Making You Mine (16 page)

Oscar turned to face her. She glanced out the door to make sure Sal wasn’t there yet. “He really said I was off limits? Those exact words.”

Oscar seemed a little uncomfortable. “I don’t remember the exact words but he warned me to not even think about trying to you know… get with you or anything. Said you were an employee, but I got what he meant loud and clear.”

Grace took in the new information. That made more sense now. Though she didn’t think he was so bad, Alex and Sofia said he was anal about everything. Maybe employee relationships were frowned upon. Sure, she’d begun to get a vibe from him but for someone who hadn’t made any kind of move, he sure would be taking an awful lot for granted to just blatantly tell another guy she was off limits for any other reason. But then why wouldn’t he take it for granted? Look at him and look at her. She frowned.

She saw Oscar made a face. “Why? Does that make you mad?”

“No. I’m just surprised.” She supposed if it were really what Oscar was thinking it
should
make her a little mad. Maybe if she wasn’t busy trying to keep from reading too much into it, it would. “Thanks, Oscar. Please don’t tell him I asked you.”

Oscar laughed. “Don’t worry. No way am I bringing that subject up again.”

She still had a few minutes before her shift started. Grabbing her phone, she went outside. She needed to talk this out with someone. Joey was out of class now. Before she could even dial, her phone rang—her mom.

Irritated that she’d probably take up the few minutes left before she started work she answered. “Hello?”

“Hi,
mija
.”

Her mother only called her that when she wanted something. “Yes?”

“Frank is in town. He wants to get together tonight. Nothing fancy like last time. He said just a stroll on the pier and maybe a few drinks at Finny’s.”

“It’s only until Ruben gets the job.” She heard her mom huff. “Fine, I’ll think of somewhere else. But it’ll be casual so don’t worry about changing when you get home.”

Great, she didn’t have a ride again. Unless Sal insisted on taking her home she probably wouldn’t even be there until almost ten. And she had that final tomorrow morning.

She stalked back into the restaurant already annoyed. Working fast to pull her apron on she rushed into the restaurant. She was shocked at what she felt when she saw Sal near the bar with that same girl he’d been talking to in the parking lot weeks ago. The girl was blonde and wore a pantsuit—the same kind she’d worn the last time only this one was black and hugged her body perfectly.

She was already tall and she wore ridiculously high heels. But most pointedly she was completely flirting with him and he seemed to be enjoying it. She kept touching his arm when she spoke. It killed Grace to admit it but they looked perfect together. She’d seen pictures of Valerie in the back room. She was blonde, too. Maybe Sal was partial to blondes also. God, what was she thinking? Of course, this would be his type—beautiful and sophisticated. She felt so stupid now. She gulped hard, trying to hold it together but the truth was she felt ready to fall apart.

He leaned against one of the bar stools and glanced at Grace as she approached. “I didn’t know they were floor tickets—my friend is gonna go wild. He’s already excited about just going.”

“Oh, it’s going to be awesome. Then after we’re all headed to Brewster’s in Oceanside to crack open some crab legs. Some of the players will be there as well. You have to go, Sal. The whole place is reserved just for our group. It’ll be so much fun. Your friend is welcome to come, too.”

Feeling like a complete idiot for even allowing herself to consider the possibility of her and Sal, she rushed to the ladies’ room before she lost it right there in front of them.

Relieved that Grace had stepped away, Sal was still pissed at the fact that she overheard his conversation with Melissa. He wasn’t sure what was going on with her and whoever she was talking to, but he didn’t like the idea of her thinking
he
was off the market. He already felt her apprehension about opening up last night when she told him about her dad. The last thing he needed was to put up another wall. Melissa could be that very wall, especially if her crap started up again. Why the hell had he listened to Romero?

When Melissa finally left, he walked around casually, looking for Grace but she had completely disappeared. She was back at the bar when he emerged from the back room after an hour long conference call. Feeling like a giddy high school kid, he walked up to the bar. “So you have a ride tonight?”

“Don’t argue, Gracie. You’re not taking the bus. I’m taking you home.” He walked away before she could protest.

He had to make a move soon. He could hardly look at her anymore without staring at her lips and thinking about how much he wanted to kiss them… taste her.

Julie informed him they were solidly booked for the night with reservations. He really needed to step up the hiring. He thought he’d gotten better at not being such a hard ass, as Alex put it.

He walked back to the bar. They were fully covered but the kitchen was lacking. He watched Grace as she so effortlessly made her drinks. “How do you feel about working the kitchen tonight?”

She looked up at him her eyes suddenly huge. “Really?”

Jesus, what her bright eyes did to him. “Yeah, really. C’mon.” He motioned with his head.

