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“Shit,” I muttered. “Not a good first impression. Second, I mean,” I said, correcting myself. The first had been when he’d seen Collin cutting me to shreds. “Neither were good ones, I’m sure.”
“Appearances can be deceiving,” Daniel said, his expression kind, yet serious. “It’s actions that matter more than words anyway. You’ve been taking care of Rachel for a long time now. That puts you at the top of the list of my favorite people. Your sister is first, of course.”
“Wow.” I glanced at Rachel.
She beamed back at me. “Told you. I just knew you’d like him.”
“She just met me, babe.” Daniel kissed the top of Rachel’s head.
When she sagged into him, gazing up at him with a dreamy expression, a little twinge twisted inside my chest. I’d once looked at Collin that way.
“You’re protective of her.”
Shaking off thoughts of my former boyfriend, I reminded myself that I’d just had sex with someone else. Collin had had sex with someone else. What we had was all over now. This breakfast wasn’t about me, anyway. It was about Rachel.
“My sister likes you,” I said. “That predisposes me to like you.”
“What’s cooking in here?” Barry asked, and I jumped at his sudden and unexpected appearance.
“You shouldn’t be here.” Clutching the spatula to my chest, I stared at him.
“I didn’t mean to scare you.” Not acknowledging my statement, he came closer and swept his gaze over me. “Are you okay?”
I nodded. Did he think Martin had hurt me last night? I thought Martin’s security guys might have hurt him, but he didn’t have a scratch on him that I could see.
“Got that internal soundtrack blaring in your head, so you didn’t hear me, huh?”
I had no soundtrack inside my head anymore, but I didn’t admit that.
“What are you doing here?” I asked him. “And how did you get in?”
He was banned. Arturo and Dimitri were outside. Weren’t they?
“Rach gave me the code last night.” He glanced at her. “She invited me for pancakes. Didn’t she tell you?”
I frowned at my sister. “Rach, you shouldn’t—”
She waved off my protest. “We’re all here, just the four of us, and it smells delicious. Let’s eat.”
Giving in, I pointed to the rack where the dishes were stored. She moved to get them, but Barry stepped in front of her.
“I’ll do it.” He grabbed a stack of plates. “Where are we eating, Chef Footit?” he asked, a playful expression on his handsome face.
“At one of the tables by the bar,” I said.
“On it.” Barry headed out through the swinging door.
“Rach,” I said, my gaze back on her. “Don’t you remember what happened last night?” I was surprised Barry didn’t have a mark on him, given Dimitri’s battered condition.
“I’m not gonna forget signing a nondisclosure.” She bit down on her lip. “And don’t get on me about giving Barry the code. He wouldn’t take no for an answer. He insisted on seeing you after I told him you were with Martin.”
I sighed.
“What happened last night?” Rachel asked.
I gave Daniel a pointed look. Getting the point, he gestured to the stack of pancakes.
“I’ll just take these out to the table,” he said helpfully. “Keep Barry company.”
