Chapter Eleven
Reena walked into the kitchen with a full tray in her hands and kept her head down. She didn’t want to make eye contact with anyone. She was positive they’d be able to tell what she’d spent the last two days doing with Rush. A fresh wave of heat crashed over her. Skin tingling, muscles clenching, and a throb hard and insistent between her legs.
Stumbling forward, the tray in her hand tilted, plates and glasses sliding—
“Wow. Easy there.”
She looked up to find Mrs. Wallace steadying her and the tray. “Sorry. Must have slipped,” Reena muttered, doing her best to avoid meeting her boss’s eyes.
“Oh, yes. I’m sure that’s it. There’s no way it has anything to do with the young man at the corner table who can’t keep his eyes off you.” Mrs. Wallace winked at her when Reena glanced up. “He’s a fine one. Pop likes him.”
“Ah, yes. Um…”
“Look at you, all stammering and turning a pretty shade of pink. Reena, I’m so happy for you.”
Before Reena could process Mrs. Wallace’s words, the tray was taken out of her hands and she was engulfed in a warm hug.
They rocked back and forth for a minute before Mrs. Wallace gripped her arms and held her away, the older woman’s gaze catching Reena’s in a steely grip. “I’m giving you the rest of the day off. Go have lunch with your new man. I’ve got Yvonne making you both today’s special.”
“But—”
A hand covered her mouth. “Not a word. Go.”
Reena found herself turned around and pushed out of the kitchen.
Protesting always seemed impossible with a Collins. Caitlyn’s mom might have changed her name when she married but there was no mistaking the Collins stubbornness. Reena thought it had to be the first thing stamped into their DNA. It boggled the mind to think anything got done around here with so many stubborn people working together.
Then again, when all that determination got aimed at the same goal, they were a force of nature. Good thing they didn’t have designs on world domination.
Peeking over her shoulder, Reena found Mrs. Wallace, arms crossed, one brow arched, staring at her. Okay, she really wasn’t going to convince the woman she didn’t need to finish work early. With a sigh, she turned down the hall that led to the small room the staff used to store their things.
She pushed open the door and almost smacked Slade, one of the barmen, in the head with it. Jumping back—and unintentionally taking a second shot at his head—she gasped, “Oh, sorry.”
“No problem.” He straightened from tying his shoe. Grinned at her. “You missed.”
Reena smiled. She didn’t know Slade all that well but what she did know, she liked. He was friendly and funny and the customers loved him. “Even if I was aiming at you, I’d have missed. I’m not very athletic.”
Slade chuckled. “Don’t think you need to be if you want to bean someone with a door.”
Laughing, Reena stepped into the room. “True, true.” She pulled off her apron.
“You done already?”
“Yeah. Mrs. Wallace gave me the rest of the day off.”
“Lucky you.”
“I’m not sure about that.” Reena frowned. She’d been all but ordered to eat lunch at Sunday’s with Rush. No doubt they’d have lots of eyes on them.
“Make the most of your time off. I’ll see you later. I need to get behind the bar before Tris comes looking for me. I’d be getting the boot, not the afternoon off.” Slade waved before he disappeared out the door.
Reena grabbed her bag and checked her phone. There were several missed messages. All from Rush. She smiled as she opened them up. He’d sent a ton of emojis. Kisses, hearts, flowers, a moon and stars and sun, and something that looked like… “Oh my god!”
He’d sent her a penis. Thank god it wasn’t a picture of his actual penis.
Laughing, she switched her phone off, dropped it in her bag and headed out of the staffroom. The man was incorrigible. He knew how to make her laugh, how to help her relax and enjoy herself in a world she hadn’t felt a part of for so long. He made her happy.
And he was going home in three days.
Her mood shifted. It was so easy to forget he didn’t live in Baltimore. Being with him, having him in her house, she’d gotten a false sense of comfort. He wasn’t hers to keep. He wouldn’t stay. He had a life and a job and it was hundreds of miles away from her.
“Hey. You all right?” Rush placed his hands on her shoulders, scrutinized her intently with concerned blue eyes.
Forcing a smile, she said, “Oh, yes. I’ve got the rest of the day off.”
“That’s good but why the frown?”
