by K. M. Scott
“Remind me again why she hates you?” he asks, showing hints of that gossip gene that runs so strong in my family.
I tilt my head back to look at the ceiling as I decide just how much I want to tell my father about why one of his favorite bartenders hates his son. She’s probably whitewashed the whole story by now, but tonight I’m feeling the urge to spread some truth about that.
With a wince, I say, “Well, she hates me because we slept together a few times and then I broke it off. I generally don’t shit where I eat, but she caught me in a moment of weakness. Actually, a few moments last summer after Emma. Once I told her I just wanted to be co-workers, that was it. Now she calls me Stefan Junior whenever she sees me. I personally think you should get rid of her since she’s a bitch on wheels to the customers ninety percent of the time, but you seem to favor her.”
“Hmmm…Stefan Junior. That doesn’t sound complimentary,” he says with a laugh before adding, “To either one of us, in fact.”
“No, it doesn’t. So that’s why Maya hates me and why if you want your big celebration to go smoothly, you’ll keep us separated.”
With a nod, he says, “Fine. You’ll be at the main bar, and I’ll put her at the back bar. To keep her happy, I’ll make sure something big happens back there so she doesn’t think she’s being punished.”
As much as I shouldn’t comment out loud on him keeping her happy, I can’t stop myself. “God forbid she think that being a shit to your only son would get her punished.”
My father ignores that broadside and smiles. “That’s all I wanted to talk to you about. Any chance we’ll get to see your girlfriend Friday night? I’ll be happy to let Tannick at the door know so she and any guests she wants to bring will get V.I.P. passes.”
The very thought of Hailey here at Club X makes the top of my head feel like it’s going to blow off. No. Not in this life or the next one. Not even in a third fucking lifetime would I want her to be here while I have to work.
“She’s got a lot going on, Dad. She’s pretty shy, too. I don’t think this would be her thing.”
The disappointment returns to his face. “Oh, okay. I’d love to meet her, and I thought here at the club would be a nice casual way that could happen. Your cousins Alex and Cash are planning to come, and I think Kane said Liam would. I’m not sure about Wilder, though.”
I stand to leave, already uncomfortable with how much my family is interested in Hailey. “No one is sure about Wilder, Dad. He’s still messed up from everything. If that’s all, I’m going to go back out there and see how the second floor is faring.”
That gets me a huge smile from him, like I’ve just announced I know the way to bring in a million bucks a night. “What’s that face for?”
My father shrugs, still beaming that silly smile. “I didn’t even have to tell you where to go. You just knew. No matter if you want to accept it or not, you’re a natural, Cade.”
I don’t bother replying to that. Choosing to check the upper level isn’t rocket science. I already know the main bar and the back bar are doing fine. It’s only logical to head upstairs.
That’s not being a natural at anything here. He just wants to think that because he hopes I’ll take after him some day.
Never going to happen.
Chapter Seventeen
Hailey
My phone buzzes across my table, and I see Cade’s name come up in the center of the screen. I shouldn’t be so excited to hear from him, but my heart practically skips a beat and I hurry to clean off my hands before reaching for the phone to read his message.
I’m sitting in a booth wishing the world’s best cupcake maker was sitting with me.
That’s so sweet. Where is he?
I begin to type out my question, but I stop and run to look out the window into the dining room. There in the booth where I first met him Cade sits smiling at me. He waves for me to come out, and without even checking how I look, I hurry out to join him.
“What are you doing here? I wish you told me you were coming. I would have come out so you didn’t have to sit here alone,” I say as I slide into the booth on the other side of the table.
“It’s okay. I don’t mind sitting here for a few minutes. I was going to mention to your father that I was here to see you, but I didn’t see him either. Are you busy?”
I shake my head, and at that moment, I realize I’m still wearing my apron covered in chocolate batter from today’s dessert creation disaster. I look down in horror to see it’s even worse than I thought.
“Oh, God. I must look like a mess. I’m sorry. I didn’t think to take this off before I came out here. I’m glad I sat over here because if I had slid in next to you, you’d be covered in chocolate,” I say as my cheeks heat up from embarrassment.
Cade reaches across the table and takes hold of my hand. Instantly, I feel like my anxiety calms. “It’s okay. You look great. When are you off work?”
“I don’t even know what time it is,” I say as I look over toward the big round clock on the wall behind the counter. “It’s one o’clock already? Wow, time does fly when you’re making a mess.”
He laughs at my mistake with the saying. “I’m not sure that’s how it goes. What were you making that ended up all over you?”
“Well, I started with these cookies I wanted to try. They came out okay, but I wasn’t happy with them, so I threw them away. So then I got really ambitious and tried a chocolate torte with a chocolate glaze and ribbons made of chocolate. The torte worked out, but I wasn’t crazy about the glaze and the ribbons ended up as a disaster.”
Pointing at my apron, I say, “Thus the chocolate everywhere.”
“I bet the cookies and everything were terrific, even if you did end up wearing most of it.”
