AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Holly broke out in hysterics, and I started to giggle too. “Okay, I did lie. Stay away from him, at least for a little while longer.”
Charlie squeezed my forearm. “I will. I was just trying to get a rise out of you.” Then she mouthed to Holly that she really did want his number. I rolled my eyes at her.
* * *
The next morning,I was at the restaurant by nine and staring at the kitchen. I hated that people were getting sick here, and I was so frustrated from dealing with the Health Department. One of their employees, I think his name was Jack, said something to me on the side when nasty Henry Marks was busy. What he suggested had planted the seed that someone was doing this on purpose. Why else would there not be any signs of it?
When I heard a knock on the back door, I quickly opened it to see a tall man standing there, smiling, and then he moved. My world shifted, and I was glad that I was holding on to the door, or I would have stumbled back and fallen. “You!”
“Um,” he hesitated, “hi, I didn’t expect to see you again. I’m Harvey, and this is Mike. We work with Safety Zone Security. I think you were expecting us.”
I sure as hell wasn’t expecting him. Oh, Holly was in so much trouble! She had lied to me—again! Traveling my ass! She knew exactly what he did for a living. I had a mind to call her right now, but I didn’t. I’d wait till they left and then give her an earful!
Somehow I kept it together and didn’t freak out and fawn all over him. Both Charlie and Holly had been right. I should have gone with him, but I had wanted safe. What an idiot I was.
Safe turned out to be slightly dull, and then dull turned into nagging because he worked days, I worked nights, blah, blah, blah. It was the same argument—a different man. When Blake asked if I wanted kids, and if I planned to stay home to raise them, flags had begun waving like the Fourth of July, and I immediately told him that I didn’t think things would work for us. Yes, he was handsome, and he was kind, and I did like him. We had some chemistry, and our few makeout sessions were exciting, but they still didn’t make me tingle. I wanted to tingle.
The man standing a few feet away from me could make me tingle. He could probably make me scream or drop to my knees and beg, but that wasn’t going to happen. I had to stop thinking about him in any other capacity other than his job.
That was easy enough to do—sort of—while I talked about work, but the minute that Mike left us alone, I wanted to flee or grab him and kiss him and see if he made my body tingle again. Would that be wrong? I was totally at a loss for words and thankful that he spoke.
“You did a really good job with the dances. I hope you enjoyed yourself.”
“Thank you, and you did too.” The temptation to blurt out that I had chosen wrong was so strong that I don’t know how I held them back.
“It was fun.”
“It was,” I told him, and then looked him in the eye. The least I could do was apologize. “I’m sorry.”
For a second, I thought he would approach me. God, how I wanted him to, but instead, he stepped back. “Hey, you had to do what you felt was right. I hope safe is working out for you.”
What? What did he know about safe? Had Holly told him what I said? Oh, my god! She did!
“I’m sorry. That was rude, but I do hope that you two are doing well and you are happy. Look, I’m going to go see what is taking him so long. I’ll make sure that someone else comes back to help Mike so that you don’t have to see me again. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”
I watched him leave. Oh, Holly Melton, wait till I get my hands on you! I put my face into my hands and sighed. A moment later, the door opened, and I jerked my head up, expecting to see Harvey, but it was only Mike.
“I need to take a few measurements. You don’t mind, do you?”
“No, do anything that you need to do.”
He started to take measurements and looked around, jotting notes on a pad. “Don’t mind, Melton. He was a little brokenhearted when you picked the other guy.”
“Did he tell you that?”
Mike chuckled. “No, he didn’t need to. He refused to talk about it at all. That’s not him. When he’s upset, he shuts stuff down.”
“How well do you know him?”
“He’s like a brother.” He grinned toward me. “And that’s why I’ll say this. If things don’t work out with that other guy, let Harv know. He is a good man.”
“Thank you,” I replied. I wasn’t ready to mention to Mike that I wasn’t with the other guy anymore. The world would know soon enough. In fact, only three more days, and everyone would know that I had chosen wrong.
I waited while he did what he needed, then Mike explained that he would need to get the right cameras and would need several hours to put them into position. We discussed an approximate date and decided that Friday night after the restaurant was closed—if we were able to open at all—I could meet them here, and they could set it all up.
Mike explained that he would have a couple of guys with him and then paused. “If having Harvey around is going to be a problem, you let me know. I’ll have someone else come.”
“No, it won’t be a problem for me, but if he’s not comfortable, don’t make him or give him a hard time about it. I don’t want to upset him.”
