CHAPTER 6

Every day Grace went into the restaurant, she prepared herself for the unease she felt being around Sal. She wondered how long it would be, before she was comfortable around him. She’d been off Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday had been fairly painless. Sal had spent a lot of time out of the restaurant. He’d had a meeting and Thursday he spent at Angel’s restaurant on the Marina interviewing potential hires.

Friday she came in and again, was overcome with the same disappointment of not seeing him. Something she refused to admit to anyone, not her sister, not even Joey or Taylor. She felt like a silly schoolgirl waiting for the cute guy to show up to class. This was her boss for heaven’s sake. A boss that hadn’t even wanted to hire her. A man she’d labeled a jerk.

They’d since hired another bartender and a new cook. She watched the cook, who was not yet head chef, as he prepared his dishes. He didn’t seem very confident, at times it even seemed that his nerves got the best of him and he’d begin to panic. Really? She’d been passed up for this?

Grace was busy making three margaritas when she glanced up and nearly spilled what she was pouring. Sal walked in wearing a black on black business suit—everything black including his tie. He looked amazing—more than amazing. Jesus, she felt like those shallow girls in her pastry class. She didn’t even realize she was gawking until Melanie nudged her. “Take a number,” she giggled, handing her a towel to clean what she’d splattered.

Feeling her face flush she took the towel and tried sounding genuinely confused. “What do you mean?”

“Are you kidding me? Sal gets that same reaction from all women. Isn’t he mesmerizing though? If I wasn’t already engaged, I swear I’d be all over that.”

Grace chewed on the inside of her cheek. Something about that second statement made her feel so ridiculously insignificant. She didn’t want to get lumped in as one his groupies. So he was good looking. Big deal. She’d been around plenty of good looking guys. This was the man she worked for. It was completely inappropriate to be gaping at him that way, not to mention embarrassing as hell.

Trying not to show her agitation about having been so obvious, she wiped her hands on a wet towel. “I don’t look at him like that.”

A sudden heat now accompanied Grace’s flushed face. She placed the margaritas on the tray Julie had left on the counter. “Damn,” Julie said, as she walked up to take the tray. She was staring in Sal’s direction. Grace busied herself with the next order of drinks. “I wonder who the lucky girl is tonight.” Julie stood there for a moment blatantly staring his way. “Oh, here he comes. Back to work.”

She grabbed the tray and walked away. Melanie had walked over to the other side of the bar to take someone’s order, leaving Grace alone. The discomfort she normally felt around Sal had spiked to a new height.

He was still a few feet away and she could already smell him. He wore the most alluring cologne she’d ever smelled and she closed her eyes for a second, taking it in.

“Hey, Grace. Has it been busy?”

Unwilling to take him in, in this close proximity, she pretended to be engrossed in the drink she was preparing, even bent over to grab something out of the refrigerator just to avoid looking at him. “Off and on.” She indulged herself with a quick glance, regretting it almost instantly. As good looking as he’d been even on her first day when he arrived suited up from his meeting, today just wasn’t fair. Something about the all black suit brought out his amazing eyes out and those heavy lashes taunted her. “You know,” she cleared her throat annoyed that her stupid voice that nearly gave out on her, “…how it is. They come in herds.”

“Let me go tell Alex I’m here so he can take off. I’ll be back, I have something for you.”

He finally had her full attention. Not that he hadn’t from the moment he walked in but she allowed herself now to really look at him. He smiled that beautiful smile of his and began to walk away. “I’ll be back.”

Panicked and not having a clue what he might have for her, she rushed over to the bowl with the peppermint candies. She stuck one in her mouth then glanced at herself in the mirror behind the bar. Of course, she had one strand of hair sticking straight up like a cockatoo. Damn it. Why hadn’t anybody told her?

Grace was still fixing her hair when she heard Alex’s voice coming from the hallway to the back. Sal was with him when they turned the corner and walked toward her. She grabbed a towel and began cleaning off the bar area diligently. “I’m outta here, Gracie. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Alex waved at Melanie and said his goodbyes to a few of the other servers before walking out. Sal walked over to her, holding a baseball cap. He handed it to her as soon as he was close enough. “This is yours.”