“I wish. I really wanted that cake to turn out great. It would have looked so incredible in the case, and each piece would have been gorgeous,” I say, still disappointed I couldn’t get those ribbons to work for me.
“So what time are you off?” Cade asks for a second time.
“I can go whenever I want. I’m not really even an actual employee, to be honest,” I explain, letting him know the truth for the first time.
“What do you mean? You work here, even if it’s for your family. That sounds like an employee.”
I force a smile, but it’s always hard to explain that what I do for my parents isn’t really work. At first when I came home last summer, having me in the kitchen was a way for them to make sure I was okay. Those days were rough, so leaving me alone wasn’t anything either of my parents thought was a good idea.
Out of that grew what I do now. They never meant for it to be permanent or anything, really, which is why whenever anyone says I’m some fancy pastry chef or baker I balk at the very mention of those.
I’m just Hailey, someone who tinkers around with chocolate and ends up wearing it more often than not.
Shaking my head, I ease my hand away from Cade’s and put it in my lap. I’ve dreaded knowing I’d have to admit the truth to him at some point. I guess I thought it might never happen or it would happen later than this.
But after last night, I don’t want to lie to him. Not about anything, even what I do here at the restaurant or the reason why.
Unable to look up at him, I stare at the silver and gold design on the table and begin. “I never call myself anything fancy. I know Alex likes to say I’m some kind of chef, but that’s not true. I have no formal training, and until last year, all I ever did here was wait on tables sometimes for extra money when I was in high school.”
That’s the easy part. Now comes the hard part of what I have to say.
“Last year, I was in school for psychology. I was a grad student and life was going just as I planned. Then in a matter of weeks, my life turned upside down.”
“What happened?” Cade asks, probably thinking I’m going to say something like I failed a class.
If only it was that simple or that minor.
&nbs
p; I look up at him and try to smile, but I can’t fake it when I have to tell him the truth about what happened. “I fell apart when something in my life changed.”
Those aren’t the words I know I should say, but using the word breakdown always sounds so damn pathetic. I don’t want to tell him I had a mental breakdown.
He doesn’t say anything, but I see on his face he’s confused. I don’t blame him. I’m almost talking in code because I dread having to admit the truth in case it chases him away.
“This time last year, I was engaged to be married. My life was perfect, at least I thought it was. I was well on my way to the career I’d planned for years, and I had a fiancé who I thought wanted to get married like I did. I found out that wasn’t true, though, one night when I walked into his apartment and found him in bed with her.”
“Damn, Hailey. I’m sorry.”
“I don’t remember much after that. I drove back to my place somehow—God only knows how because I was a mess—and I crawled into bed. And then I didn’t get out of bed for months. By the time my parents stepped in, I’d lost thirty pounds and I’d failed out of school so I didn’t have any money to pay rent or my car payments anymore, so the bank repossessed that.”
The look on Cade’s face is the one I see when I tell people what happened. Not too many people have gotten the full story, but I always see a mixture of horror and sadness looking back at me. Pity sometimes too. I hate seeing that, but I understand why someone would feel that way when they hear what happened.
Thankfully, I don’t see pity in Cade now. I don’t think I could handle that.
He remains silent, but nods his understanding. I know why he has nothing to say. I get it. I wouldn’t know what to say either if someone told me this story.
But I want him to know the whole truth because if we’re going to keep seeing one another, he deserves that from me.
“So since I was such a mess and my parents weren’t sure what I’d do if left to my own devices, they had me come here every day to keep an eye on me so I didn’t do anything to hurt myself. I wasn’t suicidal, though. I just didn’t care about myself or if I kept going. I didn’t see any reason to.”
My eyes fill with tears like they do when I think about those days. Now I can’t even imagine feeling that way. I don’t know that person I was then, and it hurts to remember how little happiness I had in those days.
“Making sweet things gave me reason to go on. I found some kind of joy in that, so my parents encouraged it. I know it probably sounds strange, like how could that help someone come back from falling apart, but it did. Every day I would come in here and go back to my little spot in the kitchen where I could hide out and play with ingredients to make things. At first, they were just for me and then my parents too, but after a while, I agreed to let them put them out for their customers.”
I wipe under my eyes so I don’t look like some deranged and sad raccoon in front of Cade. I see him smile at me, but it’s not his usual grin.
“You don’t have to tell me this if you don’t want to, Hailey,” he says softly.
“Yes, I do. I want to be honest with you. My fiancé wasn’t honest with me, and it crushed me. If he had just told me the truth, I would have been heartbroken, but I wouldn’t have fallen apart like I did. Even if you walk out of this restaurant when I’m done and decide never to see me again, I think you deserve to know who you spent your time with.”
“I’m not going to do that, so you don’t have to worry.”
“Well, whatever happens, I want you to know who Hailey Canton is. I see a therapist, and she’s been terrific. I know why all that happened now and why I reacted like I did, but I also know it’s my defense mechanism to push people away. I’ve done it with you and every person I’ve met since all that happened last year. I work on that, on not doing it, but I’m not very good yet. You have no idea how much I wanted to run away last night. If you hadn’t kept talking to me when I was at your front door, I would have run, Cade.”
