“Then why are you opening the door? These people are gonna kick us out. I don’t want to get arrested on a Saturday. All I need is for my Garden Club to hear that I was locked up for trespassing. Not today.” Hyacinth was spiraling. Maybe the incident outside with the car had messed her up more than she thought.
Once inside, he walked her over to a table, pulled out the chair, and motioned for her to sit. “Bennie? Hey, can you grab Ms…” He glanced down at her. “You never told me your name.”
Caught up in her perusal of the fancy restaurant, she almost missed his words. “My what?”
“Your name, sweetheart. You never told me.”
“Oh, I’m Hyacinth. Hyacinth Moore.” Now why did she tell him her full name? This entire day was just one big cluster-fuck. First her roommate’s booty call hanging around their apartment, then almost getting hit by a car in broad daylight, and finally, this super sexy man trying to take care of her.
“Like the flower?”
Nodding in response, she couldn’t seem to look away.
“Beautiful name. Like its owner.” Rhys glanced up at the man standing a few feet away. “Bennie, would you please grab Ms. Hyacinth some water? Have you eaten?”
He must have been speaking to her, because his gaze was back on her face.
“No. I was too busy with the discussion at the Garden Club about new ways to keep my mulch hydrated, since more water restrictions are forcing us to cut back.”
A slight smile came over his face. “Okay, well, hydrating your garden is very important.”
Her eyes snapped to him. Was he flirting?
Rhys looked back at Bennie. “And have Chef make her a roast beefau jus.”
“Yes, sir.”
While they spoke, Hyacinth was trying to understand what was happening. “Who are you? Why are you telling that guy what to do and having the chef make me…”
“Rhys Mannetti at your service.”
“Oh shit. I mean, oh damn. Mannetti? As in the name of this restaurant? That Mannetti?”
“Yes. Well, my father is the original Mannetti. This isn’t our first location, but it’s mine.”
A little stuck on what to say next, Hyacinth stayed silent. As the waiter, Bennie, walked back in with a glass of water and a basket of bread, she breathed a sigh of relief.
“Ma’am,” he said, bowing slightly after he placed the items on the table. “Chef will have your meal ready in five minutes.”
“Thank you, Bennie. I don’t want anyone to go to any trouble for me. I’m alright.”
As the waiter went to speak, Rhys interrupted. “Drink your water, Hyacinth.”
When she glanced at him, she saw him sitting in of the table chairs. His long legs splayed, one hand on the table, and the other on one thigh.
“I’m thinking we need to get you to the hospital to get checked out.”
She shook her head. “I appreciate the worry, but everything’s okay. Actually, I’m a little embarrassed about the whole thing. I’d just left a meeting with some friends.”
“The Garden Club?”
A smile came over her lips. If she’d been watching him, she would have noticed Rhys sit up and pay closer attention. He thought she was one of the most beautiful women he’d seen in a very long time. His restaurant had taken up so much of his time, dating had been placed on the back-burner. Not that he didn’t have women lined up and ready for him to break them off a piece of dick, but those encounters had lost their flavor a long time ago. It had been months since he had a woman in his bed. Maybe that’s why he was responding so strongly to Hyacinth.
Odd name, but it suited her. As he stared across the table, he couldn’t help but notice the hint of pink coloring in her cheeks. Her brown eyes were big, expressive. He could most definitely see himself enjoying some quiet time with her.
The sandwich came out of the kitchen a few minutes later. Same waiter, but this time he averted his eyes. Good, Rhys thought to himself.
He had noticed that the young man’s eyes had been lingering on Hyacinth a bit too long. For some reason, that bothered him.