“Why wouldn’t I be?” I answered. Turning my back on him, I unlocked the handle and exited the bathroom, noting that the well-dressed older woman at the threshold appeared slightly inconvenienced. Then Cade exited behind me and her expression shifted to positively scandalized.
“We thought this was the kitchen,” I said with a smile, but my excuse made zero sense.
When she latched the bathroom door, I turned to see Cade smiling. Dimple and all. Not gonna lie, my knees went a little gooey.
“K-kitchen,” he repeated.
“Shut up,” I murmured, then I beelined for the bar, where I collected my purse from Rena, said a quick goodbye, and drove straight home.
But on the way, I noticed I was smiling too. All because of the almost kiss in Oak & Sage’s ladies’ room.
Cade
I should probably be grateful that Devlin drove me home from work so my father didn’t have to pick me up. It wasn’t like I could ask Tasha for a ride. By the time I meandered to the bar, she was out the door, her hair swishing behind her.
Not sure exactly what happened in there. She’d dragged me into the bathroom and peppered me with sexual innuendo like buckshot. Then there was the matter of the locked door, and the fact that we had a few minutes to ourselves that had nothing to do with therapy.
By the time she’d made suggestions on how I could relax, the only option I could think of was Kissing you.
So close. I could still taste the shared air between us. Still smell the slightly fruity fragrance of her bubblegum pink lip gloss.
“I get it,” Dev interrupted, jerking me out of my thoughts. “Hamilton is a dick.”
After Tasha left, I pulled out my phone and sent Devlin a text telling him exactly what had happened in the kitchen. Then I’d ventured back into the kitchen to help, despite the cold stares coming from the line.
Devlin had changed into his kitchen clothes and ran the grill in Hamilton’s absence, and it wasn’t like any of the guys would dare challenge me in front of him.
The worst part about it was that my biggest and best defense, that formerly silver tongue of mine, was at present my worst enemy. I couldn’t stand up for myself or make a case for myself. Instead, I stayed silent and relied on looking mean. At least they knew I wasn’t afraid to throw a punch.
“That said, he’s my only grill guy,” Devlin said now. “If he quits…I’m screwed, man. Unless you want to be trained on grill.” His eyes flicked to mine before returning to the road again. I didn’t have to speak for him to know my answer. I wasn’t looking to build a career at Oak & Sage.
It started to rain and I watched the drops hit the windshield while I groused.
“I’m not giving you special treatment,” Dev continued.
I didn’t want special treatment, but telling him so would involve a lot of complicated words, so instead I pressed out two I was capable of. “Got it.”
In my driveway, Devlin waved a hand without looking over at me. “I’ll talk to the guys.”
“D-don’t.” I leveled him with my most severe glare. The last thing I needed was my brother telling everybody not to pick on me.
He nodded as if he understood. Maybe he did.
“Fine. But find a better way to communicate with them that does not involve you throwing your fists. Do it again, Cade, and I swear, you’re fired. I don’t care whose fault it is. I’m running a restaurant, and it’s a lot harder than it looks.”
Pissed at being treated like a child, I climbed out of the car and slammed the door. Which admittedly was a childish reaction. Of the two of us, I understood how Devlin saw himself as the consummate adult. He was living with his girlfriend, running the restaurant, raking in money. But I refused to be pitied or treated like I was less-than because I’d been forced to start over.
Directly after the accident, I had pretty much hated life and everything that went with it. That included my father, that included Devlin, and that included the unfairness of life in general. Now I was torn between anger and something else…I don’t know what it was, but it felt a lot like motivation to be better.
That was some shit.
Headlights swept out of the driveway as I punched in the code for the garage door. The rain was light, but I found myself wishing it would storm. That might be enough to dampen my temper. My interaction with Hamilton was an hour-plus in the past, but I still vibrated with anger.
After the garage door rose to the top, I closed it again and went upstairs to my home away from home, grateful I didn’t run into my dad when I walked in, since I wanted to be alone.
But once I stepped into the kitchenette and pulled a bottle of water from the fridge, I realized that I didn’t want to be alone. My gaze moved from the rain-spattered window to the empty love seat.
I didn’t want to be alone at all.