Warmth surged through her, leaving Mia feeling unbalanced. She didn’t want him flirting with her, and yet … God, she was flattered.
As she was trying to work out how to reply, a dark-haired woman burst out of the restaurant, dashed over to Luke and threw her arms around his neck.
‘Whoa.’ Luke put his hands on her hips, presumably to steady them.
‘You didn’t need to do that,’ the woman said, though it was clear whatever Luke had done, she was fully in favour of it. Then she seemed to become aware of Mia, and as she untangled herself from Luke, she gave Mia a wide-eyed look. ‘Crap, sorry. I didn’t realise I was interrupting.’
‘You’re not.’ Holding up the panini, Mia forced a smile. ‘You’re saving me from having a cold panini.’ With a quick nod to Luke, she headed back to the stairs, trying to ignore the heavy feeling in her gut. She didn’t even know what she was disappointed about. That she and Luke had been interrupted? That here was yet another woman treating him with obvious familiarity?
‘Bugger, that was her, wasn’t it?’
Luke looked to where Mia was retreating faster than the profit column in his accounts. He figured there wasn’t much point denying it. Not if his face had registered even half of the curdling frustration he felt. ‘Yep.’
Sandy placed a hand on his upper arm and squeezed. ‘Fuck. I’m a moron.’ When he didn’t say anything, she nudged him. ‘It’s okay, you can agree with me.’
‘You’re a moron.’ He sighed. ‘But let’s hope you’re less of a moron than me, now you’re head of our communications.’
She gave him a sly glance. ‘Does it mean I can ditch the waitressing?’
‘Nope. It means you get the fabulous opportunity to sort out our online presence and be a waitress.’
‘Hence the pay rise.’ It was her turn to sigh. ‘I came out here to thank you for it, because it was a ridiculous but very generous thing to do, considering how tough things are at the moment.’ Her eyes filled with apology. ‘Didn’t realise I’d end up scaring off your crush. Some thank-you gesture, huh?’
He gave her a wry smile. ‘She was already wary, so no biggy. As for the pay rise, if you get more people through the door, you’ll more than earn it.’
‘And if I don’t?’
‘Hopefully your next employer will have the decency to match the inflated salary.’
Her shoulders sagged. ‘Crap. That assumes he or she will want to employ a mouthy know-it-all.’
Luke laughed. ‘Exactly, so don’t screw this up, for both our sakes.’
‘Gee, thanks boss, no pressure.’ She looked towards the direction Mia had taken. ‘This crush, does she have a name?’
‘Mia. And she’s not a crush. She’s…’ Hell if he knew what she was. Only that he felt drawn to her, somehow. ‘She’s someone I’d like a chance to get to know.’
Sandy frowned, looking up at him. ‘You realise that isn’t what you usually say about women, don’t you? I get Sandy, she’s hot, or she’s game for some fun, or even—’
‘I’ve got it.’ He felt a kick of embarrassment at the stuff he’d probably said. He enjoyed women, yet somewhere along the line he’d chosen to forget where the real joy came from. Instead he’d clung to the surface, the looks, the fun, because it was safer than getting to know the person. Safer than being dragged into deep water and then being spat out, like a riptide.
‘Do you have a phone number for her?’
Sandy’s voice pulled him back into the present. Taking a moment to make sure the old, unwanted memories were locked away, he shook his head. ‘No, why?’
‘Because I want to tell her about your big fat non-crush.’ Alarmed, he opened his mouth to argue and Sandy raised her eyes heavenwards. ‘God, I’m joking. Mateo said something about her maybe being able to help with the website?’
‘Ah, yes, okay.’ As the panic settled, he managed a laugh. ‘I never know with you. Sometimes you’re scary. I don’t know how Jim manages to keep his sanity.’
‘He loves me.’
The words were simple yet it was the certainty behind them that had him envying, not for the first time, what his best friends had. What he’d once wanted, until he’d taken a different path.
‘So, how do I contact her then, this Mia?’ Once again, he was yanked out of the past. ‘Do I need to hang outside Naomi’s and hope she buys another panini?’
It was an excuse to pop another message in the window, yet the thought of using what he saw as a personal, an intimate method of communication, for a work-related reason felt wrong. ‘Leave it with me.’
He wrestled with the thought all day, and when he got back to his flat the first thing he did was walk into the spare room/gym/study/messaging-Mia room and look over at her window.
There was no message. He hadn’t expected one, and it felt absurd that he should be disappointed, yet he was.
Pickles scampered into the room and he bent to pick her up. ‘Sorry love, I forgot to say hello to you first. Pretty unforgivable, huh?’
She pushed her nose under his hand, and he got the unsubtle message and began to stroke her.
‘What do you think I should do, huh? Wait until I bump into her again, or message her?’
He could loiter outside Naomi’s on the off chance she went there most mornings for coffee or lunch, but what if she didn’t?
Yet if he put a note in the window, what could he say? He glanced down at Pickles. ‘What do you reckon she’d say to something along the lines of… Can we meet up and chat about you maybe building me a website but really I just want to talk, you and me, about anything you want. I’d love to see if this connection I feel is real or me going through some approaching mid-life too fast, crisis.’
Pickles twitched her nose.
‘Really? Too long for a window message, huh? Maybe it’s just as well.’ If Mia was wary now, that would bring her blinds down permanently.
Still, maybe he could work with the first part. She’d turned down his offer to meet up before, but hadn’t they established a rapport now?
One you could be about to blow.
Indecision wormed through him, and he hated it. This dithering twat wasn’t him. Sod it. He placed Pickles back on the floor and snatched up a pen. This was no longer about him wanting to chat to her away from the bar, away from interruptions. This was about the bar, and the people who relied on him.
Carefully he sketched out a coffee cup and the words:
Naomi’s
* * *
11 a.m.?
Did it sound too abrupt? Grabbing a second sheet, he added:
On Me
‘There.’ He glanced down at Pickles, who was sniffing at his shoe. ‘Let’s see what tomorrow brings, eh?’
His mobile started to ring, and he glanced at the screen. ‘Big brother keeping an eye on me,’ he muttered as Pickles scampered away, no doubt in search of something more interesting to sniff. And then possibly chew. Internet cables were her preferred choice.
‘No need to worry about me,’ he said in lieu of a greeting. ‘I’m a big boy now. I can sort out my own mess.’