Chapter 5
SAGE
My heart is racing and beating so loudly that I’m worried that everyone in the room can hear it thumping. I swear it’s going to jump out of my body and go running down the road. And I can’t afford to take time off from my new job to go and find it.
I avert my gaze from Dalton and turn to look at Lucia.
Now that I see them together, it’s easy to see that they are related.
He’s one of the handsomest men I’ve ever seen in my life, and she is gorgeous, in that I can wear no makeup and still look stunning way.
The fact that she is also so nice and welcoming would normally make me hate her, but I can’t hate the woman who gave me a job.
I’m about to ask Dalton how often he works here at Mama’s when the bell above the door rings, and we all look toward the front. A lady with curly, shoulder-length black hair and an oversized bag smiles as she makes her way toward us.
“Lordy, Lordy, it’s warm today.” She wipes her brow and shakes her head. “Isn’t the sun meant to get a little cooler this time of year?”
“You say that every day, Gracie.” Lucia hurries over to the older lady and grabs the bag from her.
From my vantage point, I can see different fruits and vegetables almost spilling over the top of the canvas tote bag, and I immediately know Gracie is the chef here at Mama’s Kitchen, though I don’t think that she is Dalton and Lucia’s actual mother.
Dalton and Lucia are olive-skinned, like me, but they don’t appear mixed.
“And every day, the sun laughs in my face and gets hotter.” She fans her face and takes another step forward. “Fancy seeing you here, Dalton. You haven’t been to the restaurant in weeks. I barely recognize you.”
“Now, now, Gracie.” He chuckles, and I’m surprised when I see him giving her a huge hug. So, he’s not an asshole all the time then. “I missed you too, Mama.”
My eyes widen at his comment. Is she his mama? Did I totally get it wrong? I immediately feel ashamed of myself for thinking she wasn’t his mama. I, more than anyone, know mixed families look different. My family is mixed as well and comes in a multitude of shades and appearances.
“Gracie, these are two new employees who Lucia just hired. This is Sage, and this is Rosie.”
“Hi, Sage and Rosie. I’m Gracie. Top chef, potato peeler, and bottle washer.” She smiles warmly at me and then at Rosie. “Are y’all sisters? You look alike.”
“We are.” Rosie looks over at me with happiness on her face.
She’s relaxed here, and I’m glad. The last time we were truly happy was when we were with Juniper in Coconut Beach. Our cousin is the best person we know, and sometimes, I do wonder if we should have stayed there.
“Nice to meet you, Gracie. Are you all related?” I ask because I’m nosy and I can’t not know.
Maybe Gracie is their grandmother. However, she doesn’t look that old. She gives Dalton a look, who then smiles widely and looks over at Lucia.
“Gracie dated our dad when she was younger. And then older,” Lucia explains with a wry smile. “And if that sounds complicated, it’s not really.”
“Robert and I dated when we were teens.” Gracie turns to me. “And then he went off to the Army and got married. And then they got divorced. And he looked me up, and we dated again … up until …” She pauses and looks down, and my breath catches.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” I say quickly. “I didn’t mean to be intrusive. My condolences. May he rest in peace. I was just wondering because Dalton called you Mama, and I was just curious if …” My voice trails off as all three start laughing.
Dalton walks over to me, his eyes shining a shimmery gray-blue as he gazes at me.
“My dad’s not dead. He lives in Boca, Florida, with his lady friend, Gwen. He and Gracie broke up when she realized that he was never going to change.” He sighs. “Sometimes he’s in Italy, sometimes he’s in Florida.”
“He was a good man, until he wasn’t,” Gracie says with a coy smile. “There were many nights when I thought to myself, Gracie, what are you doing with this man? And then he’d buy me a nice piece of jewelry, and it was all good again. But it was kinda like dating Al Capone or something.”
“Now, now, Gracie.” Dalton gives her a look and then takes me by the arm. “Sage, would you like to see the best part of the restaurant? I bet Lucia hasn’t shown you yet.”
“Shown me what?” I ask him suspiciously as I glance down at his hand still on my arm.
He removes it carefully, a twinkle in his eye as he does, and then he mumbles something under his breath that I can’t quite hear.
I choose to ignore him because I’m not going to let this man bother me.
I’m here for a reason, and that reason is not to try and understand my grumpy, rude new boss.
Who also happens to be a single father with the mother unknown.
Toby is cute, and I have no problem with kids, but I don’t even know Dalton, and I know whatever his situation is, it’s complicated.
