Relieved that Grace had stepped away, Sal was still pissed at the fact that she overheard his conversation with Melissa. He wasn’t sure what was going on with her and whoever she was talking to, but he didn’t like the idea of her thinking he was off the market. He already felt her apprehension about opening up last night when she told him about her dad. The last thing he needed was to put up another wall. Melissa could be that very wall, especially if her crap started up again. Why the hell had he listened to Romero?
When Melissa finally left, he walked around casually, looking for Grace, but she had completely disappeared. She was back at the bar when he emerged from the back room after an hour long conference call. Feeling like a giddy high school kid, he walked up to the bar. “So you have a ride tonight?”
She turned to him but went back to making the drinks she was working on. “I do.”
Disappointed, he glanced around the restaurant, trying not to show it. “Joey or Taylor?”
“Neither.”
He turned back to her. “Who’s picking you up?”
She continued making the drinks without so much as looking up. “The RTD.”
He smiled, feeling relief wash over him. “Nah, I’ll take you home.”
“Sal—”
“Don’t argue, Gracie. You’re not taking the bus. I’m taking you home.” He walked away before she could protest.
He had to make a move soon. He could hardly look at her anymore without staring at her lips and thinking about how much he wanted to kiss them … taste her.
Julie informed him they were solidly booked for the night with reservations. He really needed to step up the hiring. He thought he’d gotten better at not being such a hard ass as Alex put it.
He walked back to the bar. They were fully covered, but the kitchen was lacking. He watched Grace as she so effortlessly made her drinks. “How do you feel about working the kitchen tonight?”
She looked up at him, her eyes suddenly huge. “Really?”
Jesus, what her bright eyes did to him. “Yeah, really. C’mon.” He motioned with his head.
She followed him to the back room. “Just put on a coat. We’re getting busy, and I need someone that knows what they’re doing back there.”
She put the coat on and walked right up to him. “Thank you. I won’t disappoint you. I promise.”
Sal had to refrain from saying what he really wanted to—that at this point, there probably wasn’t a thing she could do to disappoint him. “I know you won’t. Your skill, but most importantly your ease in the kitchen, is truly impressive. Get in there and kill it.”
He couldn’t have paid enough for the smile she indulged him with. “That means so much to me. You have no idea.”
She had no idea what she was doing to him. For the next hour, she worked the kitchen, as naturally as she had worked the bar all night. He watched, feeling a little irritated at how much the other cooks seemed to embrace her so quickly. The rapport she built with them, especially speaking Spanish, was almost immediate.
A half-hour before closing, they had no more customers. It was winding down and Sal was looking forward to his time alone with Gracie when he drove her home. He walked out into the main dining room and saw her on her phone. He went back to the kitchen to make sure it was ready for closing. The busboys had their music on, and it was loud in there. “Almost done, Julio?”
“You bet, chief!” Julio put his hand at his waist, shaking his hips as the song kicked it up a notch.
“Just finish,” Sal said, laughing as he walked away.
He walked into the back room where Grace was taking off her apron. “I won’t need that ride after all, but thanks.”
Sal watched her as she took her purse out of the cabinet. “You got a ride?”
“Yeah,” She nodded but said nothing else.
He sat down at the desk, trying not to wonder about who was picking her up, but he couldn’t. “It’s not the RTD, right, Gracie?”
“No.”
Since she was obviously not going to offer more information, he shut down the computer and headed out front to make sure everything was wrapped up. He walked to the front to lock the front door and saw a Cadillac parked right out front and a man leaning against it, holding a bouquet of roses.
Sal took a deep breath, feeling his heartbeat speed up. This couldn’t be her ride. The guy was too old. Feeling a weird unease come over him, Sal looked around to see who else was still in the restaurant. He knew Melanie’s fiancé and it wasn’t this guy. Grace rushed to the door. “Is it locked?”
“No.” He watched from the hostess stand.
“Goodnight then.”
“Is that your ride?” These moments of complete inability to keep his thoughts to himself were happening a little too often now.
She nodded but didn’t turn to face him and pushed the door open.
“Is he gay too?”
She turned around and met his eyes. “No, he’s not.”
Unable to take his eyes off her, he watched as she walked right into the guy’s arms, giving him a quick hug then taking the roses with a smile. He gulped hard, trying to understand how someone he’d only begun to get to know could affect him so profoundly.
~*~
Mortification and anger were the two emotions Grace felt as she sat in the front seat of Frank’s car. She was going to kill her mother. She’d told her over the phone they would all be stopping by to pick her up, not Frank by himself—with roses. And did he really have to be standing right in front of the restaurant?
This was the last thing she needed to deal with after the day she’d had. Seeing Sal with that girl and listening to their banter while the reality of her delusional mentality sunk in had been far more emotional than she would have ever imagined. The day she got choked up when she told Joey about the feelings she was developing for Sal had been surprise enough. But breaking down and crying in the restroom for as long as she did today was utterly ridiculous. How was she going to continue working there? Inevitably, she was going to keep seeing him with women, probably hear about them too. Was she going to turn into a blubbering mess every time?
