Maya And The Tough Guy (30 page)

His hands itched to touch her. At the moment, he wanted to trace her sweet, down-turned lips with his tongue. But he didn’t. “It was just…misguided kindness.”

Maya gave him a tight smile. “Um, okay, then, if you’re doing better, I’ll go.”

“I’m taking Tom out for breakfast,” he said. “You wanna come?” He didn’t expect her to say yes, but she did.

They dressed, went to Belle’s, and took a booth, Tom and Jayce on one side, Maya on the other. When Lacey came to take their orders, Jayce smiled up at her. “Saw the help wanted sign in the window,” he said.
 

She patted her round belly. “That’s because of me. I’m not planning on coming back, so Belle needs a new full-time waitress.”

Jayce frowned in thought. Once Lacey poured their coffee and wrote down their orders, she left, and Jayce looked at Maya. “Daytime work. What do you think?”

More of that strange expression. “You firing me, Jayce?”

He didn’t feel like dignifying that question with a response. She knew him, knew he’d never fire her, never push her away. So he arched a brow and waited.

She sighed and lowered her voice. “I applied here before. Belle thinks I’m white trash, okay? She just sneered down her nose at me through the interview.”

Jayce knew Belle and, unfortunately, knew that she was capable of being a snob sometimes. “Would you like this job? I mean, you can still work for me, but a job like this, you’d get to see more of your kids.”

“Well, yeah, that would be ideal, but—“

“Hey, Lacey,” he called. Lacey was two tables over. She looked up at him. “Is Belle in?”

“Yeah, she’s back in the office.”

“Next time you go back, send her out, will ya?”

“Sure.”

Jayce leaned back and sipped his coffee.

“You’re gonna get me a job?” Maya asked.

He smiled.
 

Belle, a large woman in her late fifties, made her way through the room. She stopped at a table to shake someone’s hand. Her boisterous laugh carried over the noise in the room. At last she pulled up a chair and sat at the end of the table. “Hey, Jayce,” she said. “I hear you threw some party last night.”

“Maya did,” he said, nodding toward Maya.
 

Belle looked Maya up and down, clearly ready to dismiss her. “What can I do for you, honey?” Belle said to Jayce.

“You can take that ‘now hiring’ sign down. Got you a new waitress right here.”

“You think so, huh? I’m looking for full-time. And I like to think there’s some potential for long-term.”

“What are the hours?”
 

“Seven to three.”

Jayce looked at Maya, his eyebrows raised. She was beaming at him, her eyes filled with tears. “Um, that would actually work out really well,” she said, schooling her emotions and turning to Belle. “Because I work nights for Jayce, so—“

“Yeah, and if you need to cut back to part time, that’s fine, too,” he said. “This would be a way better job for you. You could be home with your kids in the evenings.”

A couple of tears spilled over. “Yeah. But I make really great tips at your place.”

“I’ll give you any nights you want.” He turned back to Belle. “What do you think? I’ll give her a glowing recommendation. She learns fast, works hard, and has the prettiest face in town. How about it?”

Belle laughed. “Saves me the trouble of going through the interview process. You want the job, honey?”

“Yes,” Maya said. “I would really appreciate it.”

“All right. Show up, Monday, and I’ll have Lacey train you. She’s the one leaving, soon. Says she’s gonna stay home with her baby. More power to her.”

Maya shook Belle’s hand and when she left, turned her grateful eyes back to Jayce. He waited for her to say something, but she didn’t. Just looked at him in a way that he didn’t understand.

“Wow, you’re employed again,” he said.

“Jayce, I applied here over a month ago. She wouldn’t hire me. Said she was looking for someone with experience while her eyes said she didn’t want to hire white trash.”

“I guess she’s seen the light.”

“You got me a job. And I can be with my kids in the evenings.”

He nodded. “It’s a good thing.”

“A very good thing.” She was still looking at him and he couldn’t hold her gaze any longer. He opened his menu even though he already knew what he was getting. “You know, if you like it,” he said, “you don’t have to come back to work for me. Or you could come back part time. Maybe just the weekends.” He shrugged.
 

