“Chelsi? Is wine ok?” He smiles when I finally look at him, winking when I smile back and tell him whatever he wants to get. “We’ll have a wine that the Chef recommends.”
“Sounds good. And Chef Rinaldi wanted me to inform him when you arrived, so I’m sure he’ll be out to see you.” The hostess gives me that fake smile again, barely pulling her stare from Austin for more than a second while telling basically only him that she hopes we enjoy our meal and then practically prancing away.
“She sure doesn’t know how to tamp down her flirt.” I say more to myself but Austin laughs, handing me a menu. “And I didn’t know you knew any Chefs.”
“Yeah. Rinaldi and I were in basic together. He went on to cook on bases all over the globe, then went to some fancy cooking academy in France. His brother is the business head here and Lorenzo has free reign over the kitchen.”
“Well everything sounds amazing.” He gives me an ‘mmm-hmmm’, listing off a few that he thinks look good. It all looks so fancy and there are no prices, telling me that they are a bit high. “Austin, there aren’t any prices. How am I supposed to know how much they cost if…”
“Don’t worry about the price, girl.” He laughs, reaching across the table and lightly grasping my hand. You wouldn’t think a man of his stature and rough exterior could be gentle, but his thumb runs over the back of my hand making me remember that he is. “Remember, this is a date. One of which I am paying. You can pay on the second date.”
“Assuming that there is a second date.” I joke, laughing at his fake hurting look and he grabs his chest, leaning back and acting like he’s fainted. “You’re such a drama queen.”
“And you’re such a sass master.” He leans forward with an air about him like he’s stalking his prey, grasping my chin, holding me still so that I’m looking into his blue eyes. The candlelight flickers in their depths and I’m all of sudden lost in the memory of the nights we’ve spent sitting out under the stars with nothing but a blanket and couple bottles of beer in the back of his Jeep, just talking and listening to the radio. All of the time spent with this man and I’ve always been held back from kissing him for real, not just a stolen peck, but a real toe curling, skin tingling kiss.
‘I want you to LOVE,’ the words of Tom’s letter come back, ringing in my ears as if he’d read them to me myself and it causes a pang in my chest. Part of me asks why should I go on when he couldn’t, but the other part of me knows that the way Austin’s skin feels on mine is like nothing I’ve ever felt and that I shouldn’t let it slip away. I lean into his palm and he starts to slowly pull me closer, when in the moment we’re only a breath apart, from behind me there comes a male voice.
“Well, lookie here. Austin French.” I turn to see a tall, very fit man in a black chef’s coat approaching us.
“Rinaldi. Always impeccable timing.” Austin stands and greets him with a hearty handshake, the two men slapping each other on the back, sharing friendly jabs at one another about their looks. “Lorenzo, shut your fat mouth and greet my beautiful date. This is Chelsi.” Austin reaches for my hand and helps me up.
“Well…” he says, not hiding the fact that he’s looking me up and down, “you certainly are a lucky one tonight, aren’t ya, French?” He takes my hand and kisses the back of it and with a man that looks like him I’d be dumb not to blush. He’s obviously a man who works out religiously, his defined arms noticeable under the rolled up sleeves of his coat. He has short, greying black hair, the top longer than the sides and I can see that he runs his hands back through it often.
“It’s very nice to meet you. This place is lovely.” I tell him and his smile could light up a room, his laugh deep and infectious. It draws the attention of diners nearby and I spot their faces looking around their booths and the pillars separating us.
“Nice compliments and you haven’t even tasted the food yet.” He winks at me, looking back to Austin. “I’d say keep this one around if she’s so easy to please.”
“Yeah…that’s my thoughts exactly.” Austin says more to me than to Rinaldi and he leans down, kissing my hair while wrapping his arm around me and pulling me closer to his side. What I wouldn’t do right now to back up and have Lorenzo come around thirty seconds later than he did.
“Excuse me, Chef Rinaldi?” A girl about my age, dressed in a white chef coat, comes around the corner issuing her apologies for interrupting before continuing. “There is a diner who’s complaining about her Lobster Ravioli.” The girls laughs lightly when Lorenzo rolls his eyes at her, sighing heavily to himself.