She followed him to the back room. “Just put on a coat. We’re getting busy and I need someone that knows what they’re doing back there.”

She put the coat on and walked right up to him. “Thank you. I won’t disappoint you. I promise.”

Sal had to refrain from saying what he really wanted to—that at this point, there probably wasn’t a thing she could do to disappoint him. “I know you won’t. Your skill, but most importantly, your ease in the kitchen is truly impressive. Get in there and kill it.”

He couldn’t have paid enough for the smile she indulged him with. “That means so much to me. You have no idea.”

She
had no idea what she was doing to him. For the next hour she worked the kitchen as naturally as she had worked the bar all night. He watched feeling a little irritated at how much the other cooks seemed to embrace her so quickly. The rapport she built with them, especially speaking Spanish, was almost immediate.

A half-hour before closing they had no more customers. It was winding down and Sal was looking forward to his time alone with Gracie when he drove her home. He walked out into the main dining room and saw her on her phone. He went back to the kitchen to make sure it was ready for closing. The busboys had their music on and it was loud in there. “Almost done, Julio?”

Since she was obviously not going to offer more information, he shut down the computer and headed out front to make sure everything was wrapped up. He walked to the front to lock the front door and saw a Cadillac parked right out front and a man leaning against it, holding a bouquet of roses.

Sal took a deep breath, feeling his heartbeat speed up. This couldn’t be her ride. The guy was too old. Feeling a weird unease come over him, Sal looked around to see who else was still in the restaurant. He knew Melanie’s fiancé and it wasn’t this guy. Grace rushed to the door. “Is it locked?”

Unable to take his eyes off her, he watched as she walked right into the guy’s arms, giving him a quick hug, then taking the roses with a smile. He gulped hard, trying to understand how someone he’d only begun to get to know could affect him so profoundly.

~*~

Mortification and anger were the two emotions Grace felt as she sat in the front seat of Frank’s car. She was going to kill her mother. She’d told her over the phone they would all be stopping by to pick her up, not Frank by himself—with roses. And did he really have to be standing
right
in front of the restaurant?

This was the last thing she needed to deal with after the day she’d had. Seeing Sal with that girl and listening to their banter while the reality of her delusional mentality sunk in had been far more emotional than she would have ever imagined. The day she got choked up when she told Joey about the feelings she was developing for Sal had been surprise enough. But breaking down and crying in the restroom for as long as she did today, was utterly ridiculous. How was she going to continue working there? Inevitably, she was going to keep seeing him with women, probably hear about them, too. Was she going to turn into a blubbering mess every time?

Grace hardly heard anything of what Frank was saying as they drove back to her place to pick up her mom and Ruben. Something about his hotel and the restaurant coming along and how he was looking for more cooks. Grace did a lot of nodding. This was the
last
time she’d agree to going out with Ruben. The flowers obviously meant he thought more of these little get-togethers than she wanted him to.

She knew it was rude to text while he was talking to her but she didn’t care.

FYI I’m not staying out late tonight. I have a test tomorrow morning and I’m already tired so I need to be home early
.

She sent that one off to her mom then send another to Joey.

I really need to talk to you but I can’t now. Will you be up a little later.

She glanced at Frank who was still talking about the restaurant and smiled.

“I was telling your mom, you guys should come out and visit soon—maybe this summer. It’s not a big fancy hotel but it does have a nice size pool and I’m working on getting a lounge act on the weekends.”

“Sounds nice.”

No way in hell.
But if he’d already told her mom she had a feeling her mom would be pitching the idea to her anyway. Grace was ending this tonight. She drew the line at Frank already acting like he was a suitor. She glanced down at Joey’s response to her text.

Sure hon. Call me as late as you want. =)

They picked up her mom and step-dad and Grace went through the motions of the evening. After the walk on the pier that her mother did nothing to change like she’d said she would earlier, they had a few drinks and Grace made her move.

“I really have to get home now.” She turned to her mom who was already getting ready to protest. “I have that test in the morning, mom. I
have
to be in bed early.” She turned back to Frank. “And I’m very tired. I had a long day.”

“Certainly,” Frank said, finishing up his drink.

Grace didn’t care. Her mom could glare at her all she wanted. When they got in the car she texted her mom from the front seat.

I’m not doing this again. EVER so don’t set any of this stuff up again or Frank is getting stood up.

Her mom texted her right back.

We’ll talk later. Stop texting while he talks it’s rude.

As soon as they were home she said good night and went straight to her room. Her sister was already asleep, and that girl could sleep though a hurricane, so Grace didn’t feel bad about talking on the phone. She sat on the floor and called Joey. She grabbed a box of tissue because she could already feel it coming.