AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Roxana Voss is doing an interview with some exclusive VVVIP in the private dining room—Brandon something, I think—and if I let those three at him, they’re liable to serve him his food on their bare-naked asses.”
Their voices are rising, and the air is thick with the tension of a gladiator-level girl fight about to break out.
Unfazed, I pat Massimo on the shoulder. “Looks like you’ve got more than enough help for one table. I really don’t see a problem.”
“I’ll give you half off your dinner,” he pleads, desperation practically seeping from his pores.
Half off? He’d crap a brick if he knew we all had our fills of the last VVVIP’s leftovers. “Polite pass,” I say and breeze past him.
“If you don’t do this, you and Taylor are both fired.”
I stop dead in my tracks and whip around to face him. “You can’t do that.”
“Desperate times,” he replies, his tone a mix of apologetic and firm.
Oh, this guy. Me getting fired is one thing, but I can’t get my best friend fired. And despite her current jet-setting lifestyle, for the most part, Taylor actually needs this job.
I let out a frustrated sigh. “Fine. One last table,” I grumble, reluctantly shrugging off my coat.
“Table 23. And hurry, they’ve been waiting.”
Table 23 is technically the private-though-not-so-private dining room. It’s more like a slightly elevated platform two steps up from the main dining area, with full view from the kitchen.
He yanks the champagne bottle from the girls and thrusts itinto my hands. “This costs a thousand dollars a bottle. Don’t drop it.”
Don’t drop it? I’m a total klutz. Has he met me?
I clutch the bottle tightly and head toward Table 23, mentally prepping for whatever awaits. But then I see the VIP in the flesh. There she is—Roxana Voss, and she’s not alone.
Hmm. Massimo mentioned a table for two. Funny, because I count two adults, though all I can see of the man is his back, plus one, two, three kids. And another chair. Not sure if they’re waiting on someone or if there’s a dog in that oversized purse, but whatever.
As I close in on the table, I can already sense it—this guy is going to be the Very Important Prick of the century, and I haven’t even seen his face yet.
His voice cuts through the restaurant, loud, demanding, and grating on my last damn nerve. “Can we get some water here, please?”
Seriously.
With the bottle in one hand, I grab a pitcher of water with the other and head over, mentally counting to ten. I let out a long, meditative breath, reminding myself that Taylor is definitely fired if I dump this pitcher of ice water all over Mr. Personality’s enormous head.
CHAPTER 14
Brian
I approach the table with the kids in tow, and I see it—the split-second where Roxana’s flawlessly composed mask slips. Her eyes dart to the kids, and there it is—a flicker of fear, quickly buried beneath a tight, controlled smile. It’s almost impressive how fast she recovers, but I catch it.
“Sorry about this,” I say. “I completely understand if you’d prefer to reschedule.”
Connor coughs on cue, and Snook wipes her nose with her sleeve in a move that’s equal parts adorable and disgusting. And then there’s Ollie, who decides to stick a finger in the water glass. It wasn’t part of the act, and I’d normally correct him for it, but right now? I roll with it.
Her tight smile doesn’t budge. “No, no. We’re here. Let’s have dinner,” she says, her voice threaded with that iron determination that screams she won’t be outdone by a bunch of kids.
Amused, I almost chuckle. Roxie’s in way over her head.
There are three chairs at the table—one for her, one forme, and one, apparently, reserved for her ostentatious and enormous purse.
“Can I sit with the fancy purse?” Snooki asks, her eyes wide with excitement.
Roxie scoots her along. “No. My purse needs a chair all its own,” she says, and every fiber of my being wants to chuck it across the room. But I don’t. I’ve got three kids with me who need a role model, not the Hulk.
