Dangerous: A Seaside Cove Romance (4 page)

A military woman. I am so screwed.

The night flew by faster than Claire expected. Frank was loud, funny and organized. He was exactly the type of person she liked working under. The evening went by smoother than one would imagine it would with the brewery at capacity and a new person in the kitchen.

When Rachel asked Claire if she wanted to go into the brewery and pick up some extra cash, Claire felt that bundle of nerves battling in her body. What if she did everything wrong? Then she remembered Frank.

Disheveled, and a little drunk, Frank was not having a good day when she met him a few years ago at the Veterans Affairs office. The last time she saw him, he seemed better, still not great. He stopped by for donuts one early morning at the grocery store, and told her he applied for a job at the brewery.

"Not sure if I'll get it," he said, picking the icing off of a glazed maple donut. "In fact, I'm sure I won't."

"Why?" Claire wrote the words 'Happy Birthday' in purple icing on a cake.

"You know Molly, right?" Frank asked.

Claire nodded. "She's my sister's best friend."

"You know about Jeremy? Molly's ex?" Frank asked. Claire nodded again. "That's my brother."

Claire growled. "That's not good. So why apply?"

"I need the job," Frank said, kicking the ground. "I'm thirty-two, unemployed, seeing a shrink and living with my dad. Imagine what that feels like."

She smiled now, seeing Frank working in the kitchen. A healthy glow returned to his face. The shell was gone, replaced with a vibrant and funny man.

"If I knew it was this much fun to cook with other people, I'd work in a kitchen instead of a bakery." Claire tossed a pair of what promised to be the final burgers of the night onto the grill, before giving a quick stir to a pile of sliced steaming peppers.

"Didn't you cook with other Airmen when you were in?" Frank asked.

"Not really. I mean, sometimes. I cooked alone out in a kitchen when I was stationed in North Dakota." She shuddered, remembering bitter winters.

"What the hell is in North Dakota?" Frank asked.

"A whole lot of nothing. And missiles." She glanced up at the door as it opened. A waitress. She hoped to set eyes on Eli again, but he never came in the kitchen.
Look but do not touch.
The door swung open again. Molly appeared this time, beaming.

"We did it!" Molly shouted, stepping into the room.

Jack and Eli stood in the hallway behind her, in hushed conversation. Eli's shoulders stiff, face animated, hands knotted together. He glanced into the kitchen and found Claire's face. His anger focused on her. Was he mad at her? But his gaze softened, the hard lines on his face seeming to melt. The door closed.

In an exaggerated fashion, Frank turned from Claire to the door, and he chucked Claire in the shoulder, tipping her forward. "What's going on?"

She flushed. "What?"

"Eli," Frank said.

"Nothing's going on." Claire's cheeks flushed red. "We met at school."

"Eli Dunlan does not look at women the way he looked at you," Molly said. "He totally freaked when I told him you were coming."

"I have a difficult time imagining Eli
totally freaking
."

Molly cleared her throat. "For Eli, he totally freaked. He stopped in the middle of a sentence and raised his eyebrow. I almost got the smelling salts."

Claire laughed as she scraped the grim and grease off of the large grill with a spatula. "Can you tell Rachel I'll drive her home when I'm done cleaning the grill?"

"Are you kidding? We're having our own party after that mess! Drinks and dinner on the porch as soon as the last table's empty," Molly said. She raised her voice addressing everyone in the kitchen. "Don't worry about cleaning it too much, Eli and Jack are just going to come dirty it all up again making dinner!"

Claire wanted to protest. She should go home, do homework and take a long hot shower. Tomorrow was Sunday, and her only free day. No kids, no classes, no work. She had big plans for homework, cleaning and possibly dragging the pile of cabinets from the kitchen to the yard to burn. But as the joy and camaraderie of the others in the kitchen filled the air, becoming contagious. 

