Excerpt
Monday’s
weren’t usually our busiest night, but when I arrived at work, I was surprised
to hear we were solidly booked.
“We have a
huge party in the private room,” our hostess, Katie, said. “It’s some group with the Medical
University.”
“Humph. I was
hoping to get out of here early tonight.”
“You still
might. You know how those stodgy doctors
can be sometimes.”
“Yeah. But
it’s the middle of summer so it might mean a graduation party or an incoming
group of fellows.”
“Whatever.”
I headed back
to the kitchen to check out the specials for the night. Chef always made us
taste everything so we could describe it to our patrons. It was going to be the crispy flounder and
wahoo for seafood. He also had a pork
tenderloin and a seafood over creamy grits special. I had a difficult time deciding which one I
liked best.
I put on my
apron and figured I would be the one assigned to that big group. Sure enough, I heard the floor manager say,
“Alexia, you, Joe and Sam will handle the private room. Think the three of you
can handle it?”
“No problem,” I replied. I was
quite sure two of us could do it fine.
There would be twenty people.
They would bus the food out to us as well as the drinks so the difficult
part was handled.
“Are they all
here already?”
“Yeah, they
had reservations for six o’clock.”
I
laughed. “They must’ve thought we have
an early bird or something.”
The three of
us headed over to the private room. The
guys always like to let me take the lead because I had a knack for describing
food...or so they said. I think they
just like to weasel out of doing it. I really didn’t mind though because they
always gave me a hand when I needed it in delivering my entrees.
I went over
each of the appetizer and dinner specials and then we took their drink
orders. I’d been right about the
group. They were first year fellows
coming in to do their training in trauma surgery. I smiled tightly at the first
few I hit. I made my way around the group
until I got to the fifth person.
“I’ll have a
Grey Goose extra dirty martini with extra olives.”
Okay, first
off that was my favorite drink. Second,
his voice sounded like rich waves tumbling over smooth rocks. I lifted my eyes and they landed on sizzling
smoky gray, bedroom orbs that were heavily fringed in onyx lashes. My gaze drifted south to a mouth defined by
full sensuous lips. I stared as his tongue peeked out and ran across his lower
lip, slowly, teasingly. I swallowed and lifted my eyes north again to safer
ground. Chiseled face emphasized by high
cheekbones wasn’t exactly what I’d call safe either. Then I noticed his dark hair was thick
and curled softly around the nape of his neck.
This odd urge overcame me and I had to grip down hard on my pad and pen,
for I wanted to brush aside an unruly curl that fell across his forehead.
F****ing
gorgeous. What the hell Lex? Get your mind on the game here!
I heard
someone clear his throat so I nodded and moved along to the next customer. By
the time I finished, I was sweating profusely.
JC, he
put the spell on me! Dayam, he sure had some kind of mojo working there.
I practically
threw my order at the bartender and dashed to the restroom. Grabbing a handful of paper towels, I jammed
them into my armpits and dabbed up the unhealthy level of moisture that had
formed there. Who the hell was I
kidding? That wasn’t moisture. That was pure T flood waters gushing out of
my pores.
S***helldamn!
How the hell am I gonna wait on him now?
I tossed the
towels into the trash, washed my hands, dried them and ran back to the bar to
collect the tray of drinks. It was ginormous.
Joe, Sam or any of my runners were nowhere to be found, so I hefted up
the tray and headed to my table.
I watched
Smoky Eyes as I approached and I could feel his eyes as he was downright
staring at me. I set the tray down
carefully and then started handing everyone their drinks. When I got to him, he took the drink from my
hand, briefly touching me with his pinky.
I shivered.
What
the hell Lex? It was his damn pinky! Get a grip for Christ’s sake.
My hand was
shaking as I reached for the next glass and I knew he saw it. I could feel the
heat of his eyes as they bore into me as I moved along the table. When I finished, Joe and Sam made an
appearance with their drinks and then it was time to take their appetizer orders.
I reviewed the
specials again, my voice shaking with nervous tension.
“Does anyone
have any questions?” I asked.
