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“No, thank you,” she said, but he heard her stomach growl loudly. He smiled and held the plate towards her a little more. She sighed and then took a biscuit. When she bit into it, he expected to see her smile, but instead, she frowned.
“Don’t like it?” he asked.
“No, I love it.” She turned the biscuit in her hand, as if trying to figure it out. “Why aren’t these on the menu?”
“Not sure. You’ll have to ask the boss,” he joked.
“Leon made these?” She took another bite.
“Yeah. My first week here, I asked if he had a biscuit.” He shrugged. “He’s made these for me ever since.”
“They’re amazing,” she said between bites.
“Yeah,” he agreed. “So, you wanted to talk?”
“I’ll cut to the chase. It would be helpful to have another pair of ears,” she said. “Someone who can listen to employees and guests and relay any… issues.”
He shrugged and motioned for her to continue as he took another biscuit.
“It’s my goal to have this resort running like clockwork. But above that…” She glanced around the room. “I’d like to make it something memorable.”
He smiled and nodded. “I can let you know what I hear.” He told her a few minor things he’d heard people saying.
She smiled and reached for another biscuit. “Thanks. Now, part of my plan is to finish going over these orders and find out if there are any… issues.”
He chuckled and waved his hand. “By all means.”
For the next half hour, they went line by line on his wine order, then moved into the beer fridge, which took less time because it was too cold for comfort for either of them.
She glanced at her watch. “I know you have to head upstairs and open the bar in half an hour. I’d like to watch.”
His eyebrows shot up. “Are you going to be spending all your time watching me work?”
Her eyes narrowed slightly and, for the first time since meeting her, he knew that the next words out of her mouth would be a lie.
“No. I might want to make some changes to how things are done behind the bar,” she said, her eyes avoiding his.
What could she be hiding, he wondered as he ran his eyes slowly over her. When her face flushed and she continued to bite that bottom lip of hers, he figured he might just have to apply a little pressure to find out what it was.
They were standing just outside the walk-in refrigerator, and the narrow hallway was not really made for two people to be hanging out in. Taking a step forward, he crowded her against the large steel doorway.
“Hiding something from me,” he said softly, his hand coming up to rest on the frame of the door behind her shoulder, “wouldn’t be advisable.”
Her eyes snapped to his. “I’m not…” she answered, but the words lacked conviction.
He slowly nodded, and his eyes moved to her lips. He saw the spark of interest return to those blue eyes of hers when he looked back into them. “Maybe you’re just too shy to tell me?”
She frowned, and a small crease formed between her eyebrows. “No,” she said a little more firmly. “I’m not shy.”
He could tell that part was the truth, but she was still hiding something. Unfortunately, at that moment, an employee came down to grab some items and they were forced to move out of the narrow space.
As they walked up to the bar area, where she was planning on watching him open up shop, she chatted about his job. He barely said a word, and he figured it was nervous chatter or her way of getting him to drop his guard around her.
For the next ten minutes, as he opened up the bar, unlocked the cabinets, took the cash out of the safe, and filled both registers, he listened to her talk about some changes she was thinking of making. He gave her his input on a few good ideas she had.
When Larry, one of the bartenders he managed, showed up for work, he let the man take over as he headed out to open the tiki bar outside, which was where he was scheduled to work that day.
That was why he was dressed in dark gray board shorts and a white cotton short-sleeved button-up shirt with the resort’s logo on the chest. He liked this uniform much better than the dark pants and long-sleeved button-up shirt he had to wear inside.
