CHAPTER 5
Emma
Everything screeched to a stop when I saw the orc that I had been avoiding at the Bureau sitting at one of my tables.
Fuck, fuck, FUCK.
What was I supposed to do? My first instinct was to run the other way, but then I would look like a complete lunatic and I was hoping to keep this job. The tips were great, and I just couldn’t afford to lose it.
Ignoring the adrenalin that had rushed into my limbs, I took cautious steps to the table, pasting a fake smile on my face. Everyone else was looking between me and the orc and with a mix of confusion and satisfaction.
It looked like that same group that he’d been at the Bureau with and I cursed myself that I couldn’t look away from him long enough to study them properly. Instead, I handed him the stack of menus like a complete idiot and stared at him, allowing the silence to effectively swallow us.
“What a nice place,” the female two seats down commented. “I’m so glad Krusk decided to bring us here.” She finished her thought with a finger pointed in the direction of the male I was currently staring at.
His mouth curved into a wide smile, his fangs flashing on his handsome face and a pair of dimples creasing the area of his cheeks nearest his tusks.
Fuck. Just when I thought he couldn’t get any more handsome.
Dimples had always been a weakness of mine. And here they were, completing his perfect face in the perfect way.
Why is this happening to me?
“And what’s your name?” the female asked, since it now appeared as though I was incapable of having a polite conversation.
“Emma,” I rasped, before clearing my throat.
I yanked my gaze away from the brown eyes of the male that were banked with a heat I couldn’t understand.
Focusing on her—and of course she was beautiful, with a short crop of curls, a mischievous smile and a twinkle in her eyes.
“My name’s Emma, and I’ll be your server today. ”
“Emma,” the male next to me purred, while the female plucked the menus from his hands and passed them around. “That’s a beautiful name.” His words were low and hushed, as though he’d meant them only for me.
Heat rushed to my cheeks and I cleared my throat, looking anywhere but at him.
“Thank you,” I responded, before pulling my pad and pen from my apron.
It gave me something to focus on other than him.
“Is there anything you’d like to start with?
Any drinks you’d like?” I was focusing on the rest of the table now and they were all leaning back with satisfied smiles as they watched us.
“What would you recommend?” one of the males asked, his menu still closed in front of him, amusement clear in his voice.
“Well we have an amazing selection of vegan drinks. Alcoholic and non-alcoholic,” I added, and one of the males tilted his head.
“Vegan?” he asked, looking around the table. “What’s that?”
My eyebrows swept up and I blinked at him. “Food and drink that’s made without any animal products… You do know that this is a vegan restaurant, right?” I asked, only just realizing that this was a table filled with orcs. The least vegan species on the planet.
All eyes turned to Krusk, glares lasered in on where he was sitting with his chin on his fist grinning at me. “And what do you recommend, Zemar? I’ll eat anything you tell me to.”
Did he… What the hell had he just called me?
The eye-rolls around the table as menus snapped shut were huge.
“Please bring us one of everything on the menu,” the other male sighed, collecting the menus and handing them back to me.
“And we’ll have two of your best bottles of wine.
Red, please. And some milk, if you have it, for when the little one wakes up.
” Then he added in a lower mutter, “Since it seems like I won’t be having any steak anytime soon.
” The female ran her hand in a soothing gesture over the back of his, but she was still smiling at me.
“It seems as though Krusk wasn’t really focused on the food when he picked this place,” she told me with a wink, and I nodded before turning and scurrying away to the order station. I tried not to focus on the intense stare of Krusk as I entered the staggering amount of food onto the screen.
If this was the kind of money that they could toss around on a daily basis, then he was significantly out of my league. I shoved that thought away. It didn’t matter if he was in my league or not. He was just a customer.
It was difficult not to look at him, my fingers shaking as I tapped away. The rest of the members of the table were chatting, laughing and joking. I could tell that a few of these were aimed at Krusk, but he never got distracted. I was the center of his focus and it was intimidating.
Even as I moved on to other tables, smiling and laughing with them as they ordered, I felt the burn of awareness low in my stomach that he was still looking at me—that I had his full, undivided attention. I almost stumbled again as I made my way back to his table with the bottles of wine.
