Energized

by Mary Behre

  But what the hell? Why was she in his restaurant? Working. For him.

  A sliver of alarm rippled through his belly. Was she a psycho stalker?

  “Yes, isn’t it amazing? Last night when I arrived in Tidewater I needed a job. This afternoon while eating lunch here, I was hired. Really incredible.” Hannah dropped the braid, washed her hands in the sink, then walked around the half wall to check over the tickets waiting on the counter. “Anything up for me, guys?”

  “Give us three minutes and your pie will be ready.” Virgil gave her a wink. “But these are ready to go out to the Half Room, tables six and seven. Can you carry them out for Sadie?”

  “Sure thing.” Hannah didn’t hesitate. She picked up the tray loaded with four plates and started to reach for the pitchers of sweet and unsweet tea.

  “I got the tray,” Niall said, sweeping it off her shoulder, leaving her free to grab the pitchers in both hands.

  “Thanks.” Hannah’s face practically glowed. She led the way through the restaurant, smiling radiantly at the customers.

  Niall followed her through the restaurant both appalled and amused by how well she’d fit in. The way the guests chatted with her as she refilled drinks, it was like she’d been working here for months, not hours. Hell, several people called her by name but still had no idea who he was or that he owned the place.

  After serving the meals, Niall checked on a few tables. Relief swept through him at the sight of Karma and Sadie back at work. A large table of sailors, dressed in their blue fatigues, left. Michael appeared from out of the shadows and bussed the table.

  There was no time to talk to Hannah. Why was Niall trying? She didn’t seem to have any great impulse to talk to him. Like a social butterfly completely in her element, Hannah flitted from one table to another. Serving food, drinks, and even jokes. It was alarming and disarming. And fuck. He could smell her honeysuckle fragrance every time she strode past him.

  The sight of her killer body in the gender neutral white shirt and black pants uniform, the sound of her laughter, hell, even that damned fresh scent of hers was screwing with his head. But the blood pounding through his body was definitely not headed north. He needed to stop staring at her like some horny teenager. So he did.

  Around nine thirty, Niall retreated to his office. He kicked his bag under the desk and folded down the step stool into its other shape, that of a ratty office chair. He needed to work. The English wedding was this weekend. There was still work to be done to prepare for it and Ross was still MIA.

  As much as Niall hated the idea of expanding the business, he hated failing more. Someone had to do the work, so he’d do it. He’d be damned if he’d let his brother drive the Cat into the ground. With one ear listening for the musical laughter of a certain confusing waitress, Niall set his teeth and focused on the numbers on his computer screen.

  Crap! He’d really come full circle today. He’d started the day trying not to think about Hannah while working on this damned spreadsheet. And he’d finish it the same way. Only now, she worked for him.

  Yep. Fucking perfect day.

  * * *

  “WHAT A NIGHT!” Karma said, locking the front door behind the last couple to leave the Boxing Cat at eleven thirty.

  Hannah smiled. She couldn’t help it. The job, the fabulous tips, and all the wonderful guests she met tonight had made her feel completely at home. “It was an amazing night.”

  “You say that now. Wait till Niall docks your pay for those dishes you broke.” Sadie tugged off her apron.

  “Oh, I forgot about those,” Hannah said. So much for her great night. “Will he charge me for meals or just the plates?”

  “He won’t charge you. Dishes break. She’s just teasing. Right, Sadie?” Karma smiled but her brown eyes narrowed and the accent was back in her voice.

  “Whatever.” Sadie shrugged and glanced around the Master Room, where Hannah had first met Karma and Ross only hours before. “Look, I’m scheduled to open tomorrow. You got the rest of this? I got a date.”

  “You go on your date. I’ll stay and show Hannah how to close up.” Karma yawned and stretched. “Zig’s on the midnight shift this week, so I’m not in a rush.”

  “It was nice meeting you, Sadie.” Hannah smiled at the older waitress.

  Sadie harrumphed, then disappeared through the kitchen doors.

