At first, she ignored the sideward glances and whispers. An hour after punching in, Erica walked by her with a whispered, “You’re so lucky.”
Before she asked what made her so lucky, Erica walked away, dinners in hand. After that, Kiera couldn’t ignore the glances from her co-workers, and recalled the whispered conversation between the waitresses in the hallway.
She wanted in on the secret and she knew just who to ask. If anyone wanted to know what was going on, they asked Erica. She always knew what was going on in the restaurant. So when Erica walked by again, Kiera waved her over.
“Do you have a minute?” Kiera asked.
“What’s up?”
Kiera kept her voice low. “What did you mean when you said I’m lucky? And does it have anything to do with why everyone’s giving me funny looks tonight?”
“You’re lucky because you’re dating Gray Sherbrooke. I’d give my right arm for a night with a guy like him,” Erica answered. “Actually, I’d give my right and left arms.”
“How do you know I’m seeing Gray?”
“Social media exploded last night with pictures of you two together. Then, this morning a picture was featured on The Star Report’s Internet edition.”
Kiera had expected the media’s involvement, and her mom had warned her.
“Does everyone know?”
“I think so. I heard the other waitresses talking about it in the employee locker room. Was last night your first date? You two looked so cozy that I told my roommate it couldn’t have been.”
People were discussing her love life? Could she hide out in a closet somewhere for a little while?
Kiera swallowed down her groan. “We’ve been together several weeks now, but we’ve known each other a long time.”
“That’s why he was here that night. Makes sense now. I can’t wait
until I tell my roommate I was right.”
Erica walked away leaving Kiera speechless. If everyone at the restaurant knew, Joanna and Stephanie must know, too. She was surprised that they hadn’t already called demanding all the details. Maybe she should invite them both over tomorrow afternoon. That way, they could both grill her at the same time and save her the trouble of repeating everything.
Chapter 10
Gray smiled and made the appropriate small talk as he entered The Astoria, a posh restaurant and nightclub owned by actor Anderson Brady. He’d been inside once before during Uncle Warren’s presidential run three years ago. Anderson and his father, Patrick, the current California Congressman, had thrown a fundraiser for Uncle Warren’s campaign.
“Gray!”
He recognized Selena Cruise’s voice. Since she was here, that meant Nikki was too.
“Selena, hi.” He gave her a smile.
“We missed you at Nikki’s party. How are you?” She kissed him on the cheek. “Does Nikki know you’re here?”
“No, I haven’t seen her.”
“Well, she’s here with Anderson’s brother if you want to say hi.”
Anderson joined them just then and slid his arm around Selena. “Glad you could make it, Gray.”
“I was in the area and you know how much I love your parties.” Gray scanned the room but so far, he hadn’t seen Nadia.”
“I’m sponsoring another Clean Water Matters fundraiser here in June. I’ll put you on the guest list.”
“Bringing clean drinking water to countries in need is crucial. I’ll try to make it. Even if I can’t, I’m more than happy to support the effort.”
“If you’re interested, I’d love to have your official backing and help with this project. You’d draw in a lot of other big donors.”