Chapter Twenty-Six

AS LONG AS RACHEL didn’t think about what was at stake, she was fine. She had plenty to keep her busy. The entirely new menu needed to be tested and tweaked and tested again. Lists were made, orders for specific ingredients placed. Everything she needed to pull off the most important meal of her life, listed in precise, minute-by-minute detail.

And yet if she wasn’t careful, she found herself daydreaming about Alex when she should be concentrating on her work. It didn’t help that he’d been peppering her with flirty texts since Saturday afternoon, making her feel like a giddy teenager.

She was in the middle of cleaning a tray full of fresh trout when a message popped up on her lock screen.

What are you wearing right now? Please tell me it’s those sexy kitchen clogs . . .

Rachel snorted a laugh. She cleaned her hands so she could pick up her phone, angled the camera so he could see not only her messy-haired, aproned self, but the fish guts in all their slimy glory. She sent it back with the message: Living the life. How about you?

A couple minutes later, his response came: Questioning my choice of careers. She tapped the attached photo to enlarge it and laughed so loud she was glad she was alone. Alex was sitting at his laptop in a T-shirt and sweatpants, his hair sticking up in all directions like he’d just rolled out of bed, wearing a hangdog grimace as he pointed to his laptop screen.

Without considering her response, she tapped out: Not fair. Even with bed head you are about the hottest guy on the planet.

And then the message sat there. Dread crept into her. That had been a stupid thing to say, hadn’t it? She was terrible at dating, this flirty text thing. What did she know about men? She could be one of the guys at work, sure, but dating? She was a total —

His message came through. Liar. But you just wrecked my concentration. Now all I can think about is how much I’d rather be with you. Sure I can’t see you before Friday?

Rachel sucked in a breath, her chest tightening and her heart lodging in her throat. It had gone from flirty to serious in one text message. Was it possible he felt the same way about her that she did about him?

She stared at the screen until the backlight shut off. She should respond. But what did a girl say to that? She finally managed an answer: No, but it will be worth the wait.

It always is.

She flushed. I meant the food.

I didn’t.

Rachel let herself smile at the exchange for a minute, then put her phone aside and went back to the decidedly unglamorous fish-cleaning job. Now she wished Alex were here with her, even if it were to simply lean against the counter beside her and ask questions. Her heart squeezed in her chest so hard it made her momentarily breathless.

How had he so rapidly become such a big part of her life? How had she gone from a woman perfectly content with her career and her own company to one who felt Alex’s absence like physical pain? It was as if acknowledging to her friends that she’d fallen for him had flipped a switch, no matter how hard she tried to maintain some emotional distance.

The week couldn’t pass quickly enough.

*   *   *

When Alex knocked at Rachel’s door at ten after three on Friday afternoon, she was ready. She had blown out her hair and put on a smidge of makeup. Melody’s flares had made a reappearance with a drapey T-shirt she’d picked up on a whim last night. For a long moment, she doubted her choices, hand on the knob. Was she trying too hard? After all, this wasn’t a date.

The concerns flew from her mind when she opened the door and saw Alex standing there, hands in the pockets of his jeans, a faded T-shirt straining across the muscles in his chest and shoulders. His hair still looked wet from the shower, a guess confirmed by the fresh waft of his soap.

Her insides gave a twist at being in his presence again. And from the way he was looking at her now, she didn’t regret the extra effort a single bit.

“Sorry I’m late. I got caught up at the gym.”

Time well spent, she thought. She stepped aside for him. “It’s fine. I had things to finish up anyway.”

He stepped over the threshold and closed the door behind him. “You look pretty.”

“Just pretty?” she teased. “You’re a writer and that’s the best you can come up with?”

“You’re right. Especially after you called me the hottest guy on the planet this week.” He crossed his arms over his chest, giving her a front-row view of impressively muscled forearms and proving that assertion completely plausible. “You are ‘a thing divine, for nothing natural I ever saw so noble.’”

Rachel’s lips quivered. “You cheated. That’s Shakespeare.”

“You recognized it! I’m impressed!”

“I saw The Tempest at Shakespeare in the Park years ago, and that line stuck with me.”

“You’ll have to forgive my stealing, because when I’m around you, I’m stunned speechless.”

Rachel’s smile broke free. “Okay, that was pretty good. That earns you a kiss.”