On the porch with her new kitchen friends, a glass of beer, the stars. It sounded nice. She might even watch Eli from the corner of her eye. There was nothing wrong with looking. As long as Eli did not come too close because Claire smelled like cheeseburgers.

"I'm going to the bathroom, okay, Frank?" she asked, and when he nodded, she slid out into the hall.

The hallway emptied as she made her way towards the bathroom to splash water on her face and redo her braid. Claire walked around the corner and walked smack into something hard. Eli.

"I'm sorry," she said, instinctively backing up a few feet and looking at the floor. Claire was more of a klutz than she wanted to admit. Now, she was a stinky klutz. "I was just-"

He touched her chin, raising her face. "Hey, I wanted to thank you for coming in tonight. We would've been screwed if you weren't here."

She imagined his skin rough and calloused, but his fingertips were smooth. His fingers fell from her face.

Claire shrugged, growing lost in his gray eyes. Who gave him the right to have eyes like that, anyway? It should be outlawed. "I should thank you, I need the extra cash and Frank is hilarious."

"Yeah, he's a cool guy. You guys know each other, huh?"

"We've met a few times."

Eli inhaled deeply. "You're making me hungry."

"Excuse me?" Claire asked.

Eli laughed. He leaned against the wall, bending one leg and resting his foot on the wall. "You smell like cheeseburgers."

"Oh, you mean literally not..." Claire bit her tongue. "I need a shower; I reek."

"I love cheeseburgers," Eli said, untucking his shirt and revealing just an inch of skin. Enough to allow Claire to see the sculpture that had taken up residence on his stomach. "I have not eaten in hours, my stomach's gonna cave in, I swear."

Claire forced a laugh.

"Are you staying for drinks?" he asked. Mouth frozen, Claire nodded. "Good, I'm making everyone dinner. I'll see you outside."

Eli pushed off the wall and stepped around her. He walked away, without so much as a glance back. Did he realize the effect his attention had on her? Or, did he always act like that?

Almost a half an hour later, Claire sat outside under the patio heater, her boots off and her feet tucked between her bottom and the chase lounge. Not enough patio furniture for all the employees, but somehow Claire managed to get a chair all to herself. Rachel sat on a white wicker loveseat next to her, chatting with Molly. Claire's mind drifted.

Stars shimmered throughout the sky, reminding her of the day Ella spilled an entire container of glitter in the driveway. The driveway twinkled for months. 

The memory brought a smile to her lips, and she took a sip of the beer deposited in her hand by Rachel a few moments earlier.

"What's with the smile?" Rachel asked.

"I know! I know!" Molly said, shooting her hand in the air. "It's Eli, isn't it?"

"What? Um, no. I was thinking about my kids," Claire said.

"Yeah, I already told her no about Eli. I set her up with a hot lawyer," Rachel said.

"What do you mean 'no' about Eli? There was an
about Eli
?" Molly asked, scooting to the edge of her chair to see Rachel and Claire better. 

"No, there was not an about Eli." Claire groaned.

"Damn, I've been trying to get Rachel to help set you two up for ages," Molly said, glaring at Rachel.

What?
Claire stared at her sister in shock.

"No way, he's not her type," Rachel said, shaking her head. Her blond hair pulled back into a high and tight ponytail, and when she shook her head she looked like
I Dream of Jeannie.

Yeah. Tall, muscles for days, tattoos, dark hair and eyes. Whose type is that?

"That's too bad." Molly leaned back. "He's a great guy. And a really good kisser from what I remember."

"What?" Claire asked. Molly laughed.

"We dated, like six years ago, but only for a few months." Molly sipped from her water bottle.

"I forgot about that!" Rachel said, smacking Molly's leg. "I told her, he's eye candy, but anything else is just asking for trouble."

"Are you serious?" Molly said, choking on her water. "What makes you say that? Eli's a good catch."

Rachel looked around and lowered her voice. "I mean, about the drugs, and the fighting."

