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“I would have to agree with you, Mr. Maxwell,” Cal replies with a smile that renders me speechless. “But I’m afraid it’s only temporary.”
His eyes meet mine, finding complete indignation there when I catch the hidden warning in his statement.
Okay, yes, I know I shouldn’t be walking around here like I own the place—strapping on aprons and working when I feel like it. But it was busy, and I was just trying to help a friend. I don’t even want to keep the tips.
“Temporary? But, she’s always been our favorite server,” Mrs. Maxwell adds.
They’re talking about me like I’m not standing right next to them. Yes, Mrs. Maxwell. Temporary. As in, when you leave, I’m leaving.
“She’s currently exploring better options. The good ones usually do,” Cal tells them but looks at me.
Is he making this personal?
“I graduate in December. Nurse Practitioner,” I explain, my attention now focused on the couple seated in front of me rather than on Cal.
“Ohhhh. Congratulations,” the couple tells me.
I smile and excuse myself, claiming I have an order to check on. As I begin to walk away, I hear them ask Cal about his father, and I wonder if Carlos is okay.
“Was that necessary?” I ask him when I find he’s left them and followed me to the kitchen.
“Was it a lie?”
He’s backed me against the wall next to a sanitizing station. People chatter in the background. Dishes clink. Water runs. But all I see is him.
“I’m not currently exploring any options.”
“Something tells me that’s not true,” he says, his blue eyes seeing right through me.
I can’t keep going back and forth with this man. He’s driving me crazy. Suppato’s is one of my favorite places in the world to be. I don’t want anything to change that. I don’t want to keep running from him.
“Look, Cal, that night… in your father’s office. I had a weak moment. We both did. It was a mistake.”
“There’s nothing weak about you, Makenna.” His eyes fall to my lips, and my breath hitches. “That night in my father’s office, the one you’re trying so hard to forget, proved it.”
For a brief moment, I catch a glimpse of his unguarded desire. In a twisted turn of events, I find myself suddenly wanting to be kissed. My body burns at the memory of his touch.
The bustle of the busy kitchen remains lost in the distance, and I’m momentarily being pulled back into the abyss of blue eyes and perfect lips. Someone yells out and dings the bell, completing an order full of steaming pasta and jolting me back into reality.
“How is he? Your father?” I ask, purposefully ignoring the energy between us and causing him to smirk and look away for a moment.
I guess he caught my drift.
“Why do you ask?” His shoulders tense, and his eyes grow cold.
“I heard Mr. Maxwell ask about him.”
He stands in silence, and at first, I don’t think he’s going to answer me. Then his eyes soften, and he relaxes a little. “He had a stroke. Mild. Nothing serious.”
That would explain why Cal is walking the floor tonight instead of Carlos. For the first time since I’ve known him, Cal Suppato seems… human, unguarded. The cold, impenetrable exterior cracks just a little, allowing a small ray of light to shine through.
“Where is he? I’d like to check on him tomorrow if that’s okay?”
This is the first normal conversation we’ve ever had, and I’m really enjoying it.
“He’d like that,” he says, “He’s at Ochsner.” The light disappears, allowing the harsh exterior to return. “It’s starting to slow down. You should finish up those tables and go home. Thank you for the help. I’ll run a credit card report and give your tips to Jaxon.”
“Yeah. No problem. I don’t want the tips. And I have to go anyway. It’s my mom’s birthday, and I promised I’d—”