And I’m not looking for complications. I have my own complications to deal with.
On top of that, I still need to find myself a handsome billionaire who wants to spoil me, lavish me with money, hand me his credit cards with no limits, and let me pamper my sister. I cannot do that by hanging around with Dalton.
Yes, he is dressed nicely, and yes, he drives a Mercedes, but I know from what Lucia said when she offered Rosie and me our jobs that business wasn’t going well and she was worried.
I feel for them, but there is nothing my broke ass can do to help.
And me offering to be with Dalton for a night is not going to pay his bills.
Get your mind out of the gutter, Sage.
“Come with me to find out.”
He grins, and I am once again reminded that Dalton is a handsome man. Not that it matters. I’ve known handsome men before in my life, and that didn’t stop many of them from being douchebags.
“I don’t like secrets.”
“Sage, why don’t you go with Dalton? I’ll take Rosie to the wine cellar, as she says she would like to be a sommelier one day, and we have an amazing cellar.” Lucia gestures toward the back of the restaurant, and Rosie perks up.
“She’s not lying.” Gracie grabs her bag.
Her loose white skirt sways against her ankles as she makes her way toward the kitchen.
“If either of you girls wants to learn how to cook, y’all just come back to the kitchen.
And, Lucia, just let me know when you’re ready to go over the menus for the week.
They had some amazing gourds at the farmers market, and I was thinking of making a butternut squash agnolotti with goat cheese and crispy basil as one of the main courses. ”
“That sounds delicious.” I lick my lips. “I would love to know how to make that.”
“You like cooking?” Dalton looks over at me in surprise, which irritates me.
I want to tell him that just because I’m pretty, it doesn’t mean I don’t have any skills.
It’s an issue both Rosie and I have had to deal with all our lives—men thinking we’re only good for looking pretty on their arm and taking care of them.
We are both intelligent and creative, and we have many other skills, in and out of the bedroom. I want to be appreciated for both.
“I am a good cook actually. What about you?”
“Do you like burned grilled cheese sandwiches and cans of tomato soup?” He grins, cocking his head to the side and shrugging. “Cooking is not one of my skills.”
“What made you want to own a restaurant?” I ask him as we make our way out of the main room and down a small hallway.
We step out onto an oversized patio overlooking the water.
Several tables are set with crisp white tablecloths, small vases of hyacinth flowers, and delicate unlit candles.
I stroll over to the side and gaze out at the water.
Across the other side of the lake is a hill, filled with the most gorgeous mansions, and it takes everything in me to not ooh and aah at how beautiful it is here.
I breathe in the light, fragrant smell of jasmine, which runs up a trellis next to the stone wall of the building.
“I never wanted to own a restaurant.” Dalton appears next to me, holding on to the wooden banister. “It was Gracie’s dream, and I wanted to make her dream come true.”
“You bought the restaurant for her?” I ask in surprise, gazing into his steely-blue eyes.
He nods, seemingly thinking about what he’s going to say next. If I could read minds, I would check to see if he was trying to come up with a lie. Which doesn’t make sense. Why would someone want to come up with a lie for a good deed they’d done?
“Just because she wanted one?”
“Among other reasons. What, like that’s a big deal?”
“It is where I come from.”
“And where is that, Sage?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” I take a step away from him because his woodsy cologne is drifting up my nose again, and it smells far too familiar. Just like how his eyes radiate far too much warmth, which lands in my stomach.
I don’t even know this man, and he’s already doing something to me. And while he’s good-looking, he’s not the best-looking man I’ve ever seen. And his personality doesn’t seem to be A-plus either.
“What’s on your mind?” His eyes narrow. “Your lips just curled up, like you were thinking about something funny.”
“I don’t think you want to know what I was thinking.”
“You were undressing me in your mind, huh?”
“No! What? Of course not.” I blush a deep red as a ripple of shame, excitement, and denial surfs through my stomach.
“No need to be coy.” He smirks. “I can do the same to you if you want.”
“I do not want, thank you very much.”
“You’re so polite when you’re picturing me naked, Sage.”
“I was not picturing you naked. And if I were, why would I be smiling?” I roll my eyes at him. “I’d be laughing, trust me.”
“We can put it to the test if you need me to.”
“Put what to the test?”
“How you’d react if you saw me naked?”
“I think not.” I take another step back, and my jaw drops as I watch him unbutton his shirt. “What on earth do you think you’re doing?”