"Come on, Rachel. All guys fight when they're young and dumb," Molly said. "And don't listen to anyone about that drug stuff. All lies."

Rachel snorted. "Anyway, I set Claire up with a great guy who's running for mayor. Can you imagine? Claire in the mayor's mansion?"

"The mayor doesn't have a mansion, you're thinking of the Governor's mansion," Claire said, playing with the hem of her jeans. "I agreed to go on one date with him, not move into his house. Slow down, Rachel."

"I wish you'd think about Eli," Molly said, pouting. "You guys are perfect for each other."

Eli stepped out of the dining room carrying a tray of red baskets filled with burgers and fries. He set them down at the large table. Claire's stomach growled. Which was more enticing? The food or the man?

Eli placed his hands around his mouth, projecting his voice. "Dinner's up!"

Jack stood by Eli. "Thank you all for your hard work tonight. We may have gotten the word out about the excellent service and food here at the Bluffs. You guys did that."

Jack spoke for another minute and Eli passed out baskets of food.  He scanned everyone's faces, seeming to look for someone, and Claire wondered if it was the cute waitress who had taken off just a few minutes before. She had looked like a little blond bombshell. A bit like Bridget. Eli's type.

But then Eli spotted Claire and smiled, grabbing a few more red baskets he walked over to the three of them.

"Thank you," Claire said as she took a basket. Moments earlier, she was sure she had seen enough cheeseburgers to a last a lifetime, but the cheeseburger in her lap was the most intoxicating thing she had ever smelled.

"Mind if I sit here?" Eli patted the bottom half of Claire's lounge chair, and she nodded.

She ignored Molly's wiggling eyebrows, but vowed to ask her later how she made them wiggle so effortlessly. Claire returned Rachel's glare, taking a bite of her food.

"Oh my God," she mumbled when she finally swallowed, "this is amazing."

"Yeah, it's the blue cheese and avocado sauce I make for the top. Pulls it altogether," Eli said, winking at her.

"Really?" Claire asked.

"No, not really," Eli teased. She studied the little laugh lines around his eyes. "It's Jack's sister's secret sauce. I've got no idea what she puts in it. But it tastes like avocado. Something green anyway."

Claire giggled, jumping as Rachel tossed a French fry at her head. She wiped the ketchup from her forehead. "Well, it's amazing. You guys should sell this by the bottle. I'd buy some."

Molly pulled Rachel into a conversation about a new craft supplier for their store and they ate in silence. From time to time, Claire glanced up at Eli, sometimes finding him looking at her.

He never turned away when she caught him. There was something ancient inside of her, fighting against her sanity. That ancient thing wanted her to grab Eli by the collar and-

"Biology?" Eli said, and Claire dropped a fry.

"Biology?" 

"Are you ready for Biology? Monday night," Eli said. "That school thing we're doing."

"Oh yeah. Biology," Claire said. "No. Not at all. I read we have to dissect a fetal pig, and I'm telling you right now I'm going to pay someone to chop mine to bits."

"You'll be fine; I'll help you," Eli said, flicking her knee. She remembered his touch on her knee in art class. She willed herself to keep it together.

Her knees and her sanity.

"No, not
help
. I need someone else to do the whole thing, start to finish. I can't do it." Claire pulled her hair out of her braid and massaged the top of her head. She worried about the dissection since the day she read about the requirement. "I didn't think they did that anymore."

"I can't make any promises, but I'll see what I can do," Eli said, an easy smile settling over his face. "That means you'll have to save me a seat Monday night if you get there first; I'll do the same for you."

Claire picked at the leftover piece of her bun. "That was the best burger, ever."

Eli reached for her basket. "I'm gonna grab a beer. Do you want one?"

"I'm okay. Thanks," Claire said. Eli got up and walked to the cooler. Disappointment seeped into her when Frank and a couple waitresses started talking to Eli. He settled into the conversation, leaning against the wall.