She took it, examining it. It had the restaurant’s logo embroidered on it and the phrase, Slam-dunking for over 30 years, around the back. She glanced up at him confused.

“March Madness is going on right now. We get a lot of people in here, watching the games. So on game days all the bartenders wear these. I’m ordering jerseys with the logos as well.” He flashed that killer smile. “Team Moreno’s.”

Something about being part of a team, his team, even if it was just metaphorically, excited her and she smiled—probably a little too much.

“This is just a temp,” he added. “I’m having your name embroidered on one. Is Gracie okay?”

As silly and as trite as that was, that excited her even further. “Yeah, Gracie is fine.” She turned to the mirror and tried it on, pulling her ponytail out of the back opening. She turned back to Sal with a giddy smile. “How’s that?”

He stared at her for a moment before saying, “Looks good.”

Just like that, the moment they were having was lost. She’d finally felt at ease with him, even if it was on for a instant over a silly cap, when that hardened look she was so familiar with now washed over him.

Sal’s eyes met hers one last time as she removed the cap before he excused himself saying he had to make some calls. Grace sighed. She’d never figure him out.

She slipped the cap under the bar, but after spilling something that almost dripped down there, she decided to take it back and put it in her cabinet. She slowed as she reached the open office door. Sal was on the phone.

She could not get out of there fast enough. Sal laughed as she walked back to the bar, rolling her eyes. Chick magnet. The man had them coming at him from every angle.

~*~

Melissa’s phone calls were starting up again. Sal knew he should have never agreed to see her again. After a hair-splitting phone call with her, where she conveniently mistook him saying I’ll see you around, to mean I want to see you again, he finally got her off the phone without having to promise to get together with her.

He checked his e-mail to see if the investors he’d met with today had sent him the proposal they promised to have for him by the end of the day. It was still a little early, but he was anxious. This was the first time since he started looking into teaming up with others to expand the restaurants, that they were more interested in being silent partners than having a hand in everything. But they did say they had a few stipulations of their own. Stipulations that would be outlined in the proposal.

Sal almost went home first to change, but he’d hardly been in the restaurant this week. He was anxious to get there already. He told himself it was because Alex was waiting for him so he could go home to Valerie, but there was more to his anxiety about getting to the restaurant. Something he wasn’t even ready to admit to himself yet. He pushed it to the back of his head until he saw Grace when he walked in. Even then, he reasoned the thrill that he felt was nothing more than the comfort of being back in a familiar place with familiar faces. But after a few doses of her wide-eyed excitement, topped with how sweet she looked in the ball cap on he had to get it together—had to snap out of it.

One look at his inundated email inbox and Sal’s head nearly hit his keyboard. He kept saying he would go through it soon. Now was as good a time as any. He spent about an hour clearing it out and still, no proposal.

With his head swimming from all the emails he had to go through, he left the office to grab something to drink. He ran into Grace who hurried into the back.

“Sorry,” she said, smiling, her hand on his chest.

Her touch sent a bolt through him as if it were the first time he felt a woman’s touch. “Where’s the fire?” He managed to keep his voice steady.

“I’m off now and my ride is here.” She looked up at him.

This was the closest he’d been to her and Sal had to fight the incredible urge to get even closer. He moved out of the way, letting her by and walked into the dining room. It was still a few hours before closing time. Grace usually worked the closing shift but she must’ve come in earlier today.

Julie was manning the hostess desk at the front of the restaurant. He walked over to check if they had any late reservations or if tonight would be all walk-ins. There was a scruffy guy at the door in dreadlocks, as Sal walked up to the hostess desk. Sal didn’t miss the way the guy checked him out thoroughly. So much so, he made it a point to address him. “Have you been helped?”

The guy’s smirk was a bit too smug. “No, I’m good.”