  “I think I feel sorry for whoever she’s got in her sights,” Karma said with a laugh. She hit a switch on the wall, bringing up the overhead lights and started blowing out the candles in the room.

  Hannah followed her example and within minutes all four of the dining rooms were lit only by electricity. The stark light made the rooms look more like a museum full of antique furnishings than the bustling restaurant it had been earlier. “Thanks for showing me the ropes tonight.”

  “You’re welcome. You’re a fast learner. Besides, I loved how your aura spilled over onto everyone around you all night long. The aura of everyone you spoke with brightened like you were a human torch of goodwill and happiness. Pretty awesome, if you ask me.” Karma’s large brown eyes were warm. “You really do fit in here. It’s like you were always meant to be at the Cat.”

  Hannah couldn’t keep the grin from her face. Karma’s assessment made her feel ridiculously happy. “Thanks, but the guests made my first night easy.”

  “Even when you dropped all those dishes?” Michael’s voice preceded him from the shadows. An empty gray bin in his hands. He might have been smiling, but it was difficult to see past the swath of hair hanging in his face.

  “You stop. Like you never dropped a dish.” Karma swatted Michael on the arm playfully, then wrapped one arm around Hannah’s and tugged her toward the kitchen. “Don’t listen to him. He’s just messing with you. You really were spot-on all night long. I told Ross that orange glow around you would be good for business. You just draw people to you.”

  They pushed through the kitchen door and found it empty. The back door hung open with only the screened door closed but not latched. But the most interesting door was the office one. It stood ajar with the toe of one of Niall’s polished black shoes tap-tap-tapping on the concrete floor. He hovered between the office and the kitchen, his attention focused on someone in the office.

  “What in the hell is wrong with you? No, don’t waste my time lying to me. It pisses me off when you pull shit like this. And don’t bother giving me your litany of reasons for hiring someone behind my back. I don’t care how much we need another server for the wedding. You had no business hiring someone when I wasn’t here. Especially when you didn’t bother to do the things I said we needed done. The pantry bulb is still out, the toilet’s still jacked up, and I can only assume you didn’t clean behind the shelves.” Niall’s words came out in a series of staccato beats timed in rhythm with his toe taps.

  Tension wafted through the air like an overcharged current on a hot summer night. The hair on Hannah’s neck rose and she tried to back up but succeeded only in stepping on Karma’s toe.

  Karma clapped a hand over her mouth and her eyes watered but she didn’t make a sound. In fact, she shook her head when Hannah started to apologize. She hiked a thumb over her shoulder in a silent suggestion they head back the way they had come.

  No argument there.

  Their exit came to a sudden halt when the door didn’t move. Michael was on the other side peering through the diamond-shaped opening. Karma motioned for him to move, but he remained still, staring presumably at the office door. Not that Hannah could really see Michael’s eyes, but given Niall’s volume, it was an easy assumption to make.

  “You told me before you left that one of our responsibilities was to do the hirings and the firings.” Ross’s voice, less grave but with considerably more volume, cut through the air. Multiplying the tension by ten. “We had a need, so I hired her. What’s the big deal? Or am I no longer qualifie
d to hire people without permission of the great Niall Graham? I’m just some stupid kid who can’t do anything right, is that it?”

  “I’ve never called you a stupid anything. Hell, I told you five minutes ago that tonight’s receipts were outstanding!” Niall’s voice rose to match Ross’s decibel.

  “And I told you that we needed another server for Saturday. Dawn’s kid got sick and she had to leave early. Hannah jumped in to help. You should be thanking me.”

  “Thanking you for what?” Niall retorted, mockery and disbelief tightening his tone.

  “Yes, thanking me.” Ross’s voice grew marginally louder and the words slurred. “In a single stroke, I got us another trained server for Saturday and Dawn’s shift covered for tonight. Not bad for a dumb-ass kid, right? Oh great and powerful Niall.”

