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“Considering my car has two flat tires and you just so happen to come to my rescue? And now, you’re driving me home? I mean, if the shoe fits.” As soon as the words escaped her mouth, she knew he didn’t deserve that. Maybe he didn’t have the friendliest personality, but he’d done nothing that would make her think he wasn’t truly just here to help her. Rhys had been really nice to her. Giving her a job after their less than ideal meeting. Accommodating her schedule. Paying her much more than she knew the job was worth. Hyacinth knew she was trying to keep some distance between the two of them. It was important to keep their interactions friendly but professional. Even so, she could cut back on the snark. “I’m sorry,” she bit out.
“Look at me, Cin.” When she hesitated, he said it louder. “Hyacinth! I asked you to look at me.”
Slowly shifting her body so that she could look into his eyes, she was shocked at what she saw. Anger. Frustration. Hurt.
“If you don’t trust me, why are you in my vehicle? If you want us to stop, I can call you a cab and you can get home another way. Maybe this was a mistake. I thought… Actually, it doesn’t matter what I thought. If you feel that my presence tonight at my own fucking restaurant, and my offer to help one of my employees get home safe was too much of a coincidence, then I don’t want to make you any more uncomfortable.” His hand reached out to click the intercom between the back of the car and Carlos, but she stopped him.
“No. Don’t. It’s fine. I’m sorry for what I said. Maybe I’m more worried about what happened to my car than I’m letting on. You didn’t deserve any of that.”
“Next time you want to accuse me of having nefarious reasons for helping you, keep those thoughts to yourself.”
She wanted to argue. Tell him to keep his high-handed orders to himself. But she knew he was right. Just as she was about to apologize again, the car slowed down.
“Looks like you’re here. I’ll send Carlos to pick you up in the morning. What time will you be ready?”
“Ready for what?”
He threw her a look that seemed to question her intelligence. “For work, Cin. Don’t you have work tomorrow?”
“Yes. But why would Carlos pick me up?”
He took a deep breath before looking at her. “Someone slashed your tires. That concerns me. And after the way you behaved tonight, it seems like you’re worried as well. At least until your car is fixed, I’ll make sure you have a ride to and from work, and to the restaurant for your evening shifts.”
She didn’t know what to say. “Why would you do something like this for me?”
Rhys looked into her eyes and his features softened slightly. “Accept the gift, Cin. Can you do that for me without arguing?”
He also wondered why he would do this for her. Anyone else would have been dropped off and he would have left and not looked back. But Cin, with a C and not an S, made him want to do things he never would have done in the past.
What was happening to him?
Chapter 7
When Hyacinth walked into Mannetti’s the next night, she was committed to her new attitude. No snark. No nasty comments. She would play nice. And most importantly, she would try her damndest not to let her dreams from last night reflect on her face when she spoke with Rhys.
Just thinking about how she woke up in a cold sweat, her core pulsing from the dream orgasm made her pause. The phantom memory of how big she imagined Rhys’s cock to be, caused a shiver to flow through her. Her imagination had gone wild. And the scenes were still so vivid, even hours later. The slide of his body against hers. How he looked down at her as she moaned underneath him. His soft lips kissing her body in all the places that mattered. And when he placed his mouth on her bare mound…
“Cin!”
She jumped at the loud voice calling her name. Jarred from the sensual memory, she turned to the voice and slammed right back into the memory. Rhys stood in front of her. His white shirtsleeves were pulled up, showing his forearms. Black slacks and shoes covered the bottom half. How could such a simple outfit look so sexy? It wasn’t fair.
“What?” she said, ignoring how close he was to her. Quickly moving to the side, she walked around him and went to place her items down behind the bar. There was a storage area in the back for employees to place their items, but she never did. Usually when she came into work at night, things were already hopping, and she had to get started right away. Joe, the bartender, let her store her items with him so that she could get to them quickly if needed.
“Why were you so distracted?”
“I wasn’t.” Liar! “It’s just been a long day.”
Rhys looked at her with a raised brow. He stared at her longer than necessary. Hyacinth knew he didn’t believe a word she said, but that was his problem.
She grabbed a container from her bag. On the way from her day job, she had asked Carlos to stop by her house. In her guilt last night from snapping at Rhys, she had baked him some cookies. Cliché? Yes. But it was the only thing she could manage to do in such a short time. It was her mother’s recipe forAlmond Joy Cookies,and it made her feel good to do this for him. “Here, I made these for you.”
He reached out to grab the container, a look of shock on his face. “Why? What are they?”
Suddenly shy about the gesture, she busied herself with preparing for the dinner rush. There was a slight lull in the activity, but she knew it would pick up soon. “It’s nothing. Just something me and my mom would make when I was younger. It’s no big deal. I just wanted to thank you for helping me last night, and for having Carlos drive me to and from work today.”
His continued silence unnerved her. As she looked over at him, she noticed he stared at the cookies with a look of awe. “Rhys? You okay?” Maybe giving him a gift had broken him, she thought with a smile.
She watched him swallow twice before his gaze lifted to her face. “No one… no one’s ever…” he paused and inhaled deeply. “Thank you. I don’t usually get… things. Thank you.” He glanced around quickly, seeming to avoid her gaze. “I, uh, need to get back to… stuff. I’ll see you later.”