“Nothing.” She tried to move around him except he proved to be as stubborn as a Collins.
“Nope. Not buying it.” He tipped her face up with a finger under her chin. “Talk to me. Don’t keep whatever it is running around inside that overanalyzing head of yours to yourself.”
Reena sighed. “It’s Wednesday.”
“And?”
“We’ve only got three days left, and I have to work all but one of them and that’s the day you leave, so it doesn’t count.” She loved her job, except right now she hated it. Hated that it kept her from Rush.
He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. “I’m not disappearing from your life when I go home. We’ll still see each other.”
“How?”
Rush shrugged. “I don’t know yet but I promise we’ll work it out.”
“Hey you two. I think these are yours.”
Reena turned to see Felicity beside them, a plate of the day’s special in each hand. Felicity’s rolled ankle had turned out to be minor and she was already back at work.
“Oh. Right. I forgot. Lunch.” She smiled at Rush. “Hope you’re hungry.”
“Always hungry for food when it comes out of Sunday’s kitchen.” He ushered her the few feet to their table and pulled out her chair. “What are we having? It smells delicious.”
“Corned beef and cabbage. It’s a Collins family favorite,” Reena explained as Rush took the seat beside her and Felicity placed their meals in front of them.
They dug in and Reena thought she’d escaped the conversation she didn’t want to have. Except Rush hadn’t forgotten, and the minute he’d swallowed the last mouthful, he reached for her hand and wove their fingers together.
“We’re not a holiday fling. I know it might seem that way, with how we met and now I’m here for only a week, but I promise you we’re more than that.”
“How can you be sure?” Reena wanted to believe him. She hadn’t wished for something this much since those horrible days and months after her parents had died.
“Because spending time with you is worth any separation or distance traveled.” He leaned in closer. “I’ll work my schedule so I have four days off every second week instead of two a week. I’ll drive down or fly. Whatever is faster.”
“That sounds like a lot of effort for only a couple of days.”
“I’d do it for a couple of minutes.” He gripped the back of her head and pressed his brow to hers. “You’re worth it Reena. What we have is worth it. I can’t go back without knowing you want this as much as I do. I need you with me on this.”
She swallowed. Her throat tight with fear and hope and desperation so thick, she could taste it.
***
Rush waited for Reena’s reply. The seconds she took searching his eyes tightened his chest and constricted his throat. He had no idea what he’d do if she didn’t agree to continue seeing him. If she decided it was too much trouble…
He’d quit his job and move here. Money wasn’t an issue. Time was.
Except it would all be pointless if she didn’t want to be with him. His insides coiled, spiraled tighter and tighter until he couldn’t suck in a deep enough breath.
She’d taken too long. He couldn’t stand another minute of silence. “Don’t answer now. We’ve got three days.”
He closed his eyes and pressed his mouth to hers to stop any reply she might make.
He’d convince her. He would. He had to. He couldn’t accept anything less.
She cupped his cheek and spoke against his lips. “I don’t want this to end but I don’t see how we can make it work. We live in different places.”
Rush pressed his mouth to hers harder. He didn’t want to hear any of that. Not now. Right now, he wanted to spend time with Reena. Jerking away, he held her gaze with his. “Let’s not worry about it now. We’ve got the afternoon free and there’s still places I haven’t seen that you promised to take me.”
Pulling some cash from his wallet, he left more than enough to cover their meals and a decent tip, and got to his feet, tugging Reena up with him.
“Come on. I want to visit the Natty Boh shop.”
“Really? It’s kind of a joke around here,” Reena said as she trailed behind him out of Sunday’s.
“I know. Which is why I want to go there.” He grinned over his shoulder. “What do you think Mr. Collins would say if I turned up tomorrow wearing a Natty Boh shirt?”
Reena laughed, as he’d hoped she would. “He’d probably break a pint of Guinness over your head. No. Wait. He’d never waste a real beer like that.”
As they stepped out onto the street, he slipped his arm around her shoulders and tucked her against his side. She was smiling again and the creases in her forehead had vanished. He’d take that. For now. He’d worry about leaving when the time came.
Between now and Saturday morning, Rush planned to spend every second of his time in Baltimore within seeing distance of this woman. He’d do everything in his power to prove to her what they had was worth fighting for.