“Is it the same woman who said there too much pepper in her soup?” The girl nods and Lorenzo tells her he’ll visit the woman in just a moment, telling the girl to go offer her a free dessert first. “This woman has come in every weekend since we’ve opened and always complained. But get this! She orders the same thing…EVERY time.” He shakes Austin’s hand again, leaning over and kissing me on the cheek this time. “Try the Spaghetti alle vongole in Bianco, we just got a fresh shipment of clams from the city and I’ll send Miranda out with some appetizers and salads, okay?”
“Sounds good, Chef.” Austin slaps him on the shoulder, telling him it was good to see him before Lorenzo leaves us. He disappears into the packed restaurant, leaving us in the quiet that is our semi-isolated table. After a moment Austin squeezes me against his side as if he’s snapping back to the here and now from some memory he’d rather not remember, kissing the top of my head again and saying, “Let’s move your chair next to mine, if that’s alright with you?”
“Perfectly fine with me.” I grab my glass of wine and as he pushes my chair in for the second time tonight, one of the waitresses brings us our salads, breadsticks and fried raviolis. Way too much food for the two of us, but I’m not going to complain.
As I’ve said before, talking with Austin is as easy as pie and before I know it we’ve made our way through our main dishes, mine being barely touched because of all the appetizers Lorenzo kept sending our way. We’re laughing and joking about something that happened with Bobby and him just the other day, involving a very stinky trash can and a raccoon, when Lorenzo joins us making sure everything was delicious and delivering a dessert.
“Oh, I don’t think I’ll be able to eat any of that, I’m so full.” I am about to burst but both men laugh.
“There is always room for dessert.” Austin smiles, taking a spoon of the tiramisu and holding it just in front of my lips for me to eat. I try and wave him off but he just gives me that boyish, heart melting smile and I can’t help but laugh a little at what it does to me.
Taking the bite, I say, “I’ve got to use the ladies room. I will be right back.” They both stand with me, Austin pulling my chair out of the way while telling me he’s going to finish the dessert and head for the bar with Lorenzo. “Okay, I’ll meet you up there in a minute or two.”
I am so full that I could take a nap, and after using the facilities I’m just standing here, looking at myself in the mirror. I’m trying to convince myself that falling asleep on that very comfy looking chaise in the corner of this ladies room would be totally inappropriate, but right now I could really care less. At least it was great food and even better company. Brushing a stray lock of hair back from my face makes me giggle like a little girl, thinking of how many times Austin did it as we sat next to each other, talking super close even though no one could hear us even if they had tried.
Leaving the bathroom, I make my way to the bar area near the front door. It’s not long before I hear Lorenzo and Austin, spotting them on the far side and head on over. But when I get around a group of business looking men I see a woman standing with them. She’s slightly taller than me, due to her stiletto heels, and her dark purple dress is way too tight for her body type, accenting all of the wrong curves. Her back is to me when I get closer and I spot her hand going up and caressing the back of Austin’s neck, moving to his cheek before he swats it away.
“Oh, come on Austin. You can’t
tell me you didn’t have a fun time with me last Friday night.” She attempts to purr in his ear but his arm grips her wrist and he pushes her away, a furious look on his face as he spots me standing there.
“You were with him last Friday?” I ask, a twinge of jealousy rising inside of me when she smiles at me. “I thought you were at a bachelor party?” I ask him. He goes to answer but this heavy eye makeup wearing slut speaks first.
“Well he was out with his buddies, but he had time enough to fuck me in a bathroom and then run off. Didn’t even bother to leave me his new phone number.” Her dark lipstick painted lips curl up in a venomous grin and I almost wind back and swing at her, but instead the hurt takes over like a flood, my heart feeling as if I’ve been stabbed with a thorny, blunt object that has punched a hole as big as a softball, ripping and tearing its way through and through.
