She glanced at her watch. “An hour. Have you eaten?” He shook his head. “Grab an empty table outside. I’ll order us something and we can eat together once I’m off.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He turned to go but stopped and twisted back and gave her a kiss. “You’re super sexy when you kick ass.”
“Thankfully I didn’t have to kick anything this time.” She laughed. “Just pour.”
When she went back to the kitchen, Elle was sitting down on a tall barstool, holding her stomach.
“Are you alright?” she asked, rushing to her friend’s side.
“Yes, just…” She took Jules’s hand and held it to her side. Jules felt a bump against her hand. “They’re playing soccer in there, I swear it,” Elle said with a laugh.
Jules relaxed and enjoyed feeling the new life kicking against her hands.
“Oh, I should warn you, I had to dump a pitcher of ice water on a guest,” she said with a smile.
“Had to?” Elle frowned. “Are you okay?”
“I love that that is the first thing you ask me. Not if the guest was mad. Which he was, by the way. He promised to get me fired.”
Elle shrugged. “He probably deserved it. I can cut his stay short if you want?”
Jules thought about it for a moment and shook her head. “No, I think he got the point.”
Elle smiled. “Mighty, mighty Jules. Okay, on that note, I’m going to head to bed. These two have had enough for one night.”
“Goodnight,” she said, and went back to work.
Sure enough, when she stepped outside, the man was talking with Zoey, who was patiently listening to the man scream while his wife sipped her drink as if the entire thing was a show.
The moment the man saw her, he pointed and raised his voice. “That’s her. She ruined my Versace. This is an eighteen-hundred-dollar shirt. Not to mention my shorts.” The man was on a roll now. Jules didn’t know if he enjoyed all the attention he was getting or was really that upset she’d cooled him off.
Zoey reached up and rubbed the sides of her forehead as she quietly got the man to stop yelling.
There were only a handful of guests still out on the patio at this time of night. Most had eaten their dinners and retired or headed back to the pool area where they could relax and take a dip to cool off.
Even thought it was early summer, tonight was one of the first really hot nights. There would be more, lots more, but this was the first of the year. Which is why the luau was perfect for tonight.
Knowing that Zoey would handle things, she made her way over to Damion.
“Know what you want?” she asked him as she set down a glass of water in front of him, then took a sip of her own and sat it down where she would be sitting in about an hour.
“Do you really think he’s that upset that you ruined his shirt or is it more that you denied him?” Damion asked, watching the show.
“The latter. I would guess he has plenty of money to buy another shirt. Men like that have fragile egos and when they see someone they want and can’t have, they turn into two-year-olds who can’t have the toy they want,” she said with a slight sigh.
“Does this happen often around here?” he asked, looking up at her.
“Enough that Zoey knows exactly what went down without having to ask me my side of the story.” She waved to Zoey who rolled her eyes while her back was turned to the man.
Damion was quiet as she turned back to him.
“Does it happen to all the women working here?” he asked.
“Most, which is why we all attend Aubrey’s self-defense classes.”
“But you feel safe here, right?”
“Of course. There are cameras everywhere.” She motioned to the few covering the patio area. Seeing Damion’s worry had her sitting down next to him. “Hey, stuff like this doesn’t happen every day. I’m normally standing behind the front desk. Far away from drunk men who want to hit on me. Besides, have you seen my outfit?” She waved her hands up and down her body. “I’d want to hit on me. I should have worn a warning label. Look but don’t touch.”