Shoving the door open, he chuckled as I walked right in.
“Your waitress…Callie. I want her fired right fucking now.”
“Any reason? Or did you just not like her?” he chuckled.
“She was nasty to Ellie. Suggested she get a salad.”
Jeff’s face instantly turned hard as he shoved back from his desk and walked out. I didn’t need to stick around for the next part. As I walked out, I heard the girl’s gasp as Jeff laid into her.
Grinning, I took my seat across from Ellie and interlocked my fingers with hers. “Where were we?”
“What’s going on?”
“Just taking care of something.”
“Ryder—”
The waitress came storming out of the back, her face filled with tears as she made a dramatic exit. Jeff was at our table just seconds later with a bottle of wine.
“Thought I’d bring over a bottle of wine and some appetizers.”
“To make up for the lack of seafood?” I teased.
“It’s a slow season.”
“Yeah, hard to get seafood in Montana,” I jested, not bothering to mention that states further in got seafood all year round. Not that it was any good unless it was on the coast.
“Fishing is a tricky thing,” he said, scratching his jaw. Popping the cork on the bottle, he set it on the table. “Hope you enjoy the burgers. They’re a specialty.”
“They’re the only thing on the menu,” I corrected.
“Not true. We also have mozzarella sticks,” he grinned as he walked away.
I was still smiling as I poured more wine for Ellie, but she was staring at me warily.
“What did you do?”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, pouring myself a glass.
“That woman…you got her fired.”
“Nobody speaks to you like that,” I said, dropping the act.
“I don’t need you to do that.”
“What? Stand up for you?”
“That wasn’t?—”
“Ellie, we’re out for a nice dinner together and someone was cruel to you. Do you really think I’m the type of guy to stand back and watch that happen?”
“No,” she sighed.
“Neither is Jeff. You should have seen his face when I told him what she did. Not everyone in this town is a piece of shit.”
“Still, this is only going to make things worse for me.”
I was about to take a sip of my wine when I put the glass down and stared at her until she finally met my eyes.