  “Should I also thank you for going out and getting wasted during business hours? Got to get your party on? Or are you going to try to tell me that you weren’t at O’Toole’s until twenty minutes ago? I should warn you, if you’re going to lie to me, that you reek of beer.”

  “Fuck. You!”

  The door swung open, and Niall stumbled backward a few steps as if shoved. He balled his hands into fists at his thighs but didn’t raise them. Instead, he turned sideways in the door and let Ross storm past.

  Hannah and Karma pushed harder against the door to the Master Room, but Michael didn’t budge. Shoot, why couldn’t she be endowed with the gift of invisibility? Although, the way Ross ignored them, they might as well have been transparent.

  Ross didn’t pause, he turned left out of the office and stormed out the back door, nearly knocking over Paulie who must have either been coming in or waiting outside. To his credit, Paulie didn’t react. He glanced at Niall who stood red-faced and hands still fisted in the doorway to his office.

  Paulie rolled his eyes at the man, then glanced at Karma. “Trash is out and the stoves clean and prepped for tomorrow. Can I—” He nodded toward the exit. “I’m his ride.”

  “Go on, Paulie,” Niall said, turning to the chef. “Good-night.”

  Paulie hesitated a moment, then nodded first to Niall, then to Karma, then to Niall again. “See you tomorrow, Karma. Clock me out, Boss.”

  Hannah’s heart pumped like a marathon runner’s while she waited for Niall to notice her. Although him not noticing might be a good thing. He’d sounded pretty angry that she’d been hired.

  Although what had she really expected?

  For him to sweep her into his arms and kiss her the moment they saw each other again? No. But she sure hadn’t anticipated him yelling at his brother for hiring her. Maybe if she explained that this was a temporary job. Just something for a few months until she could find a job as an electrician, it would lessen the blow. Reduce the tension.

  Niall closed his eyes and his lips moved as if he counted silently. She tried not to stare at him. Tried and hopelessly failed. Because, well, it was Niall.

  His very presence filled the room. His hair, although longer than it had been the night they met, was still short. It stood out in odd tufts, as if he’d been tugging at it.

  Then his eyes flew open and his gaze zeroed in on hers. She was locked in his sights but not frightened.

  Fascinated.

  Niall was tall, commanding, and, despite having just participated in a shouting match with his brother, appeared startled rather than angry. And those vivid green eyes. He stared at her with an intensity that made Hannah’s cheeks burn. An odd red light surrounded him. She’d seen that light before. The night they’d made love in her apartment. It pulsed and beckoned her. She might have gone to him, touched him, but then he spoke.

  “I suppose you heard all that.” Niall sighed and shook his head as if resigned, running a hand through his hair. “Of course you did. He shouldn’t have hired you. It’s nothing personal. Just business.”

  The words were impersonal, efficient, and had the absolute effect of slicing her in two despite the quiet, beleaguered delivery.

  Half of her was devastated by his callous words. The other half just as quickly reminded her that the universe sent her here. He needed her, even if he didn’t know it yet.

  Now she simply had to convince him of that.

  “It’s nice to see you too, Niall.”

  CHAPTER 7

  WHAT THE HELL was he saying? Niall finally had Hannah in the same room again after all this time and he was sending her away?

  “It’s okay.” Hannah gave him a winning smile that didn’t quite mask the surprise and hurt in her tawny brown eyes. “I’m only in town for a few weeks anyway.”

  “Niall, we’ll be short a server without her on Saturday.” Karma stepped between them, but her gaze bounced from Niall to Hannah and back again, like she was watching words volley through the air. “Surely, we can afford to keep her for a few days. The guests loved her. I swear she sold more desserts tonight than we have in a week. And her being here gives me time to train her for Saturday.”

  He couldn’t argue with the logic but Karma didn’t know everything he did. A one-night stand showed up unannounced in his restaurant months after their night together. A one-night stand who didn’t have the decency to give him her real phone number. Something about the whole thing didn’t sit right with him. And not simply because Hannah’s presence evoked a sexual response in him.