Grace hardly heard anything of what Frank was saying as they drove back to her place to pick up her mom and Ruben: something about his hotel and the restaurant coming along and how he was looking for more cooks. Grace did a lot of nodding. This was the last time she’d agree to going out with Ruben. The flowers obviously meant he thought more of these little get-togethers than she wanted him to.
She knew it was rude to text while he was talking to her but she didn’t care.
FYI I’m not staying out late tonight. I have a test tomorrow morning, and I’m already tired, so I need to be home early.
She sent that one off to her mom then send another to Joey.
I really need to talk to you, but I can’t now. Will you be up a little later.
She glanced at Frank who was still talking about the restaurant and smiled.
“I was telling your mom that you guys should come out and visit soon—maybe this summer. It’s not a big fancy hotel, but it does have a nice size pool, and I’m working on getting a lounge act on the weekends.”
“Sounds nice.”
No way in hell. But if he’d already told her mom, she had a feeling her mom would be pitching the idea to her anyway. Grace was ending this tonight. She drew the line at Frank already acting as if he were a suitor. She glanced down at Joey’s response to her text.
Sure, hon. Call me as late as you want. =)
They picked up her mom and stepdad, and Grace went through the motions of the evening. After the walk on the pier that her mother did nothing to change like she’d said she would earlier, they had a few drinks and Grace made her move.
“I really have to get home now.” She turned to her mom, who was already getting ready to protest. “I have that test in the morning, Mom. I have to be in bed early.” She turned back to Frank. “And I’m very tired. I had a long day.”
“Certainly,” Frank said, finishing up his drink.
Grace didn’t care. Her mom could glare at her all she wanted. When they got in the car, she texted her mom from the front seat.
I’m not doing this again. EVER, so don’t set any of this stuff up again, or Frank is getting stood up.
Her mom texted her right back.
We’ll talk later. Stop texting while he talks. It’s rude.
As soon as they were home, she said good night and went straight to her room. Her sister was already asleep, and that girl could sleep through a hurricane, so Grace didn’t feel bad about talking on the phone. She sat on the floor and called Joey. She grabbed a box of tissues because she could already feel it coming.
He answered. “What happened?”
“I’m so stupid.” The tears were immediate.
“Why? Are you crying? Oh sweetie, what’s the matter?”
Somehow, through all the sniffing and whimpering, she managed to tell him about what Oscar told her and the night before. She especially felt stupid about how she’d actually thought she felt a vibe from Sal. Then she told Joey about the Barbie doll that visited Sal today and how she’d spent nearly a half hour in the restroom, crying like an idiot over this man who clearly is interested in bettering his restaurant; so of course he’s going to be nice to her if he thinks she’ll make a difference in the kitchen. “And then to top it all off, Frank, that man I told you my mom wants me to hang out with so that Ruben can get a job already, picks me up right at the door with roses.”
“Did Sal see?”
“Yes! And he asked me if Frank was gay too. I was so embarrassed.”
“You see? Why would he ask something like that if he wasn’t interested in you?”
“I don’t know, Joey. But based on the women I’ve seen him with, I’m definitely not his type. He’s going on a date with her this weekend. I can’t get caught up on a guy like this, but I’m afraid I already am. How do I stop this?”
She heard Joey exhale. “You don’t.”
“I have to!”
There was a knock on the door, and then her mom peeked in. “What’s wrong with you?”
Grace wiped her eyes. “Nothing, I just had a long day at work. Can you give me a minute? I’m on the phone.”
Her mom smiled. “I just wanted to tell you Ruben starts working next week.”
Grace gave her a thumbs up but couldn’t manage much of a smile. “Good, ’cause I’m done going out with him anymore.”
“We’ll talk later.”
Her expression said it all. Grace might be done, but her mother wasn’t. She had more up her sleeve. Her mom closed the door, and Grace apologized to Joey for the interruption.
“Okay let’s think about this. You get one ride from a co-worker, and that warrants a warning right off? He’s already questioned who me and Taylor are. He took you to be a part of something so intimate with his family, and now he’s asking about the guy with the roses?”
Grace shook her head. “I can’t, Joey. I have to stop reading so much into nothing. I’m being delusional, and look what it’s doing to me. I’m a mess.”
“Why don’t you do this? Wait and see if he has anything more to say or ask about Frank tomorrow. Then casually ask him about the blonde bimbo, and see if he gets the connection. If he’s so smart, he should pick up on it.”
Grace threw the tissue in the small wastebasket by her bed. “The problem is he probably will ask about him, but not for the reasons I’m thinking, and I have to stop making more of it. It does me no good.”