When she didn’t answer, Jayce looked up. Maya was staring at him and chewing her bottom lip. Usually, this was a nervous gesture, but today she didn’t look nervous. “You okay?” Jayce asked.

“Yeah,” she said, with an airy quality to her breath. “Never better.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

The next week, Maya made her court date. Damon was ushered in and seated, in handcuffs, on the opposite side of the courtroom. He didn’t contest the divorce or custody and Maya walked out of the court room a free woman. She spent the rest of the day thanking God that Damon hadn’t caused her any problems.

She fell into her new job schedule with the greatest of ease. It was perfect. Zoey was around in the mornings long enough to get the kids on the bus. And Maya was able to pick them up from school on her way home.
 

Time with them had been the greatest loss, but when she’d left Damon, she’d been prepared for much worse. The only downside to the diner job was the pay. She could supplement it by working a couple of nights a week and on the weekends, for Jayce, and that should be enough to start paying Zoey rent.

The worst thing about not working for Jayce full time was not seeing Jayce as often. He still came by a couple days a week to take Mattie to boxing practice. On those days, he would stay for dinner and play a game with Sophie so she didn’t feel left out.
 

Now, a couple of weeks after their big party, she realized she wanted to follow Zoey’s advice. It was okay to fall in love. In fact, it had already happened. She hadn’t fallen, even. She’d been wrapped up into a pair of strong arms and gently lowered into it so that she’d barely recognized it happening.
 

Early in March, one Saturday morning, she found Jayce in his bar, behind the counter. He was making a list of all the liquor he needed to restock. He turned when she walked in. The door was open, letting in some seventy degree air. “Hey, babe,” he said, and went back to writing out his list.

She perched on a bar stool. “Wanna come over for breakfast?” she asked.

“Hmm. Which one of you’s cooking?”

“Kellen.”

“Then, yes.” He glanced up and grinned. No one was a fan of Zoey’s breakfast attempts.

Maya got up and moved around the counter. She sidled up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist.
 

He jolted, backed away, and gaped at her. “What’re you doing?”

She grinned. “I’ve made up my mind about something.” She dropped her gaze to the buckle of his belt, licked her lips, and looked back into his eyes again.

“Oh yeah?” he asked, his lips curving up. “What’d you decide?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

He nodded, apparently not the least bit curious, and went back to making his list. “Hey, I’m glad you came by. A couple women came by yesterday, saying how much fun they had at Ladies Night and they wanted to know if they could have a bachelorette party here. So I thought, if you wanted to do something like that, we could use that side room, there, and just set up tables and chairs. It’s already got the stage for if they wanted to hire strippers or whatever—I got no idea what chicks do at bachelorette parties. But anyway, I told them I’d get with you on it.” He lifted his eyes to hers, awaiting a response.

“It’s your bar, Jayce. If you want to rent it out as a party venue, I think that’s great.”

“No, that’s not what they meant. They want you to plan the party for them. I don’t think they care if it’s here or not. I mean, we could set up a bar anywhere, but I just thought that room over there would be a good option to offer. What do you think?”

“They want me to plan their party?”

“Yeah. Don’t act so surprised. Are you interested or not?”

“Oh, God, I’m definitely interested. I’m just, well, surprised, like you said. But yeah, that would be amazing.”

Jayce reached in his pocket for a scrap of paper and handed it to her. “That’s their names and a number to reach them. And hey, if you get a chance to find out if the blond is single, I’d really appreciate it.”

Maya felt a stab of pain she was sure showed on her face, but Jayce wouldn’t have seen it; he was already refocused on his list. “Moving on, huh?” she asked, proud that her voice didn’t crack.

“Well, it’s that or sulk for the rest of my life.” He looked around for something, under the bar, back on the mirrored shelves. “Be right back.” He went back, probably to check the store room for whatever it was he was looking for.

Maya stood there squeezing her hands together, unable to bear the thought of Jayce dating someone else. She wondered if the girl was beautiful. She wondered if Jayce had been with anyone over the past few weeks.

He came back and jotted something on his list.

“What about Janice?” Maya asked.

Jayce frowned at her. “Huh?”

“I mean, if you’re ready to be with someone again, why not Janice?”

He looked surprised at the question. “Janice is done with me. I asked.”

