"I have a feeling that's going to change soon."
"Oh?" Damn it, I've piqued her interest. I should have kept my mouth shut. "Did you meet someone?"
"I don't want to jinx myself, but maybe?" Please don't ask any more questions.
"Can I meet her?" And there we are. The million-dollar question I knew she'd ask. Also, the reason I knew I should have kept my mouth shut, but she was so upset about me leaving. I had to do something.
"Maybe." I hold up my hand to keep her from asking again. "I'm not exactly sure where things stand with her right now. I'm not bringing anyone home to meet you and the family unless I know for sure they are worth it."
"See," she smiles, "a good boy." She pats my cheek before kissing it and giving me a quick hug. "Make sure you eat this before you go to work."
"Promise." The need to tell my dad bye is still there. Even though it usually took twenty minutes to actually leave because we’d get started on another conversation. One day it won’t hurt as badly, right? I turn toward the door and head to my car. I have to return a book to a woman. Assuming she actually comes back for it.
The bar is unlocked when I get there. I guess Angie opened up after all. When I walk in, Eric is standing behind the bar, checking the inventory. He eyes the wrapped foil in my hands. "Is that for me?"
"No," I groan. "It's breakfast, my mom cooked for me. If I have any left over, you can have it."
"Aw," his head tilts to the side. "That's adorable."
I walk to one of the empty tables and sit down. "Shut up." Unwrapping one of the breakfast burritos, I ask, "Where's Angie?"
"She left already. She was here long enough to unlock the door and let me in." She's more trusting than I am.
Eric's a good kid, but he's new. Well, newish to both the bar and bartending in general. Though I'm impressed he was already going over the inventory without any instruction. There are still times I have to remind Angie to do it, and she owns the place. Not that she works behind the bar all that often. She's usually holed up in the office doing paperwork and looking for vendors that aren't going to screw us on prices. She needs to get with these contractors and see when they are going to be done with this expansion. We need the space sooner rather than later and I'm getting tired of hearing banging on the walls every morning when I'm trying to open up.
"Cool." I take a bite of the burritos and it is happiness wrapped in a tortilla. Eggs with papas. I need to find my mom's secret because mine never turn out like this when I make them. By the time I add the papas to my eggs, they burn and it's just not as tasty.
"Are you sure you're going to eat all those?" Eric is still staring down my food. "It smells delicious." He wipes down the bar and puts a couple of menus out for the lunch crowd while he waits for my response.
Normally, I wouldn't share, but I need to unlock the office and grab Caroline's book. Not to mention finish taking the chairs down from the tables. We open in less than an hour and until a few more people come in, it's our job to get this place going. "Sure."
"Yes," he fist pumps the air and rushes around the bar to sit down at the table with me. "Thank you. I didn't want to be late so I didn't eat breakfast. Then you weren't here and I called Angie. It's been one of those mornings."
"Woah, no need to explain." I don't need his whole life story. I take another bite of my food. And like clockwork, the banging starts in the expansion area. I need to make a point to go talk to them today. It was supposed to be done by now, and yet...here we are.
"You seem like you're in a good mood today. He unwraps the foil. "Does it have anything to do with a certain blonde from last night?"
This is the problem with everyone here being extra friendly. Well, everyone other than me. I'm usually the grumpy one. That's what Angie says, and it's her putting it nicely. I'm sure I have some less than favorable nicknames from some of our employees.
"Maybe working in my mom's yard gave me happy endorphins."
"Yeah, I seriously doubt that," he snorts. He scrunches his nose as one of the power tools comes to life in the dance area. "Hopefully, they are done working before our first customers come in for lunch. I know they've been understanding, but it's getting old."
"Ain't that the truth," I mutter. I finish my burrito and crumble the foil wrapper. "I need to take care of some stuff in the office. If Caroline comes in while I'm back there, come get me. I don't care if anyone else isn't here yet." Standing, I grab my trash and head toward the office. "And pull these chairs off some of these tables, leave the ones in the back for the rest of the staff to do when they come in."
"I see having a possible date hasn't pulled the stick out of your ass." He grumbles.
"I heard that."
"You were supposed to." He yells back. He better be happy I like him, otherwise I'd probably fire him. The fact that he was here early, without being on the schedule, is impressive. As annoying as he can be, he's good at his job. I'll have to keep an eye on him.
My hands fumble in my pocket for the keys and they clang as they hit the floor. I'm second guessing my whole plan to talk to Caroline again. I could easily have one of the other employees give her book back to her. Grabbing the keys, I unlock the door and rush to the desk, unlocking the drawer her book is in. Okay, nobody else has been in here. That's a relief.
I still don't know what I'm going to do about her, though. Last night was a knee jerk reaction. She needed me to play a part and I did. I'd do it again if the situation presented itself. But she left right after everything happened, and nothing feels resolved. What if she comes in and blames me for taking advantage of the situation? She's not completely wrong, but someone had to put that asshole in his place, and I'm happy it was me. Though, she could have handled it on her own. She threw me in the middle. I should be upset, or mad. Something. I asked her out and she was preparing to let me down gently. Then to be thrown in the middle of whatever is going on between them and the whiplash that caused.
I hear more people talking in the bar area, and glance at the clock. Good, not time to open yet. It's just the rest of the morning crew. I have a bit to wrap my head around everything. The hope and possibilities I felt not even an hour ago is slipping away into fear. I know her friends keep trying to hook us up, not unlike my fellow employees. But what if she thinks I'm not good enough for her. Or, even worse, agrees to go on a date with me because she pities me.
That's it. I'm not going to give her the book myself. I grab it from the drawer and walk toward the door. I didn't pay attention to the cover before, but it's definitely not something I assumed she'd read. I had her pegged as a thriller reader, but this...it has a woman on the cover in a crouch with a red dress. She looks dangerous, but also independent. I glance over the title,Soulbound. From the words on the cover, it looks like a witch book, and now I'm intrigued. I usually read apocalyptic books, but maybe reading this will help me learn a bit more about her. I make a mental note to stop by the bookstore at some point this week.