Page 16 of Bloody Quarter

“Hello, beautiful. We’ve missed your face around here,” Juan said, pulling out his earbud. I never knew him to work without music playing.

“It feels strange not being here all the time, but I found another part time job. Molisano’s on Bourbon Street.”

“The sweets in that place are not the only thing divine. I would happily drizzle some sauce on Mr. Molisano. He is a fine silver fox,” he said, making me laugh. Great now that image was stuck in my head. “Is he as nice as he is fine?”

“He’s very nice. My sister always went on about how great he was, but I never paid much attention then. He said that he’ll recommend classes for me to take if I decide I want to become a chef.”

“Look at you getting in with all the rich and posh. Girl, you are going to do it. I can feel it.”

Smiling, I stepped into the bathroom and quickly slipped out of the pants and blouse and into the dress Miss Harper had us wear. I adjusted my name badge and smoothed out my crazy hair. I had to find out why this guy was following me around. The last thing I needed was another weirdo in my life.

“We’ll see, but first things first, I need to finish this shift,” I mumbled to myself, dashing out of the bathroom and stepping up beside Miss Harper. “Changed and ready,” I said, tossing my pack under the counter out of sight.

“Perfect timing. Can you take a coffee and those fries over to booth six,” Miss Harper asked, pointing to the fries with gravy that Juan dinged were ready. I held in my groan. Why did I have to have two creepy guys in here at the same time?

“Sure thing.” Grabbing an empty mug, the fresh brew, and the plate of steaming fries, I walked to the back of the restaurant where Coffee Guy was seated. The erratic beating of my heart and knots twisting in my stomach were not normal. I didn’t do the whole gaga over a guy nonsense. I’d learned not to a long time ago, and after being released, I had no interest in getting into anything with anyone, no matter what. There was too much baggage of my own to add someone else’s crap on top of it. Yet here I was, caught between wanting to fan myself and sneaking out the back door to run away.

“Hey, what about me,” Thomas said as I passed his booth. “What am I, chopped liver?”

“I will be right back to take your order,” I said.

“No, I want coffee. Now.”

Asshole.

Coffee Guy looked up from his phone. The dark gleam in his eyes as he stared at the back of Thomas’s head almost had me saying fuck it and taking off. Goosebumps rose all over my arms and the back of my neck. There was death in his eyes. That was the mysterious undertone I’d felt coming off him before. He was dangerous, a whole lot more than I’d originally thought. Stepping back, I quickly poured Thomas his coffee before he made an even larger scene, and a fight broke out.

“I expect better service than this from you,” Thomas said, and I swear I heard a growl. But when I glanced up, Coffee Guy was looking down at his phone once again.

I sucked in a deep breath and approached his table. Setting the plate of fries in front of him, I flipped the mug upright and set it down before filling it.

“Can I ask what you’re doing here?” I pulled out the small milk and creamers from my apron.

“What do you mean? What does it look like I’m doing?”

My brow lifted as I glared at him. Lowering my voice, I said, “You know exactly what I mean. The whole thing about wanting to buy me a coffee, and you know you were just eating a burger. So what are you doing here eating fries?”

As if to accentuate what I’d just said, he picked up a fry and slowly ate it while he casually stared at me. “I’m curious. How do you know that I was just eating a burger….” He pointedly looked at my name tag. “Alora?” I shivered at the way he said my name. It rolled off his tongue far too sexual for the question.

“I know because you were sitting across from my work?”

He leaned back and smirked, which came off as sexy as it was predatory. “I thought you worked here. Are you following me around, Alora? You don’t have to. I’ll still buy you that coffee.”

“No, I am not,” I said through gritted teeth. “Don’t play games with me. What do you want?”

“Maybe I just wanted some hot fries and gravy,” he said as he ate another golden fry.

“Don’t give me that.” I should just walk away. Every second standing here made me more confused than the second before. He licked a drop of gravy off his lips, and desire flicked alive inside me, but I quickly squashed it.

“Alora, please don’t speak to Mr. Laurent like that. He is here as a prospective buyer of the diner,” Miss Harper said softly as she stepped up beside me. I couldn’t hide my shock.

“I’m sorry, what?” I shook my head. “No, that can’t happen.” Mis Harper pressed her lips together, and I knew she wanted me to hush my mouth.

“You seem pretty worked up, considering I’ve only met you once before. Do you have something against me,” he asked, and I wanted to yell, yes, you’re freaking me out, but that wasn’t exactly a good reason.

“I’m just shocked. I love Miss Harper and would be sad to see her go, is all.” Miss Harper put her arm around my shoulders, but Mr. Laurent didn’t seem convinced.

“Oh, sweetie, you know how I feel about you, but these are tough times and call for drastic measures.”