Normal, he supposed, but that didn’t make it pleasant.
Laney sent a text to Walker later, inviting the Grayson family to come and dine at the restaurant tonight, and that gave him the perfect excuse to make sure he saw Marlowe. He asked Laney if there was room for Marlowe, and she confirmed there was.
At midday, he stopped by the front desk, where Marlowe was dressed in a black button-up shirt and skirt, looking uptight and efficient, and like a gift he wanted to unwrap.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hi,” she said, barely looking up, but her cheeks turned bright red. That satisfied him. “I was wondering if you wanted to have dinner with the rest of the family and me tonight at Painted Ridge Dining Room. Laney has a special table for us.”
Marlowe looked up, shock on her face. “Do you want me to eat with you?”
“Well, yeah. The calm before the storm, right? You have people checking in tomorrow at three?”
“I’m very aware.”
“And pretty much every business owner in town is coming for dinner tonight in the restaurant.”
“I mean it sounds great…”
“Oh, hi,” a tall, slender young man wearing black, just like Marlowe, came out from the back office and stopped when he saw Cody.
“Hi,”Cody said.
“Did you need anything special?”
“No,” he said. “I… I’m the owner.”
“Oh. I’m Chris.”
“Hi, Chris,” Cody said.
He wondered if the kid had a crush on Marlowe. God knew if she had been Cody’s boss, he would’ve been completely obsessed with her.
Of course,hewas the boss. But the idea of a role reversal wasn’t entirely unappealing…
“I’ll just… leave you, then.” Chris slipped back into the office and closed the door.
“I think he was checking on you,” Cody said.
Marlowe laughed. “What?”
“Because you were talking to a man. I think he might have a crush on you.”
Marlowe’s eyes shimmered with humor. “You’re hilarious. He was checking you out. And then had to excuse himself quickly since you own the ranch and he doesn’t want things to be awkward.”
Cody blinked. “Oh.”
“No worries about Chris having a crush onme. He’s great, though. The whole staff is. I’m really looking forward to… To everything. And yes, I will have dinner with all of you tonight.”
“Great,” he said.
And what he didn’t ask was if she would take him upstairs afterward. But it was what he really wanted to ask.
He was getting in too deep with this.
But it wouldn’t stay that way. There was no way that it could. It simply wasn’t possible.
It would have to cool off. Because these things inevitably did.
