Alexis tilted her head from side to side. “Yeah, you’re right about that.”
“He was nice enough to cover the cost of the refire, so we’re going to leave it at that.”
But of course she couldn’t let it drop. “I’m just saying if he was trying to givemehis number . . .”
“If you want it that badly, go get it from Tiffany because I sure as hell am not interested.”
She hummed, pursing her lips. “Maybe I will.”
“I’m serious. Be my guest.”
“Ro, order up!” Nick called over to let me know table forty-three’s food was ready.
Grabbing the freshly loaded tray, I tossed over my shoulder at Alexis, “I gotta get back to work.”
This was my life now. I woke up, worked at least two of my three jobs, came home, ate dinner, and went to sleep. Rinse and repeat.
My days as a prissy, pampered mafia wife were so far behind me that I could barely see them in the rearview mirror.
And I’d never been happier.
“Ro! We’ve got someone who needs help with a recommendation in romance.”
