Chapter One
Ella
“You’re late. And a mess.” The maître d' looked down his long thin nose at me as I stood in the backroom of the restaurant, dripping on the carpet. Le Mercure was way too fancy for me to work in, let alone eat in. I have no clue why they hired me. I didn’t know a thing about wine, or how to pronounce the fancy French food they served, but I did know how to wait tables.
I was lucky to have this job.
I brushed the wet lock of hair out of my face.“Yes, sir, I’m so sorry, sir. My bus was late because of the storm,” I said, looking at my scuffed, thrift store heels.
The maître d' sighed at me. “You’re on thin ice, Ella. You’ve been late three times this week. Once more and I’ll have to let you go.” He rubbed at his pointy goatee. “Go on. See if you can get cleaned up enough to work the rest of the shift.”
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,” I squeaked, scooting passed him.
I went to the bathroom, wet heels squeaking on the marble floors, took a handful of paper towels and did what I could to blot the soaked white button down dry. I tried fixing my hair, too. The sudden summer downpour made my mandatory bun look less like part of the five-star restaurant’s uniform, and more like a sloppy night out. I put the bun back together as best I could and looked myself right in the eyes. “You have to do better,” I said. “You need this job. You can’t go back to New York.” I smoothed my skirt, made sure there wasn’t any toilet tissue stuck on my shoes and checked to see if I had any tables yet.
I didn’t. So, I made my way to the bar, pulled out the books I stashed in the corner and started studying by the pick-up station, out of customer’s line of sight.
This was my first semester of college and I was really pleased with how well I managed to balance work and school. Up to now, that is. I had four finals in two days this week and I’d been up every night, all night studying. I was sure I did well on the tests but after each one, I’d gone home and crashed hard. So hard I’d been late for my evening shift at Le Mercure.
“Don’t let him get to you,” Troy the bartender who sometimes flirted with me said. “He’s just old and cranky. It’s slow this time of day anyway. Besides, he knows you’re juggling a lot.” Troy winked at me and poured me a glass of diet soda.
I chew on the straw before taking a sip.“I don’t know. He said he’d let me go if I was late again.”
“Pshh. Like he would ever let you go, Ella. You’re the best, nicest, not to mention prettiest server we have here.”
I smiled at Troy. He was nice, and he was always sweet to me. He was also really cute. Baby blue eyes and a messy style to his sandy hair added to his boyish charm, but there just wasn’t a spark. For me at least.
I needed something more.
“Case and point,” Troy nodded toward the entrance of the restaurant. “That guy’s been here pretty much every day this week. He’s sat in everyone’s section except yours, but he’s stared at you the whole time.”
“Has he?” I looked to the front of the restaurant.
Oh goodness. How had I not noticed him?
My mouth went dry as I looked at him. Tall and broad in what had to be a very expensive dark suit, he dominated the whole restaurant with his mere presence. He scanned the dining room as he was seated, dark eyes taking in the whole area in a single glance.
“See, he’s looking for you,” Troy said.
Was he?
It had to have been the lack of sleep fugue from finales week. That’s the only reason I could have missed the biggest man I’d ever seen. Well over six-feet, if I had to guess I’d say at least six-six, barrel-chested, with hands and fingers so big it made me curious about how big his other parts were.
I bit my lip as my thighs heated up in response to that particularly naughty thought. He was so big, so powerful, so gorgeous, just looking at him brought a sweet, heavy tension between my legs.
How had I not noticed this man before?
“Are you OK, Ella?”
“Fine,” I said and hopped off the barstool. “Guess he needs servicing. Um—I mean, I’ll just go service him.” Oh god! What’s wrong with you? “I’m, um—I’m going to go wait on him, now.” I said and ran out of the bar to avoid the look I knew was on Troy’s face.