Whoever the hell is listening up there, please give me the strength to make it through this debacle.
I forced the same uber-polite smile on my face that I had before, offering the cork to the male who had ordered, but he smiled and shook his head, gesturing toward Krusk instead. “I’m sure it’ll be more useful to have Krusk decide,” he insisted and I felt my jaw ache as I gritted my teeth.
What the hell is happening here? Is this some sort of game? Some sort of bet?
My smile tightened but I turned to Krusk anyway. “Here you go, sir,” I said, and he shook his head.
“Krusk. My name is Krusk,” he insisted.
“Krusk,” I gritted out, still holding out the cork to him.
He took it with huge fingers that were gentle.
They brushed against mine and I yanked my hand away, the burn of his touch searing me to my core.
The cork dropped to the floor and embarrassment scalded me.
“Sorry,” I gasped, dropping down to scoop it up.
He was there before I was, his warm palm cupping my hand and stopping me as he bent to collect the cork.
He held it out to me with a rueful smile.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this… I hadn’t meant to bother you where you work.
I just thought…” he trailed off, clearing his throat and his gaze dropped to his feet as if he was bashful. “Do you want us to leave?”
Panic swept over me. The table had ordered a huge amount of food and my manager had even come out to check that the number showing up on her system was correct.
If they left now, what would we even do with all the food that they were in the middle of preparing? Also, did I actually want him to leave?
He hadn’t done anything to make me uncomfortable—other than the staring. He’d been… sweet. Which wasn’t something that happened often. And if he decided to start dating Lin, we’d probably meet outside of work anyway. I’d have to get used to him.
“No, of course not,” I told him, shaking my head, looking anywhere but right at him. “I’ll bring out the appetizers soon.”
Instead of pouring the wine like I should have, I abandoned the table again and rushed into the kitchen area. I was breathing hard, even though I hadn’t run like I’d wanted to.
Hans, the owner and executive chef, and the nicest kobold I’d ever met, narrowed his eyes at me as he stirred, tossed and sautéed with the flair that had earned the restaurant a reputation for some of the finest food in the city.
His scales were a soft bronze, dulled with age and years of kitchen heat, and his snout twitched, letting me know that he’d scented me.
He had a line of stools to help him reach the top of the stoves and prep stations, but that didn’t take away from the expertise of his cooking techniques.
His apron—far too big for his short frame—was dusted with flour and smudged with the faint shimmer of spice powder.
His tail, thick and ridged with old scars, tapped against the flagstones in a slow, patient rhythm.
“Trouble on the floor?” he asked, still looking at me as his hands moved. The rest of the kitchen staff were in a tizzy as well. Probably getting all the food ready for my table of orcs.
“Nothing I can’t deal with,” I told him with a thumbs up.
Please don’t ask me anything else.
He hummed a non-committal response and turned back to what he was doing. “It seems like there’s already enough on your plate,” he said, and I swallowed hard, knowing it was true. “So if you want to talk, you know I’m always here to listen.”
I sagged against the wall, nodding. “Thanks, Hans,” I murmured and he pointed a long finger toward where there were trays of food lined up in neat lines like soldiers.
“There’s the first round of appetizers for that table of orcs,” he told me, a smile crossing his face. “You know, the one with that male that’s been staring at you since he first walked through the door.”
My mouth opened and closed to respond, nothing coming out. “How the hell would you know that? You’ve been in here the entire time!”
“This is my restaurant,” he said with a stern sniff. “I know everything that happens here.” He chuckled, as he tossed the food in a pan with a flick of his wrists. “Also, Katie has a pot going about whether the male’s going to ask you out before or after dessert.”
I sputtered a non-response. “That’s… that’s not going to happen.”
He gave a quick nod. “Sure, sure. Now get the food out while it’s hot.”
I grabbed plates, balancing them on my tray and glaring in his direction. “This place is just full of nosy—”
“Yeah, yeah,” he agreed, waving me off again. “A bunch of gossips. Now come back and tell me if they like anything. I never thought I’d ever get an orc in here. Much less a group of them.”