“And this is why you’ve got the gorgeous condo and the nice car,” I say.
He bops my nose with his index finger. “Bingo.”
He’s got a playful light in his eyes. And I’m feeling the wine already.
I’m staring at his mouth. His perfectly formed lips. His white smile. The fact that the bottom tooth below his right eye tooth is just ever-so-slightly askew from the other teeth. Not enough to draw attention, you have to look closely, but enough that he suddenly seems more … real. I’m paying way too much attention right now.
Heat floods my face. I look away quickly, realizing that not only am I closely staring at his features, but he’s also doing the same to me.
And his gaze has darkened.
I suddenly wonder how kinky he is. Maybe I should go to lunch with Debbie and Cammy again and see if I can find out what Debbie knows.
No, I shouldn’t.
I definitely shouldn’t.
This guy is an enigma to me. I have no idea why he’s being so nice to me at the same time as he’s so obviously intent on helping me with my Ray problem. Despite his expensive Ray problem, which obviously should be his priority.
“What are you gonna do to Ray?” I ask before I’ve measured my words.
His smile fades. There’s suddenly coldness in his eyes.
I shake my head. “Sorry, maybe it’s better I don’t know.”
He says nothing.
“I can’t believe I just said that. I don’t want anything bad to happen, I just… I can’t believe I let him do that to me,” I whisper.
“Do what?”
“Turn me into what I am now.”
He tilts his head curiously. “What do you mean?”
I shrug and sip my wine again.
Heidi puts down a coffee with a fancy design on the milk. “Sorry for the wait, sir. Mild emergency at table twenty-eight.”
“Customers always come first,” Killian tells her. “Though, this isn’t what I ordered.”
Her eyes go big, and she looks a little frazzled.
“Forget my order for a second. Need a manager?” Killian asks.
“Worse. But Alana is on it.”
Killian cranes his neck and I see Alana moving toward a table of three men, one woman. And she looks a little frazzled. Her eyes hit Killian as he rises, obviously gauging the situation might need some intervention, I think.
“Right back,” he says to me and moves in that direction. Two men are also flanking him, one being Guy, the flirting one who brought me the tablet.
It’s out of earshot, but my eyes take in that at least one of the men at the table is irate.
Killian speaks calmly at first and then folds his arms across his chest a moment later and the expression on his face is one that would make my knees wobble if I were standing. He looks positively pissed. He points to the table and then points to the door.
The guy who’s obviously the problem rises, quite a bit shorter than Killian, looking a little like (and acting a lot like) Joe Pesci did in Goodfellas, trying to puff his chest up like he’s a tough guy and then he leans forward and points to Killian, his index finger touching Killian’s shirt for not even a full second when I see two more men materialize from somewhere. The two men are even larger than Killian. Bouncers?
The irate man laughs and pulls out his wallet before he drops a stack of bills on the table and leaves; the woman and men with him follow.
That guy’s eyes land on me and he sneers at me before he pushes his way out the doors and is gone.
A lot of eyes are on the spectacle.
Killian says something to the bouncer-type to his right. The guy nods, mutters something to the guy on Killian’s left, then they both leave the building.
Killian puts his hand on Alana’s shoulder and says something. She looks like she’s ranting for a second but then pulls herself together and collects the bills from the table with the leather check wallet. She then jerks her head toward Heidi, who is still standing at the booth I’m in.
Heidi hurries toward her.
“Ready to go?” Killian asks when he gets to me.
I rise, reaching for my purse and quickly looping it over my shoulder, sticking my hand inside to drop my phone and fetch my wallet. I open it and pull out some money.
“No,” Killian says. “You’re not paying for your drinks.”
“Oh. Um… Okay, but I need to at least leave Heidi a tip.”
“I’ll leave Heidi a tip,” he says and reaches into his pocket and pulls out a fifty-dollar bill, then mutters under his breath, “A tip to fuckin’ write down the orders so she doesn’t fuck them up.”
I laugh.
He rolls his eyes and then smirks before he drops it on the table and grabs my hand and we head toward the door.
He’s holding my hand.
“Killian?” I call out as we get to the door. The hostess is opening it for us.
“Great to see you, Killian. Have a great night. Best of luck tomorrow at Numbers.”
“Thanks, Jeannie. Keep Heidi in the back the rest of the shift. She’s fuckin’ orders up all over the place.”
“Right,” Jeannie says.
“Killian?” I repeat.
“Sorry. Yes, Violet?”
“The groceries,” I say.
He looks at me quizzically and then I see realization dawn.
Just then, Alana’s rushing toward us with the groceries in question in her hands. “Here. Forgot these.”
“Thanks, Alana,” I say.
“Nice to meet you, Violet,” Alana says.
“You, too.”
Killian leans toward her. “I want a report by the end of the night. Email me when you close. Call before then if you need to.”
“Will do,” she says and gives him a salute. “See you tomorrow at the opening.”
We get to his car and he opens the passenger door for me. After I’m inside, he closes it and sticks the groceries in the back.
“Heidi fuck your order up, too?” he asks.
I wince. “I didn’t want to get her in trouble. She was very nice.”
“She keeps telling us she’s got a photographic memory. She needs to take a photograph of the orders then because she screws most of them up.”
“She really did try.”
“Try? To talk your ear straight off?”
“Maybe she’d be better in a different role. She’s definitely keen though.”
“Hm. Yeah. Maybe back office would be better for her. How was everyone else there, tonight?”
“Everyone else?” I ask.
“Yeah. You deal with anyone but Heidi?”
“Oh.” I bite my lip.
He jerks his chin up. “What? I need to know something?”
“Guy is a little, um… inappropriate. Not, like, call the cops inappropriate, but, um… I don’t want to get him in trouble or anything, but-”
Killian throws his head back and laughs. “I know. Thanks for tellin’ me, baby. He’s harmless.” He laughs to himself some more, like he finds it hilarious.
16
Killian
The rest of the ride home is silent, but I can almost hear Violet’s wheels turning.
Two things about her struck me in the right way tonight.