CHAPTER 6

Every day Grace went into the restaurant, she prepared herself for the unease she felt being around Sal. She wondered how long it would be, before she was comfortable around him. She’d been off Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday had been fairly painless. Sal had spent a lot of time out of the restaurant. He’d had a meeting and Thursday he spent at Angel’s restaurant on the Marina interviewing potential hires.

Friday she came in and again, was overcome with the same disappointment of not seeing him. Something she refused to admit to anyone, not her sister, not even Joey or Taylor. She felt like a silly schoolgirl waiting for the cute guy to show up to class. This was her boss for heaven’s sake. A boss that hadn’t even wanted to hire her. A man she’d labeled a jerk.

They’d since hired another bartender and a new cook. She watched the cook, who was not yet head chef, as he prepared his dishes. He didn’t seem very confident, at times it even seemed that his nerves got the best of him and he’d begin to panic. Really? She’d been passed up for this?

Grace was busy making three margaritas when she glanced up and nearly spilled what she was pouring. Sal walked in wearing a black on black business suit—everything black including his tie. He looked amazing—more than amazing. Jesus, she felt like those shallow girls in her pastry class. She didn’t even realize she was gawking until Melanie nudged her. “Take a number,” she giggled, handing her a towel to clean what she’d splattered.

Feeling her face flush she took the towel and tried sounding genuinely confused. “What do you mean?”

“Are you kidding me? Sal gets that same reaction from all women. Isn’t he mesmerizing though? If I wasn’t already engaged, I swear I’d be all over that.”

Grace chewed on the inside of her cheek. Something about that second statement made her feel so ridiculously insignificant. She didn’t want to get lumped in as one his groupies. So he was good looking. Big deal. She’d been around plenty of good looking guys. This was the man she worked for. It was completely inappropriate to be gaping at him that way, not to mention embarrassing as hell.

Trying not to show her agitation about having been so obvious, she wiped her hands on a wet towel. “I don’t look at him like that.”

“Oh really? Could’ve fooled me.”

Grace felt her face flush again but refused to concede. “He just looks different today. That’s all.”

“He must have a date or something.”

A sudden heat now accompanied Grace’s flushed face. She placed the margaritas on the tray Julie had left on the counter. “Damn,” Julie said, as she walked up to take the tray. She was staring in Sal’s direction. Grace busied herself with the next order of drinks. “I wonder who the lucky girl is tonight.” Julie stood there for a moment blatantly staring his way. “Oh, here he comes. Back to work.”

She grabbed the tray and walked away. Melanie had walked over to the other side of the bar to take someone’s order, leaving Grace alone. The discomfort she normally felt around Sal had spiked to a new height.

He was still a few feet away and she could already smell him. He wore the most alluring cologne she’d ever smelled and she closed her eyes for a second, taking it in.

“Hey, Grace. Has it been busy?”

Unwilling to take him in, in this close proximity, she pretended to be engrossed in the drink she was preparing, even bent over to grab something out of the refrigerator just to avoid looking at him. “Off and on.” She indulged herself with a quick glance, regretting it almost instantly. As good looking as he’d been even on her first day when he arrived suited up from his meeting, today just wasn’t fair. Something about the all black suit brought out his amazing eyes out and those heavy lashes taunted her. “You know,” she cleared her throat annoyed that her stupid voice that nearly gave out on her, “…how it is. They come in herds.”

“Let me go tell Alex I’m here so he can take off. I’ll be back, I have something for you.”

He finally had her full attention. Not that he hadn’t from the moment he walked in but she allowed herself now to really look at him. He smiled that beautiful smile of his and began to walk away. “I’ll be back.”

Panicked and not having a clue what he might have for her, she rushed over to the bowl with the peppermint candies. She stuck one in her mouth then glanced at herself in the mirror behind the bar. Of course, she had one strand of hair sticking straight up like a cockatoo. Damn it. Why hadn’t anybody told her?

Grace was still fixing her hair when she heard Alex’s voice coming from the hallway to the back. Sal was with him when they turned the corner and walked toward her. She grabbed a towel and began cleaning off the bar area diligently. “I’m outta here, Gracie. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Alex waved at Melanie and said his goodbyes to a few of the other servers before walking out. Sal walked over to her, holding a baseball cap. He handed it to her as soon as he was close enough. “This is yours.”

She took it, examining it. It had the restaurant’s logo embroidered on it and the phrase, Slam-dunking for over 30 years, around the back. She glanced up at him confused.

“March Madness is going on right now. We get a lot of people in here, watching the games. So on game days all the bartenders wear these. I’m ordering jerseys with the logos as well.” He flashed that killer smile. “Team Moreno’s.”