Chapter 2
Lisbeth hadme running all over hell and half of Georgia on Monday. Her poodle, Miss Birdie, needed a shampoo and trim. Then Lisbeth had her weekly hair appointment. It was time for her to have a bit of a rinse put on, as she called it.
On a whim, Lisbeth had decided she wanted to redecorate her home. Since it was on the historic register in South Carolina, she had to have someone from the local committee come in and review the plans. She didn’t intend to make any structural changes … only painting, fabrics, new furniture and the like. She was a stickler about adhering to the rules, thus I made sure all the fabric swatches and paint samples were there, along with the other things she planned to do. The representative from the committee would arrive right after lunch. In the meantime, I made sure Lisbeth had eaten lunch and then I left to pick up Miss Birdie from the groomer’s.
Later that afternoon I went for a run around downtown, came home, showered, and got ready for my other job.
Mondays weren’t usually our busiest night, but when I arrived at work, it was surprising to hear we were solidly booked.
“We have a huge party in the private room,” our host, Katie, said. “It’s some group with the Charleston Medical University.”
“Humph. I hoped 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 and it might mean a graduation party or an incoming group of fellows.”
“Whatever.” I shrugged as it didn’t matter now.
My first stop was the kitchen to check out the specials for the night. Chef always had us taste everything. He wanted us to accurately describe it to our patrons. Tonight, we had the crispy flounder and fresh-off-the-boat wahoo for seafood. He also had a pork tenderloin and a shrimp over creamy grits appetizer special. I had a difficult time deciding which one I liked best.
I slipped 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 three of us could manage just fine. There would be twenty people total. Shouldn’t be too bad.
“Are they 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 liked me to take the lead because I had a knack for describing food, or so they said. The truth was they liked to weasel out of doing it. I didn’t mind though because they always gave me a hand when I needed it clearing the tables and delivering entrees.
After I went over each of the appetizer and dinner specials, 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 worked 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 reminded me of butter being spread over warm bread. I raised my head and my eyes 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 slowly across his lower lip. What a tease. 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. An odd urge overcame me, and I had to grip down hard on my iPad and stylus, for I wanted to brush aside an unruly curl that fell across his forehead.This man was fucking gorgeous. Someone cleared his throat, urging me on to the next customer. By the time I finished, I was sweating profusely.
The bartender raised his brows as I practically threw my order at him and then 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 was I kidding? That wasn’t moisture. That was pure flood waters gushing out of my pores. How would I continue waiting on this man without having a massive meltdown?
I tossed the towels into the trash, washed and dried my hands, and ran back to the bar to collect the tray of drinks. It was ginormous. Joe, Sam, or the rest of the runners must”ve been busy elsewhere because they were nowhere to be found. I hefted up the heavy tray and headed to the table.
It was hard not to stare at Smoky Eyes. As I approached, his eyes burned a hole in me. He was blatantly staring. Carefully setting the tray down, I handed out the drinks. When I reached him, he took the drink from my hand, and briefly touched me with his pinky. I shivered. I’d never gotten a pinky shiver before.
My hand was shaking as I reached for the next glass, and he saw it. The heat of his gaze continued to bore into me as I moved along the table. When I finished, Joe and Sam showed up with more drinks and then it was time to take the 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, and of course, a perfect set of teeth, minus a slight chip on his left front tooth, accompanied the rest of his perfect self.
I should’ve expected him to ask something. “Yes?” I countered, as I swallowed around the thickness in my throat.
“Can you tell me about the oysters?” he purred.
“Er”—I swallowed again, “since it’s July, I don’t recommend them. The ones we offer are fried, but they’ve been frozen.”
“I see. Then what exactly do you recommend?”
“Er, well, our grits cake with shrimp and tasso gravy is our trademark appetizer. It’s excellent. Our southern eggrolls are also outstanding.”
“Hmm. They both sound delicious. I think I’ll try the grits cake, please.” That voice of his was going to be my undoing tonight.
“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 hummed with pleasure. I high-fived myself for the excellent call on the grits cake suggestion.
I took everyone’s dinner order, and all went well except for you know who. He had a ton of questions, of course. The corners of his mouth lifted a bit. He must’ve recognized the effect he had on me. I was getting annoyed already, not with him, but with myself. How could my own body betray me this badly? Ugh.
“Tell me ...”
“It’s Alexia.”
“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?”
Good grief, I almost rolled my eyes. Moist, tender, and juicy?
“No, it’s a very mild white fish. Not too dense and it’s 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 it, Alexia?”
I raised a brow and said, “I wouldn’t know. But I don’t think the fish will disappoint.”
He said under his breath, but loud enough for me to hear, “It’s not the fish I’m concerned about.” Then in a louder voice, he added, “Yes, then I’ll try the wahoo.”
Thank all the gods in heavens everywhere. Smoky Eyes made a decision. Hallelujah! The entire table clapped for him, and I snorted.
He cast me a look that sent shivers up my spine. I moved along and finished taking the remaining 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 when it came to dessert. Smoky Eyes ordered a very expensive port and followed every move of mine with his eyes. Man, oh man, he was sexy.
By the time they stood up to leave, it was nine thirty. I was ready for them to get the show on the road. The restaurant had emptied, and I thought 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 into my palm and walked out. This tip was beyond what had already been left with the payment.
I headed back to the restroom and unfolded the wad and saw it was four fifty-dollar bills and his business card. Smoky Eyes had a name. I inspected the card. He was a trauma surgeon at the medical school 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 Middletons. If so, he’d been toying with me the entire 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 one hot mess and he was a totally cool, put-together guy who was hotter than sin and probably smarter than anyone I’d ever met. What in the world would he do with a strung-out sleaze 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.