He’d asked. “How long after breaking things off with me did you wait to ask?”

He slowly sat his pen down and turned to her. “You broke things off with me. And I didn’t wait at all, I asked her the first chance I got.”

Maya gulped. “And she rejected you?”

“Yeah. What’s it to you, Maya?”

Maya took in a shaky breath. “I was just curious, is all. I was wondering if you’d been with anyone since me.”

For just a moment his face reddened and his eyes hardened. “How the fuck is it any of your business?”

Maya shook her head and backed away. “It isn’t. I’m really sorry.”

“You’re sorry?”

“Yes. Sorry. I’ll see you at breakfast?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Jayce said. “Give Kellen my apologies, but I think I’ll pass today.”

Maya took a breath. She’d wanted to do this some other way, some more memorable, meaningful way, but she couldn’t afford to wait. So she took a deep breath. “Jayce, I just want to explain my feelings.”

He scowled at her, fully intimidating, now, much as he had been when she’d first started working for him.

Maya’s mouth went dry. “Do you…still want me?”

His scowl darkened. “Why are you doing this?” he asked. “Isn’t it enough that I’ve pined over you like a teenage girl for the past…forever? Isn’t it enough that I begged for you? I’m not pathetic enough, you wanna keep me on a leash? Do you get some sort of thrill knowing I’m in my bed at night alone because I can’t get over you?”

“No!” Maya shrieked. This wasn’t at all the way she wanted to tell him of her love. “No, Jayce, that’s not what this is.”

“Then what?” He stood tall and folded his arms over his chest in a clear, closed-off stance.
 

She couldn’t do this. Not now. Not with him like this. “Nothing,” she muttered, backing away. “It’s nothing. Nevermind.” She turned and left, crying all the way back to Zoey and Kellen’s house.

#

Jayce was doing his very best to manage his heartbreak. He thought he might do better if only he could get laid, several times, with a variety of women. But everywhere he turned, Maya seemed to be hovering nearby.

He’d thought to ask out the blond bachelorette who’d come to him asking about a party. Maya had had her meeting with the two women a week ago there at the bar.

Maya waved him over. It was Monday night. Jayce had one customer at the bar who was nursing his last beer, so Jayce meandered to the table where Maya was sitting with the two women.
 

Jayce gave the blond one a little extra eye contact. He still wasn’t sure she was single, but the way her eyelids lowered and her smile widened, he guessed she was available.
 

“They like the idea of doing it here,” Maya said.

“Yes,” the blond continued. “But we were wondering about renting the whole bar. I mean, this is going to be a big party.”

Jayce would have liked to say yes to anything the woman wanted just because of the way she was sizing him up, clearly as interested in him as he was in her. But there was no way the woman could afford what it would cost to rent the whole bar for one night. “The cost it would take to cover closing the bar for a whole evening would be huge—”

“Oh, we were actually hoping for an afternoon, before you open. We could have the party, like, an hour before opening and then anyone who wanted to hang around and drink afterward could.”

Jayce pondered it for a moment. “Yeah, we could probably do something like that.”

“Great,” the blond said with a lustful smile. “And I hope you will be tending bar that day.”

Jayce started to grin, but then Maya slid her hand around his shoulders. “If you want him shirtless, it’ll be extra.”

The girls laughed, but Jayce was now frowning at Maya, who was talking and smiling.

“Okay,” Maya said. “We have your notes. Let us get together with a caterer and we’ll get you a quote by tomorrow, sound good?”

All the ‘we’ talk and Maya’s hands on him had cooled the blond woman’s gaze. At the end of the conversation, her handshake was completely professional.
 

Jayce had turned to ask Maya what the hell she’d been doing, but she’d already gone to his office to make phone calls to caterers. Throughout the rest of the week she’d stayed near him: offering him breakfast whenever he went by the house to take Mattie to the gym; asking him to show her how to mix drinks when bar hours were slow; sometimes just standing there behind him, wringing her hands looking like she wanted to say something.

It took a visit from Kellen a week later to open Jayce’s eyes to the situation.

Kellen came in Monday afternoon, sat at the bar, and said, “So, you’re not picking up the signals.”