  “Karma, will you excuse us? I’d like to get to know my new employee.” He stepped back and gestured to Hannah. “Come into my office.”

  Hannah’s brows knit and she gave Karma a nervous, wary smile. And damn, if that didn’t piss him off more. She was afraid of him? She showed up in his place of business after giving him a bogus number but was acting as if he frightened her. The woman probably was every bit the nutball he’d suspected she was back in Fincastle. Why in the fuck had he slept with her in the first place?

  “Absolutely, Mr. Graham.” She gave him a winning smile and strode into his office.

  Niall ignored Karma’s suspicious stare and closed the door between them. Turning, he found Hannah had claimed the only chair in the room. Sitting cross-legged, with her hands folded primly in her lap, she smiled at him. “Hi, Niall. Or should I call you Mr. Graham? Or is it Boss?”

  He sighed and leaned his back against the door. The doorknob was a lifeline he held on to to keep from crossing the small room and touching her. His head might think she was some kind of wacko stalker but his body certainly didn’t seem to care. She was beautiful, ethereal, and damned charming with that mouth that always seemed to be smiling. “What are you doing here, Hannah?”

  Her smile widened marginally and she uncrossed her legs, letting her feet dangle in front of her. They didn’t quite reach the floor because the chair was set for him.

  “If you think I’m some psycho stalker chick, forget it.” She shrugged. “I had no idea you even lived in Tidewater. I didn’t know you owned a restaurant. I thought you were in the Marines.”

  “I was. When you met me last winter, I was in the Marines. My enlistment ended in May.” He glanced around the cluttered room. “I came home to take over the family business.”

  “From your brother?”

  “With my brother,” he replied more defensively than he’d intended. “But you still haven’t answered my question. Why are you here, in Tidewater, applying for a job in my restaurant?”

  She tilted her chin up and slightly to the left, staring at him with those eyes that seemed to peek into his soul. It was damned unnerving. He almost hoped that she had sought him out, twisted as it sounded in his own head. Then at least this attraction he felt would be mutual. No. Wait. That was wrong. Heinously wrong. He didn’t want her to want him because then her presence meant she had to be a stalker.

  She’s making me fucking crazy and she hasn’t even said why she’s here yet.

  “I’m searching for my sisters. They live here in Ti
dewater. Or so I’ve been led to believe.” She pushed off the chair. Her shoes scuffled on the floor as she stood. “Relax, Niall. I didn’t track you down like some lovesick Marine groupie. My being in this spot wasn’t my intention. Well, it was but not because of you. This place,” she indicated the space with both hands, “used to be my house when I was a child.”

  Niall’s teeth set at the lie. Christ, he hated liars. Good. If she were a liar, it would be easier to make her go.

  He pointed at the floor with a single finger. “This place wasn’t habitable until five years ago.”

  “So suspicious.” She crossed the minuscule room, stopping right in front of him. “But you’re right. Sort of. This building wasn’t habitable five years ago, but an old woman lived here twenty years ago. She was my mother’s landlord. My mother’s little bungalow sat where the parking lot is now. I came here this morning to see if I could remember anything about living here.”

  “You lived here?” he asked. She shrugged and he clarified, “In a house that used to stand on my parking lot?” It seemed too unbelievable to be true.

  “Yes.” She pointed at the far wall. “The church across the street was our church. It’s where my mother and father were married.”

  “The parents who own the bar in Fincastle?” She had to be lying. The alternative was too uncomfortable to be true.

  “No, they adopted me when I was three.” Her ever-smiling mouth turned down at the corners. “My first mother died when I was three. I was adopted by Axel and Rosalind and we moved to Ohio not long after. I don’t really remember much about living in Tidewater. It’s why I wanted to come back here and see if I could remember anything before I went to find my sisters.”

  “And did you?” When confusion wrinkled her brow he added, “Remember anything about living here?”

  An odd expression slid across her face. It was so fast, he doubted he’d actually seen anything.