Rachel’s nostrils flared and her eyes narrowed. He tried to think of a time when he had last seen her mad and realized he couldn’t recall a single moment. Sure, there had been times when she had been stressed out about this and that with work, but her anger had never been directed athim.
“What the hell are you doing?” she asked again.
Good question, he thought to himself. Whatwashe doing? He tried to think back to the previous evening. He remembered getting back from Wicklow with Sean and then looking for Rachel at the bistro, but she wasn’t there.
Terri had been, though, and she’d given him more to drink. More importantly though, Terri had beenniceto him, invited him in for another beer, and what man would turn down free beer?
Strange because he’d always thought she didn’t particularly like him, but last night, had Terri…flirtedwith him? Gary tried desperately to think back.
Yes, there could be something to that. She’d certainly been very friendly anyway. He was missing something though; there was something important he couldn’t remember. They had started doing shots of whiskey; he remembered being surprised when she’d pulled the bottle out. They’d done a couple—no—it had been a lot more than a couple. Terri had kept refilling his glass.
And she had kept asking questions.
It kinda sounded as if she was jealous of Rachel, and he hadn’t realized this before, but maybe she’d fancied him too.
Then Gary’s skin broke out in a cold sweat as, suddenly, the most important part came rushing back to him. He’d told Terri about buying the bracelet and ending up with the ring. He had told her thewholebloody story.
Christ.
He wondered if Terri had since told Rachel about the mistake. If she had, it would certainly explain why she seemed so mad at him now.
“Well? Do you plan on answering?”
Gary snapped back to the present, wondering if he had the presence of mind to bluff his way out.
Problem was, he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be explaining: why he was here or why he’d proposed to her with a freebie ring.
“Why are you sleeping on one of my tables?” Rachel entreated, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
“What time is it?” he asked groggily. It was bright outside.
“Past 9:00 a.m. And you still haven’t answered my question.”
“I came here last night, looking for you.”
Something crossed her face very briefly, and it piqued his interest. Was it guilt? If so, he wondered if he could maybe turn this around.
“But you weren’t here, so I decided to stay for a while, and I had a drink with Terri. We had a couple of drinks and…”
“Looks like it was a hell of a lot more than a couple,” she said, incredulous.
Gary blinked. Now he wasn’t sure if she was angry about him drinking with Terri or sleeping at the bistro. He decided to wing it.
“Come on, babe. You don’t need to be jealous or anything.”
“Oh, please. I’m not jealous. I’m just wondering how you ended up sleeping all night in my restaurant.”
Gary shifted gears. “Well, it’s not my fault. She got me drunk and then left me high and dry here, so blame her.” If he shifted the blame onto Terri, then Rachel could take her anger out on her.
Instead, she rolled her eyes and sighed. “Last time I checked, you’re an adult. It’s hardly Terri’s fault. Didn’t you tell me yourself you were drinking all day yesterday? Besides, how could she have possibly moved you? And I can’t imagine she’d want to put you up upstairs either.” She put her hands on her hips. “Problem is, I need to open up, and I can’t have you in here looking or indeed smelling like you do. It wouldn’t be good for business. So scoot.”
Was she really kicking him out? Couldn’t she at least offer him some coffee first? Or maybe a bite to eat while she was at it?
He started to open his mouth to ask these questions, but Rachel held up her hand. “Please, just get a move on. I don’t have time for any of this right now. I have too much to do. Go out the back way.”
So now she was making him exit through the back, like she was ashamed of him or something? What the hell?
Shaking her head in irritation, Rachel started to clean up around him while Gary sat there, confused and unsure. She had never acted this way around him before; usually she was all over him.