What the hell did that mean? Sal looked him over for a second, before deciding he was probably meeting someone and turned to Julie.

He glanced at the night’s reservation list when he heard the guy purr, “Hey beautiful.” Sal looked up just in time to catch the guy wrap his arm around Grace’s neck and kiss her temple.

She turned to Sal and Julie and waved as she walked out with the grunge freak. Sal stood there stunned—or something. He wasn’t sure what it was feeling, but somehow the scene had left him rattled. Another boyfriend?

Forgetting about the reservation list, he stalked back toward the office. He didn’t even realize he was pissed until he slammed the door shut. He sat back in his chair, breathing hard and stared at the ceiling. What the hell was wrong with him?

~*~

“All right, I’ll give Joey this one. Your boss is smokin’ hot.”

Grace was getting tired of hearing this now. First from the girls in class, then Joey, then the girls at work, and now Taylor. It wasn’t like she needed to be reminded of the obvious. She only wished it didn’t bother her. Why should it? She nodded but said nothing to further that topic.

Taylor pulled up to the front of her apartment building where there were two homeless men arguing outside. “You want me to walk you in?”

“No, I’m okay. Those two are always going at it.” She smiled as she watched Randy and The Snake shake their fists at each other. “They’re harmless.”

Taylor stared at them, taken aback. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

She turned back, leaning in to give him a kiss on the cheek. He turned his head and she stopped just before their lips met. She frowned—same old trick—Taylor smiled. “One of these days you’ll fall for it.”

Grace nudged him before opening the door. “I’ll make sure it happens when Joey’s around. You’ll be walking crooked for a week.”

Taylor squeezed his legs together and winced. “Why do you always have to go there?”

Gracie laughed then thanked him for the ride. Taylor always did things like that. Even in front of Joey. Joey played the part of being jealous, but if anyone was the jealous one, it was Taylor. She’d seen it once and it hadn’t been pretty.

Yet, for as much as Taylor flirted, she’d never seen so much as a spark of real jealousy from Joey. He knew Taylor would never actually do anything.

As was the norm at her place, Ruben lay sprawled out on the sofa—beer cans and a bag of chips on the floor. Her mom peeked in from the hallway. “Pssst!”

Grace lifted her hand in the air and mouthed, “What?”

Her mom motioned for her to come over and put her finger over her lips.

Grace closed the door as quietly as possible. Ruben continued to snore like a bear. She held her keys tight in her hands so they wouldn’t jingle. They made it to her room and her mom closed the door behind her. “Frank wants to see you again.”

“What?” Grace felt sick to her stomach.

Rose was on her bed with the laptop on her legs. She glanced at Grace giving her that ‘I feel for you’ look.

“He called earlier today and said he really enjoyed the time he spent with you and he’d like to do it again. I was just thinking—”

“No!” Grace was done doing these things for her mom.

“If Ruben gets the job he’ll be gone most of the week.”

Grace and Rose’s eyes locked. One of the things that gnawed at her most of the day was wondering how much time Rose had to spent locked in her room for fear of walking out into the kitchen or living room and being harassed by Ruben.

“What does me seeing Frank again have to do with Ruben getting the job?”

Her mother frowned. “It’s not a done deal yet. Spending another evening with him just might seal the deal.” A calculating smile spread across her face and she turned to Rose. “Won’t it be nice when Ruben starts working and he’s only home late in the evening and gone before we’re all up?”

Another glance at her sister and she knew what Rose was thinking. If guilt was a facial expression, Rose wore it on her lips like a tight rope wire. As much as she hated it the idea of going on a fixed date with this man, it was totally worth it, if it meant getting Ruben out of the house. She turned back to her mother who didn’t even try to hide her anticipation and sighed. “When?”

Her mother nearly jumped. “Sometime next week.”

“Remember I have work and school.”

“Yes, yes.” Her mom reached out and held her by the shoulders. “We’ll work something out.” She crushed Grace into a hug. “Ay, mija, thank you so much. You won’t regret this!”

Grace closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She already did.