“What… the fuck?” Is all I can manage to say before turning, barely able to see in front of me through the tears, and basically running for the door. The walls seemed to be closing in on me and the second I’m out on the sidewalk I try and take a deep breath, but there is this weight in my chest. I find myself gasping, trying to gain some sort of oxygen.
“Chelsi!” Austin’s voice rings out from the entry way but I don’t look back, walking through the parking lot headed in the direction of home. “Chelsi, wait!” His footsteps get closer, he’s jogging to catch up, and I try to walk faster but his hand wraps around my upper arm. “Stop!”
“Why the hell should I?” I let all of this pent up anger I’ve kept inside of me over the years take over in this moment. All the hurt and pain I suffered when Tom died and I was left alone, my hopes and dreams crushed because he had been my everything. I swing my small purse at Austin as I turn, just missing him as he leans back and he grabs my other arm so I can’t do it again. “What the hell was that? Who was she?” I get up on my tiptoes and yell right in his face, yanking my hands from his grasp to wipe at the tears flowing down my cheeks.
“Her name is Wendy and she’s an old girlfriend. She doesn’t mean anything to me.” He tries to put his arms around me but I step away. I absolutely don’t want him to touch me right now.
“So banging her in some random bathroom means nothing? Sure as hell sounds like it meant something to her.” There are people gathered around the entrance to the restaurant now, watching us with intent stares.
“I was drunk and I missed you, and it all just happened.”
“You missed me so you fucked her? Wow.” I’m done with this. I turn and just start walking. “Go back in and at least fuck her in a nice bathroom.”
“That’s bullshit. Where are you going?” He’s walking behind me, his shoes kicking some of the gravel up towards my path.
“I’m going home. Alone. Thanks for a shitty night of lies.” I flip him off over my shoulder. “Don’t come after me or I’ll call the cops.” I don’t turn around when he shouts my name over and over, telling me to come back and to stop being stupid. No, I can’t.
“Fine!” he yells. “Go be with the memory that keeps you from getting too close to anyone. I’m tired of competing with a ghost!” That hurts. It hurts a lot and I stop and turn to face him.
“Fuck you, Austin. How dare you fucking day something like that.” The tears are gushing down my face now and I stomp off. Screw him for saying that.
His curses echo in the dusk and I hear him pounding on something metal, probably his Jeep, but still I don’t stop. The thought of Austin banging that obvious uniform chaser sickens me and when I get around a bend, the trees shielding the view of the restaurant, I can’t stop the vomit from coming.
It burns, making my eyes water in pain with the tears, and it drops me to one knee. I don’t know how long I’m here, it seems like hours but is only minutes, before I hear a motorcycle coming up behind me. I stand, wiping my face and knee, starting my trek again. Stones on the side of the road make me stumble and my right ankle tweaks, almost sending me down when the bike roars past me, coming to a screeching halt about 100 yards away.
When the smoke clears I recognize the Harley’s skull paint pattern. It’s Jude. He steers his bike to the shoulder, turning and waving for me.
“Hey, Chels!” He yells over the rumble of the motorcycle, but his smile fades when I get up to him. “What the hell is wrong?”
“Nothing worth talking about.” I shake my head, wiping the last few tears away for now. My hurting heart tells me they are far from the last ones I’ll shed because of the events of tonight. “Where are you coming from?”
“The beach. Had to run some errands. You need a ride?” Jude motions to the bitch seat behind him and I release a grateful sigh. I nod, slipping my heels off as he retrieves the spare helmet from a saddle bag. I store my shoes and purse, situate myself behind him and pull the helmet on. Holding onto his waistline, I’m thankful that he stopped because I would’ve walked all night and still been miles from home in morning.
I can’t believe I was so stupid as to let Austin in. I was so blinded by the gentleman and sailor that I didn’t really see that he’s like any other horny man. Thinks with his penis most of the time. Jude pats my knee, bringing me back and I lean into his back, relaxing for the ride home.
CHAPTER FIVE:
Austin
“God damn it, I should’ve gone after her right away.” I slam my hands on my steering wheel. My Jeep is parked outside of her apartment and it’s about two in the morning right now. Way too long in my opinion but I had to deal with the ruckus Wendy was causing in Lorenzo’s restaurant.