Alex didn’t say anything. Instead he pulled her gently toward him, one hand at the small of her back, the other sliding up to tangle in her hair. She forgot everything else the minute his lips were on hers, gentle and sure, the hard beat of her own heart an ancient pulse that made her fears feel distant, irrelevant. This was dangerous —the way he made her feel, his ability to make her forget everything but him. She knew it and yet didn’t have it in her to stop.

Somewhere in her house, the antique clock chimed the quarter hour, reminding her of the day’s agenda. She pulled away enough to talk. “We need to get Dina.”

“Dina can wait.” Alex dipped his head to kiss her again.

She ducked out of his embrace, feeling a little shaky. “No, she can’t. Did you tell her I was coming?”

“She threatened to disown me if I didn’t bring you. I’m beginning to think she’s doing a little matchmaking.” He opened the door for her as she grabbed her purse, then waited while she locked up behind them. “Actually, I was hoping you might be able to help me.”

“How so?”

Alex walked her to the car and held the passenger door open. Only when he was seated in the driver’s side did he finally answer. “I’ve been worried about Dina, and she’s dodging my questions. I was hoping that since she admires you, you might be able to get more out of her than I can.”

“What’s going on, exactly? She seemed perfectly fine when I met her, but of course I don’t have a frame of reference.”

“I don’t know. She hasn’t seemed happy lately, but she denies that anything is wrong. I think the whole acting thing is taking a toll on her.”

“Acting is a rough gig. Everyone goes through moments of doubting their calling. Look at me.”

“Which is exactly why I thought you might get through to her. If anyone understands what it’s like to fight for your dream, it’s you.”

The raw admiration in his voice took her off guard. “I’m just doing what I know how to do, Alex. I’m no hero.”

“Tell that to my sister. I think she’s got herself a bit of a girl crush.”

“She does, huh? And what about you?”

He shot her a wicked smile. “I have an entirely different sort of crush.”

Rachel fought a smile as she sat back and watched the city slide by her window. Fortunately, they had gotten a jump on the afternoon traffic, so the route to the eastern edge of the city was clear and fast. They were pulling into the airport return loop when his cell phone beeped. Alex handed it to Rachel. “Can you see if that’s her?”

Hesitantly, she took the phone. He wanted her to check his messages? That was a very committed-relationship thing to do. A guy didn’t hand over his phone unless he had absolutely nothing to hide.

She swiped the lock screen. It was indeed Dina. “She’s already here. Waiting for us outside door 509.”

“Great timing.” Alex switched lanes to go to the arrivals level and fell into the slow-moving queue, while Rachel kept an eye out for his sister.

“There she is!”

Alex whipped into a spot at the curb being vacated by a badly parked taxi a few feet away from a sweatshirt-clad girl with a bright-pink owl suitcase.

Rachel immediately opened the passenger door, intending to get into the backseat, but Alex shook his head at her and popped the trunk. This was apparently a well-rehearsed procedure. Dina threw the roller bag in the open hatch, slammed the door, then slid into the backseat.

“Hey, Bro.” She winked at Alex before turning her attention to Rachel. “I was hoping you might come along.”

“Thanks for the invitation,” Rachel said immediately. “I never turn down a trip to the food truck pod.”

Dina put on her seat belt, the signal for Alex to pull back out into the lane. “You’re better company than my brother, for sure.”

“Hey,” Alex said.

“Sorry.” Dina smirked at him and went back to Rachel. “So you ready for tomorrow? Alex tells me that Mr. Shaw is going to be there.”

“You know him?”

“Sure. Alex practically lived over at their house when he was a kid. Well, he actually lived there his senior year of high school. So they’re somewhere between friends of the family and second family.” Dina lowered her voice to a mock whisper. “I had a mad crush on Bryan when I was in high school. I know, how cliché of me, right?”

Rachel threw an amused glance at Alex before twisting around to face Dina. “I really appreciate you coming back to help out. You did such an amazing job last time, putting everyone at ease. Though I’m sorry to pull you away from your regular job. I imagine as good a server as you are, you probably live off your weekend tips.”

Might as well get started on the info-gathering mission.

Dina stared out the window. “I quit.”

Alex glanced in the rearview mirror, his sudden tension evident in his posture. “What happened? Everything was going so well.”

“It’s okay. It was time to move on anyway.” Once more, Dina’s expression shuttered. Maybe Alex was right. There was definitely more to this than just losing her job.