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I glanced over my shoulder. “I’m not here to make trouble. I’m just helping out Mason with the barge and his brother’s party. Period.”
“I see the way you are with him. He doesn’t fraternize, so don’t get any ideas.”
“Fraternize?”
“Is that too big a word?”
I shut the door and turned back to her. “I’m here for a job. I just had a freaking baby. Whatever ideas you have about me and Mason are colored by your own problems, girlfriend. Maybe you should examine the reason he doesn’tfraternize.”
She took a step forward, her hands fisted at her sides.
“I wouldn’t. I have six siblings. I’ll break you in half.” I relaxed against the door. Evidently, I needed to be the bigger person. “Look, we need to work together. No need to pee a circle around Mason, darlin’. I’m here for the paycheck and because this job was made for me. That’s it.” I heard someone in the hallway and opened the door.
Gillian brushed by me before I could make my dramatic exit. She threw a cold look over her shoulder. “Stay away from Mason.”
That was going to be difficult since we were planning his brother’s party together. Whatever. The crazy chick was going to have to deal with me being around. It didn’t surprise me that Mason didn’t dip his nib in the company ink pot.
If he dipped it in Gillian, it might come back out broken and iced over.
I left the bathroom and bumped into Mason just outside the kitchen.
He frowned. “Were you looking for me?”
“Sort of.” I was about to mention Gillian’s she-wolf antics, but I decided I didn’t want the drama. I didn’t want to give him any more reason not to hire me. “Since my brother’s here with me, I figured I could do paperwork with you.”
His eyebrow arched. “Is that right?”
Totally a last-minute thought, but I was going with it. “And maybe snag some more of those fries.”
He laughed. “I think I can handle that. C’mon back with me.” He pushed the door open to the kitchen and held it for me. “Hey, Jack. Can you put some fries down for me?”
“On it.” The woman wore a deep purple tied cap that reminded me of something a surgeon would wear. She was moving around the kitchen with a fluid grace that spoke of years of experience.
Mason motioned me forward and lightly touched the small of my back. “My office is more like a closet, but it should give us a minute of quiet.”
“Gina and Jared are very sweet together. He loves her like crazy.”
He laughed. “They’ve been best friends for years, but we all knew Jare was wild about her. Just didn’t want to take the leap.”
“He’s lucky Gina didn’t get tired of waiting.”
Mason opened his door and held it open. The space was tight and the spicy clementine scent of him made my nose prickle. The memory of it on the boat as he stayed close to me while my contractions eclipsed everything else out of my sphere was now layered with another fresh start.
Both big moments in my life.
My kid was paramount, but there was something about this restaurant—this man…all of it—that felt bigger than I’d been prepared for. Was it just the sense of overwhelm that sat so close to the surface of my life every day?
Maybe it was just getting mixed up with Mason showing me kindness.
I hurried inside and sat down in the ancient chair on the other side of his desk. I gave him a bright smile. “Guess we need to talk salary.”
Mason sat down behind his desk. He pushed some papers aside and flipped through another stack. “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting anyone to actually see my chaos. Between the wedding, the party, and trying to get the MJ2 off the ground, I don’t have time to do my regular paperwork.”
“Don’t you have a front-end manager to help out?”
“I’ve been training Rami, one of our servers, to take some of it off my plate but…”
I relaxed against the back of the chair. “But it’s just easier to do it yourself than train someone?”