After Chelsi stormed out I guess she started yelling obscenities and being generally belligerent; nothing new for her. Sounds like the Wendy I remember. When I came back into the restaurant she threw a drink in my face and that was the last straw. I actually laugh a little remembering what happened next.
I grabbed her wrist and pulled her outside. “You need to call a ride and get the fuck outta here, and away from me…forever.”
“But French, we are so good together.” She tried to purr in my ear, leaning in for a kiss and I pushed her away. She stumbled back, her stripper heels clicking on the concrete as she tried to catch herself on one of the small benches and she dropped her purse. The contents spilled everywhere and some laughter came from a group of younger patrons at the patio just behind me. I bend down to help her, the first thing I pick up is a group of condoms, and I hand them to her with a sarcastic laugh.
“Get home safe, Wendy.” I said and tried to help her up but she just jerked her arm from my grasp.
“Fuck you, you fuckin’ sailor piece of shit. Go find your little skank.” She acted as if she was going to slap me, but the commotion of a few ladies exiting the bar stops her and she storms off, almost turning an ankle in those crazy shoes as she disappeared around the corner of the building.
Lorenzo had talked me into staying, to help me cool down, and I had been in the bar of his Italian restaurant till about an hour ago. I’ve been sitting here for thirty minutes, just waiting and surveying the situation. Jude’s motorcycle is still parked at the curb and I haven’t seen any movement in quite a while. That could lead to two things. One- they are fucking. Or two- they are passed out, Chelsi in her bed and Jude on the couch, like I know they’ve done so many other times.
“Why do I always fuck things up?” I mutter to myself, and slide out of the driver’s seat. The curtains on her front window are parted a bit, her living room lights still on and out of the corner of my eye I spot Jude’s motorcycle boot clad leg hanging off the end of the couch. I calmly knock like I’ve done a thousand times, backing up and waiting.
Nothing after a minute or so, so I knock again; this time a little harder and longer. Still after a moment, neither Jude nor Chelsi have answered, so I peek through the window. A pizza box is laying open on the coffee table and that strikes me as weird because Chelsi would never leave food out in the open, even if it is pizza. She always wraps up left overs and puts them in the fridge, so I ta
ke a harder look at the scene. Now I see something that makes me blood run cold.
There is a belt tied around Jude’s upper arm and a needle still sticking from his skin. Ripping my phone from my pocket, I’m dialing 911 at the same time that I’m kicking in the door. The glass shattering and wood splintering doesn’t faze me, I’m use to C4 explosions to get into places. The 911 dispatcher answers just as I’m getting to Jude’s side.
“My name is Lieutenant Austin French with the United States Navy and I am at 95 Coal Line Road, Apartment 1. I have a male, maybe 28 years of age with a possible drug overdose.” She asks me a few other questions, telling me that help is on the way, and I’m seeing if Jude has any signs of life. He barely has a pulse, his eyes are fixed and dilated when I push them open, and I spot a burnt spoon sitting on the end table at his head. Fucking idiot. I knew he was bad news.
“Austin, where is the resident of the apartment? Is she home?”
Fuck. In the moment I totally blanked on checking on Chelsi. I get to my feet and sprint into her room. She’s not in the neatly made bed, so I turn to check her small bathroom. I yank the door open, hoping she’s just in the tub with her earbuds in, but my heart falls at the sight.
Chelsi is sprawled on the floor, naked like she was undressing for a shower, blood pooled around her head as she’s face down. I relay the information to the dispatcher, all the while feeling like this is all my fault. If I hadn’t been such as ass and if I had told her about Wendy right away, maybe we wouldn’t be here.
Following the clues around me, it seems she might’ve struck her head on the edge of the toilet as she fell, blood being present on the lid and lip of bowl, and a now purpling mark on her arm tells me she might have shot up with Jude before passing out. I press my fingers to her neck and find her pulse is stronger than Jude’s and her breathing is quick, but not too abnormal.
Somebody's Chelsi: Book 5 The Wakefield Romance Series Page 6