“I do,” Smoky
Eyes said. He grinned at me, and of course, a perfect set of teeth, minus a
slight chip on his left front tooth, accompanied the rest of his perfect self.
“Yes?” I
countered, as I swallowed around the thickness that had formed in my throat.
“Can you tell
me about the oysters?” he purred.
“Um,” I
swallowed again, “since it’s July, our oysters are pretty much
nonexistent. We do offer some fried
ones, but honestly, I don’t recommend them because they’ve been frozen.”
“I see. Then what exactly do you recommend?”
His voice was
like butter being spread over warm bread.
Smooth, rich and creamy.
“Er, well, our
grits cake with tasso gravy is our trademark appetizer. It’s excellent. Our uptown eggrolls are also
very tasty.”
“Hmm. They
both sound delicious. I think I’ll try the grits cake please.”
“Excellent
choice.” I moved around the table and
completed the order on my end. I found
myself on a mad dash to the kitchen, tossing my order at the chef and heading
for the restroom again. At this rate, all the paper towels would be gone in an
hour.
Thank heavens
my runner was around to deliver the appetizers.
I followed him to make sure each dish was delivered to the correct
person and checked to see if everyone was pleased with their order. Smoky Eyes was purring with delight so I’d
made a good call on the grits cake for him.
I took
everyone’s dinner order and it went fine...except for you know who. He had a ton of questions, of course. The
corners of his mouth would lift a bit so I knew he recognized the effect he had
on me. I was getting annoyed already...not so much with him, but with myself. How could my own body betray me so badly?
Ugh!
“Tell me...”
“It’s Alexia.”
“Of course.
Forgive me. Tell me Alexia. Is the wahoo moist and tender?”
“Yes. It’s
fresh off the boat today. It’s pan
seared and finished off in the oven. It’s quite delicious.”
“Is it juicy?
It’s not too fishy is it?”
“No, it’s a
very mild white fish. Not too dense and
yes, it’s juicy. Not dry at all.” I
grinned.
Someone at the
table said, “Just order the damn fish already Pearce. It’s only a meal for Christ’s sake.”
“True, but
it’s an important meal, isn’t is Alexia?”
I raised a
brow and said, “I wouldn’t know. But, I
don’t think the fish will disappoint you.”
He said under
his breath, but loud enough for me to hear, “It’s not the fish I’m concerned
about. Yes, then I’ll try the wahoo.”
Thank all the
gods in all heavens everywhere. Smoky
Eyes has made a decision. Hallelujah!
The entire
table clapped for him and I snorted.
He gave me a
look that sent shivers up my spine. I
moved along and finished taking the rest of the orders.
The rest of
their meal went along very nicely. I
remained off the radar except for the few drink orders I had to take and
dessert time. Smoky Eyes ordered a very expensive port and followed every move
of mine with his eyes. Damn, he was
sexy.
By the time
they all stood up to leave, it was nine thirty.
I was ready for them to get the show on the road. The restaurant was nearly empty. I was thinking about heading down the street
for a few drinks afterward.
They all
headed towards the door when Smoky Eyes brushed up against me. He grabbed my hand and thanked me for my
excellent service and patience with him.
Then he pushed a wad of bills in my hand and walked out. This was a tip
beyond what had already been left with the payment.
I headed back
to the restroom and unfolded the wad and saw it was two one hundred dollar
bills and his business card. Smoky Eyes
had a name. I looked closely at the
card. He was a trauma surgeon at the
Medical University and his name was H. Pearce Middleton. On the back of the card he’d written a note:
Please
call me. I’d love to take you to dinner
sometime. PM
Hmm. Middleton
was an old Charleston name. I wondered
if he was one of those Middleton’s. If
so, he’d been toying with me big time. A
Charleston Middleton would know what wahoo was and would also know oysters were
out of season in July. In any case, it didn’t matter, because I would never
call him. He didn’t need to get involved
with me. I was a mess and he was a totally cool, put together guy that was hotter
than sin and probably smarter than hell.
What in the world would he do with a strung out slut that partied too
hard and ended up in bed with two guys at once that she didn’t even know? Besides, I wasn’t ready to date anyone.
Probably wouldn’t ever be ready to date anyone.
