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The owner chose that moment to approach from wherever he’d been hiding. “What’s going on here? What’s happened?” he questioned as though he hadn’t seen a blessed thing.
The customer gestured toward Ty and Cassidy, amalicious light entering his now less-than-intimidated gaze. “Your waitress dumped her tray on me. She’s ruined my clothes. And she probably caused a severe burn to my... to my...”
“Peter, Paul and Mary?” Ty offered helpfully.
“Never mind where! I’m going to the doctor right away. You’ll have my bill in the morning. If she’s still here when I come again...” He started to point at Cassidy, ran up against Ty’s chest and thought better of it. “I’m going to sue!”
“Totally unnecessary,” the owner said. “Cassidy? I’m sorry, dear. But you’re fired.”
“Again? Gosh darn it, Freddie. How long this time?”
Her boss slid a quick glance at his irate customer. “Permanently, I’m afraid. Iwon’t dock your wages for the cost of the dishes or this gentleman’s expenses, but it might be best if you left now.”
Ty wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Come on, sweetheart. You don’t need this sort of hassle.”
“No, Idon’t. But I do need to eat and pay my rent,” she argued. “Come on, Freddie. Be a darlin’. Ican’t afford to lose my job. How about if I went back to washing up?”
Her boss shuddered. “You about bankrupted me with all the dishes you broke. That’s why I made you a waitress.”
“I could bus tables.”
“Please, Cassidy. Don’t say stuff like that. You know I’m on heart medication. Look...I’ll provide you with a good recommendation. Heck, I’ll even lie.” Freddie shrugged. “Best I can do, under the circumstances.”
“There’s not a chance you’re going to save this job,” Ty informed her in an undertone. “The best thing you can do is walk away. I’ll help you find another one. With the Fiesta coming up, it shouldn’t be too tough.” At least, not until she’d worked her new job for a few hours and her employer saw her in action. “If push comes to shove, I’ll hire you myself.” He’d have to find a nice, safe occupation for her—like stuffing pillows or something.
“But—”
“Please, Cassidy,” Freddie whispered, “I can’t afford the trouble.”
That stopped her. With a dignity that impressed the hell out of Ty, she whipped off her apron and handed it to the owner. “I’llbe back tomorrow for my paycheck. Thanks for hiring me in the first place.”
Without another word, she collected her purse and headed for the exit, words of encouragement following her the entire way. Clearly, she was well liked here. Ty grimaced. With one annoying exception. It was a darned shame.
She turned on him the instant they hit the sidewalk in front of the café. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” she demanded.
“Saved your hide?”
“You got me fired!”
He corralled her toward his pickup. “The way I see it, Isaved you from a customer bent on rearranging that pretty face of yours.”
“I—you...” He’d actually managed to distract her. Amazing. “You think I’m pretty?”
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. Drop-dead gorgeous would be more accurate. Hadn’t anyone told her that before? At a guess...no. Well, that would change. Right now. “I think you’re beautiful.”
Rose-soft color highlighted her sweeping cheekbones. “Thanks. But that still doesn’t let you off the hook.” She worked on rekindling her anger with a regrettable amount of success. So she wasn’t one to have her head turned with flattery, he noted. Good for her. “I needed that job. If you’d have just let me handle it—”
“You’d have been a shade wiser and a hell of a lot sorer.”
She hesitated, her vulnerability peeking out again, turning her eyes to charcoal. “Do you really think he’d have hurt me?”
“If he’d ever gotten his footing, he’d have decked you.” While she chewed that over, he opened the door to his pickup and loaded her in. With any luck, by the time she awoke to her surroundings, they’d be under way. “I’m sorry I lost you that job. I’ll put out a couple of feelers tomorrow.”
“No, thanks,” came her immediate response. “I can manage on my own.”
“I’m sure you could,” he agreed, stripping off his ruined shirt. He reached into the back seat of the extended cab and grabbed the spare tee he kept there. He couldn’t help but notice that her eyes tried to swallow up her face and her mouth went fishing for flies. Apparently, there was something about him she liked. She turned her head away so fast her braid did the Texas two-step and he buried a grin. Too late, sweetheart. Ialready caught you staring. He climbed behind the wheel and started the engine. “You’ll let me help you find a job anyway.”
“Why’s that?” she questioned, ahint of strain threading her voice.