“Then maybe honest and straight forward is the best way to go—enough of the wondering. If he asks, you ask him why he wants to know, and while you’re at it, ask him why he told your co-worker you’re off limits.”
Grace thought about it. Maybe Joey was right. What’s the worst thing that could happen? “You don’t think he’ll think I’m full of myself or worse think it’s laughable?”
“No, and I’ll tell you this. I’m going to be dying to know what his reasoning is for saying you’re off limits. You’re a sexy mama, and you don’t give yourself enough credit, Grace. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to hear he is interested in something more with you.”
Grace blew her nose and wiped away the rest of her stupid tears. “Okay, but if I do this, and there are perfectly logical answers to my questions, meaning he’s not interested, you have to stop saying stuff like that. Promise me, because it’s already hard enough, and I really, really have to get over this. I can’t afford to quit, but if I have to, I will. ”
“You are not quitting, Grace, at least not until you have enough experience and you can get a job somewhere better.”
Grace couldn’t even imagine working somewhere better than where she got to see Sal every day.
She took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts. She really needed to get it together. Because there were other bigger things she had to focus on. She couldn’t, wouldn’t, let her feelings for Sal get in the way of her dream—the dream she’d originally set her sights on when she applied at Moreno’s in the first place.
~*~
Sal stopped at his parents’ on his way home to talk to his dad about the conference call he’d had that day but mostly because he needed the distraction. He couldn’t stop thinking about Grace and the date she was probably still on.
To his surprise, Alex was there. His mom had a whole dinner set up for him.
“Hey, how’s the family?”
Alex nodded as he took a bite of a king-size burrito. Once done chewing, he responded, “They were all sound asleep when I left. I needed to get some sleep myself. I just woke up, but I’m going back as soon as I’m done eating. The docs say they should be ready to come home in a couple of days.”
Sal had gone back the morning after they were born and was able to go in and see them up close. His nieces were absolutely beautiful.
“Salvador, I’m making you a burrito.”
“Mom, I’m good.”
“You’ll be better with a burrito.”
Sal didn’t even know why he tried arguing and turned back to Alex. His dad had joined them at the table.
“You’ve had enough.” His mother scolded his dad.
“I didn’t say anything!” His dad protested.
“But I know you. And then your heartburn will keep you up all night.”
Sal told both his dad and Alex about the conference call.
“So what do you think?” Alex asked him.
Sal shrugged. “I dunno. I’m beginning to think maybe we should just move slower. Do one restaurant at a time.” Thoughts of opening up another restaurant and taking Grace with him as the head cook had been on his mind all week. But he didn’t dare tell Alex that.
“Up to you, man,” Alex said. “But you know with school and the babies, I’m gonna have my hands full for a while.”
Sal bit into the giant burrito his mother made him and nodded. After swallowing, he said, “I let Grace work the kitchen today.”
“Yeah? How’d she do?”
“She took over. The girl’s incredible.”
Alex stared at him, the smile increasing as he chewed his own food.
“Stop.” Sal knew exactly what he was thinking.
“What?” Alex chuckled.
Both his parents were staring at him. “Stop what?”
“Nothing, Mom.” Sal gave Alex a warning glare.
“What are you two talking about?” his father demanded.
“Nothing.” Sal repeated.
“Just tell ’em. He’s got a thing for Grace.”
Sal let his head drop back. Damn Alex.
“The one you brought to the hospital?” His mother eyed him.
Sal stood up, wrapping his burrito in a napkin. “I gotta go.”
“No, I asked you a question.” His mother put her hand on her waist.
Alex laughed, sticking what was left of his burrito in his mouth also standing up. Sal pushed him. “Ass!”
Sal walked over to his mom and kissed her forehead. “Yes, Mom, the one I brought to the hospital.”
“You got a thing for her? What does that mean?”
Sal shook his head, glaring at Alex. “Means she’s driving me crazy, but she’s on a date right now, so don’t start planning any parties yet.”
“She is?” Alex asked. “How do you know?”
Sal bitterly took a bite of his burrito and felt like flinging the rest in the trash, but his mother would have a fit. After a hard swallow, he turned to Alex before heading out. “The guy picked her up at the restaurant—roses and all.” He turned back to his mom and hugged her. “I gotta go, Mom.” Then walked over to his dad and clapped him on the shoulder. “I’ll keep you updated about the investors. I still gotta meet with them a couple more times.”
Just before he walked out, Alex got his attention. “Hey, Sal.” Sal turned back to a very serious-looking Alex. “Remember what you told me when I thought it was too late for me and Valerie? Doesn’t mean anything, Bro.” He shrugged. “Just ’cause she’s on a date doesn’t mean it’s hopeless. But you gotta make a move, dude, before it is.”
Sal nodded, knowing it was true. Making a move wouldn’t be the hardest part. Her shooting him down or things not working out and having to be around her after would be the worst. So was it worth the risk? The answer to that screamed in his head—absolutely.