I allow my eyes to move lower, taking in her full breasts, the curve of her hips. She sure knows how to rock this uniform like no one I’ve ever met.
She clears her throat and I know she’s caught me staring. That makes two of us then. I meet her eyes and smile at her. “And my tour is over?” I say.
“I’m sorry. I have a lot to do. No offense Matt, but if you need hand holding, you’re not going to last two minutes here,” she says.
“Got it,” I say, pushing myself up from the wall I’ve been leaning on. “Thank you for making me feel so welcome.” I walk away, heading for the restaurant floor, grinning to myself. I don’t need to look back to know that Callie is watching me walk away, her jaw hanging open in shock.
She’s made it clear to me that her plan is to avoid contact with me as much as possible. It should raise my suspicions, yet strangely, it doesn’t. I’m not blind. I saw the way she was looking at me. And I have a feeling that’s why she wants to avoid me. Maybe she’s one of those girls who don’t date colleagues.
In one sense, I’m upset that Callie doesn’t want to be around me. I would be more than happy to have her around me all day, every day. But in another sense, I think it’s a good thing, because I can’t allow my focus to slip, and at least this way, I don’t have to be the one to push her away.
I’m here for one reason and one reason only, and that reason is too important to spend my time flirting with Callie. I came here to do what needs to be done. Not to make friends, and most certainly not to fall for one of the waitresses.
I’ll play along with Callie’s avoidance of me. That way, I can’t become distracted from the real reason I’m here.
Chapter Three
Callie
The walk for ice does me good. By the time I return with it to the kitchen, I’ve managed to push thoughts of Matt out of my mind altogether. I’m not thinking about his deep brown eyes. I’m not thinking about what I want him to do to me. I’m not thinking about that accent – my God that accent. Well ok, I’m thinking about Matt just a little bit, but I’ve also accepted that I’m going to stay well away from him.
His attitude makes me think he’s a player and I just don’t need that shit in my life. And if Marco got wind of anything happening between us, he would make my life hell. Like even worse than he makes it now. And I really don’t need that.
I dump the ice out of the bags and head back to the restaurant floor. I manage to run a few tables without incident, and I’m starting to think that my bad luck has left me. They say it comes in threes. So I was late, I tripped and then I stubbed my toe on a trash can. So yeah, I’ve had my share of bad luck for the day.
As the rush begins to tail off and the restaurant moves at a more sedentary pace, Sasha makes her way over to me. “Who’s the new guy?” she asks.
“His name’s Matt,” I say, careful to keep my voice neutral.
“Matt, right. Cute, isn’t he?” she says.
“Sure,” I reply. She would never buy it if I told her I hadn’t noticed. No one with eyes would buy that, and especially not Sasha who knows me pretty well.
“You two might want to keep your distance from him,” James, another waiter, says as he comes to join us.
“I’m a happily married woman.” Sasha laughs. “It’s only Callie you have to worry about.”
I feel my face flush and I want to move the conversation onto something else, but James’ words have me intrigued. “What makes you say that? You jealous because he’s getting all of the attention?” I tease him.
“Actually, it’s nice to have a break from all of the attention,” James jokes. “Seriously though, I heard he’s trouble. Rumor has it he’s the youngest manager the chain has ever had. Twenty-four I heard. And he screwed up big time. That’s why he’s here. Got demoted and sent here as punishment I guess.”
Sasha rolls her eyes. “God James, where do you get this shit from? I swear you’re worse than us girls for gossiping. How much of that did you make up?”
“None of it, I swear,” he says with a laugh.
“So who told you?” she demands.
“I have my sources,” James says.
A man sitting at one of his tables catches James’ eye and he scuttles away.
I turn to Sasha. “What have you heard?”
She shrugs. “Nothing much. You’re the one who got the formal introduction. What did Marco tell you?”
“Just his name and that he’s been transferred here from another branch. He only wanted me to show him around because he thought I’d get less done and he’d have another reason to berate me.”
“You know what he’s like. Don’t let him get to you Callie. And to be fair, if that’s your punishment, well I might start acting out myself.” she laughs.
I laugh and shake my head. “Seriously though, it’s probably not what James said. Surely, if he’d done something that bad, they’d just fire him. I guess we give Matt the benefit of the doubt until we get to know him.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Sasha nods.
The head chef calls from the counter and I hurry over to collect desserts for one of my tables. I know I told Sasha to give Matt the benefit of the doubt, and I meant it, but I can’t help mulling over James’ words. What he said would make sense. It would explain Matt’s cocky arrogance. How he acted like he was above being a
