Cole picked up his snifter and swirled the ice cubes around. He didn’t speak until he looked up and realized everyone at the table was still waiting for an answer. Slowly, he placed the glass back on the table. “Elise, you should have told me that you didn’t like the diamond tennis bracelet I gave you last week. Or, the matching earrings I gave you for your birthday.”
Elise playfully swatted him on his arm. “Oh you! You know what I meant. I loved them. I’d just like a ring to go with it someday.”
Cole placed a gentle kiss on her lips in an effort to soften his words. He then shifted them to the soft space behind her ear. His voice was quiet as he spoke words that were meant for her ears only. “I’ll buy you whatever you want, but I won’t be bullied into getting engaged.” He wasn’t ready to propose and wouldn’t be pushed into it.
Elise was rarely embarrassed, but in this case her face turned several shades of red.
Chapter 4
“Back here, she’s back here!” The restaurant manager frantically waved the paramedics towards the back of the building. Apparently someone needed an ambulance. For a moment, customers stood, gawked, and turned their heads in the direction of the emergency workers until they disappeared behind the double doors leading to the kitchen.
Elise was already in a foul mood, and their bird’s eye view of the commotion only seemed to make it worse. “What else can possibly go wrong tonight? I mean seriously, shouldn’t they have come in through the back door so they wouldn’t disturb the rest of us? The service here is usually superb.” Irritated, she tossed her glossy blonde hair over her shoulder. “Not to mention, we’ve been waiting for our check for what feels like forever.”
Carmen hadn’t spoken much during dinner, but couldn’t believe Elise was this insensitive. “I’m pretty sure the person who needs the medical attention could care less if the paramedics came through the front or back doors. They probably wouldn’t even care if they came through the window as long as they could help them. I just hope everyone is all right.”
Elise looked around the table then narrowed her eyes at Carmen. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it. Why do you always have to twist my words and make me sound like a jerk? Of course I hope whoever is in need of help is okay. But the paramedics coming through the front door only serves to panic a jittery public already nervous about terrorist’s attacks.”
Carmen responded. “Well, it seemed as if you were only concerned about being inconvenienced.” She didn’t believe Elise’s excuse for a moment. She was a schemer and had always been quick on her feet. Especially when she was around Cole. Carmen couldn’t understand for the life of her what he saw in that woman. He was so down to earth and Elise was nothing but a spoiled brat.
While Cole and Doug were the best of friends, the same couldn’t be said for her and Elise; even though they had known each other for years and traveled in the same circles. To keep their spat from escalating, Doug deftly reached under the table to squeeze Carmen’s knee in an attempt to get her to relax a bit.
Cole could see that Elise was about to give Carmen hell. The two women were like oil and water. He knew dinner with only the four of them was a bad idea, but he let Doug talk him into it anyway. Never again. Cole interrupted Elise before she could get started by putting his arms around her shoulders, and rubbing his hands up and down her arms. “Sweetheart, I’m sure we can all agree that we hope whatever is going on in that kitchen ends well.” He had never been more thankful than when a waitress arrived with their bill. It just may have prevented World War III.
“Hi, I’m Natalie. My apologies for the delay in bringing your check.” Her brown eyes were warm and friendly. “As you can see there is a lot of excitement at Mario’s tonight. And, since I’m your third waitress for the evening, your drinks are on the house.”
Cole and Doug reached for the check at the same time. “You got it last time, Doug. I’ve got it tonight.”
“Good.” Doug laughed. “It’s not like you can’t afford it. You make a hell of a lot more money than I do especially with today’s acquisition. As a matter of fact, you can buy dinner for the foreseeable future.”
Talking about money always made Cole uncomfortable. Instead of responding, he turned to Natalie and gave her a smile that made her knees go weak. Yes, she was mesmerized, and it wouldn’t take much to have her ripping off all of her clothes if he asked. As he took the check from her hands, Natalie stuttered, “J-j-just let me know when you’re ready.” Before she had a chance to leave, Cole had one more question. “Excuse me. The first waitress we had tonight, Jade Anderson, has she left for the evening?”
Natalie looked perplexed. “Jade Anderson?”
“Yes. She’s about five foot five, dark hair, hazel eyes…”
Elise sat as quietly as a porcelain doll. She tried to keep her facial expressions from showing her irritation that her boyfriend was asking about another woman.
It finally dawned on Natalie. “Oh…you mean Jade Lockwood. No. She hasn’t. Actually, the ambulance is for her. Brenda, waitress number two was with her when she collapsed, and that’s why you now have me.”
Before Natalie could finish responding, the paramedics were wheeling Jade out of the restaurant on a stretcher.
Cole’s eyes followed them and in a split second, he made a decision. “Doug get the check for me. I’ll make it up to you later. I need to find out what’s going on with Jade.”
Elise whipped her head around. She heard him, but couldn’t believe what he