A slow smile lights up his beautiful face at my mention of last night, and I assume he’s going to say something about what we did. When he doesn’t, I know I haven’t made a mistake telling him all of this today.
“Well, you ran away on me that day in the parking lot here, so I had a feeling you’re a runner. I think I knew if I didn’t do something to keep you there last night, you’d never agree to see me again.”
“I’m sorry about that. I have trust issues, which sounds like some lame excuse for bad behavior, but I do.”
He has no idea how many times I’ve run away from him in my head. That first day. In the parking lot. At CK. While we walked that night. When I thought he was talking to a woman on the phone last night. When we were in his bedroom.
Every time I had to fight that familiar impulse to run away when something scared me.
But I don’t want to be that scared little version of Hailey anymore.
“It’s okay. I like a challenge,” he says sweetly.
“I’m not trying to pressure you into anything with all of this. I’m guessing you’re feeling pretty overwhelmed by this story, and I don’t blame you. Whatever you decide to do with this is okay, Cade. I just wanted to tell you because you deserve the truth.”
Whether it’s what happened to me or something else, I sense what I’ve just said bothers him. A look of sadness crosses his face for a brief moment before he makes himself smile, I suspect for me more than him.
“I’m glad you told me, but none of that changes the fact that I like you, Hailey. I also think you’re downplaying how talented you are at what you do in that kitchen, but being humble is no crime. So all that said, I’m here, so let’s get out of here and have fun.”
“How do you know I’m off?” I ask with a giggle.
“You just told me this isn’t really a job, so I figured I could steal you away from here whenever I wanted.”
“I did, didn’t I?” I admit sheepishly. “It’s actually sort of a job in that I have to tell my father I’m leaving. Give me a couple minutes to find him and get out of this apron and then I’ll be able to leave.”
Cade sits back and stretches his arms along the back of the booth. “Then I’ll wait.”
“Okay. Let me find him and clean myself up.”
As I hurry off to the kitchen, I look back to see Cade watching me. He really is a great guy, even better than I expected when I took a chance and didn’t run away in CK’s parking lot.
I’m glad I told him the truth about what happened with me. He told me the truth last night, so he deserved me being honest with him.
Bursting through the kitchen doors, I call out, “Daddy, I’m leaving for the day. Tell Mom I don’t know when I’ll be home.”
My father pokes his head out from behind a freezer door and nods. “Okay, honey. Stay safe. Are you and Meadow going somewhere?”
With a big smile, I answer his question. “I’m going to spend the day doing something fun with Cade.”
I like the sound of that.
Chapter Eighteen
Cade
“So what should we do first?” I ask as Hailey and I walk toward my building. “Swim or go jet skiing?”
Her eyes grow wide. “I’ve never gone jet skiing. I don’t think I can drive one of those things. I might kill someone.”
“Then you can sit behind me and I’ll be the one at the controls. You’ll love it. It’s a good time.”
“Are you sure it’s not dangerous? I’ve watched people before doing it. They fly around on the water like maniacs.”
Waving away her concerns, I laugh as the memory of the last time Alex and I went out and nearly drowned because of some asshole and his girlfriend playing around out there. Fucking newbies.
I can see she’s still worried, so I weave my fingers through hers and bring her hand to my mouth to press a kiss onto her thumb. “I promise it’ll be fine. I don’t drive like a madman in the Jag, so why would you think I drive a jet ski like that?”
<
br /> “You do sort of drive like a madman in your car, though, Cade. Didn’t you notice me hanging on to the door a few times the other night?”
“No, but I was too busy looking at the woman sitting next to me to notice that. It wasn’t that bad. Well, that one turn I took a little fast, but you didn’t scream, so I figured I was fine.”
She laughs at my explanation, making her look even more beautiful than usual. “That’s a weird litmus test you have there for if you’re driving too fast.”
“I guess I could use someone jumping out of the car, but that wouldn’t be fair. No one has ever jumped out while I’m driving. So screaming sounds about right.”
“Because someone has screamed before?”
With a shrug, I have to admit the truth. “A couple times. People can be excitable sometimes. I chalk it up to that.”
As the elevator doors open, I tug Hailey in and press the button for the fifteenth floor. Alone with her, finally, I slide my arms around her waist and pull her to me. After what she told me back at the restaurant, I feel like I need to make sure she knows I’m not like that asshole who fucked her life up last year.
“We could just forget about doing anything but hanging out in the house. It’s not like we can’t go out later. You know, it is pretty hot out today.”
She looks up at me and raises her eyebrows. “Have you lived in Tampa a while? It’s May. This isn’t as hot as it gets.”
“I’ve lived here all my life, actually. I was just looking for an excuse to keep us inside, preferably in bed.”
And at that moment, I see suspicion fill her eyes. She thinks I’m a guy who just wants to fuck her and that’s it. Smooth, Cade. Real smooth.
I don’t give her the chance to pull away or say anything. “I didn’t mean that the way it came out. I’m all about jet skiing all afternoon, if that’s what you want to do.”
