How long had they been sitting there?
And, to make it better, they were all in nice suits. Shit. She groaned internally, just calculating how much her tip had dropped based on how irritated they probably were that she hadn’t taken their orders. Slapping her most chipper smile on her face, she smoothed down the apron over her hips before tugging out the order pad.
“Afternoon, gentlemen, what would you like to drink?” Her cheeks ached a bit at the overenthusiastic smile. The conversation stuttered to a halt in front of her; she’d obviously interrupted something. The older man facing her looked up and Phee immediately noticed the COF badge attached to his breast pocket. Cabal of Freedom. He was government. The justice building was a few blocks away, but there were other restaurants, nicer restaurants so much closer. It was rare to see one of them in here. The salt and pepper at his temples revealed that he was a little older, and unlike many others of his status he wasn’t interested in wiping away that specific telling sign of his age. He casually flipped the menu open and then sighed and slapped it shut impatiently.
“Just bring us water, we need a minute.” He was curt, his voice sharp and commanding, but she forced the smile to stay on her face.
“Absolutely, sir. I’ll be back with your waters.” Phee nodded and started to turn away when the man immediately to her left turned and looked up at her. His eyes caught hers like an electric shock. Bright turquoise, as if someone had laid the pretty stones on top of a light so that every facet glinted and fragmented to form his irises. With eyes like that he should have been a great sea god, walking out of the clear ocean, surrounded by sparkling sunlight, wearing a lot less clothing, ready to command the world to bow at his feet. He definitely shouldn’t have such a tired expression on his face, or be wearing the boring charcoal suit he was in, that stretched across his shoulders as he leaned forward on the table. His glance moved away from Phee’s without really seeing her, and was back on the COF man faster than she could take another breath. Turning sharply on her heel she made herself walk away from the group, back behind the counter to fill glasses with water as if she were on auto-pilot.
Get your head in the game, Phee, stop daydreaming.
Her grandfather’s voice echoed in her ears and she did her best to listen. Men from downtown didn’t even look at girls like her. People from the fog flitted on the edges of their existence, watching them control the world they lived in like the designers of destiny they were. Born into privilege, born into power. Men who had never spent a day down in the fog. Nope, she was being ridiculous. And of all men to want a second glance from, it was definitely not going to happen with an incredibly handsome man that she had just spent a glorious minute imagining mostly naked, walking out of the ocean, ready to bring the fierce power of the ocean’s waves –
“Holy shit, I am so fucking tired. When is our shift over?” Regan groaned as she squatted down to grab a few sets of wrapped silverware.
“It’s not even one, you’ve got a long way to go.” Phee laughed as she picked up the three glasses, and looked up to see the ocean god having an animated discussion with the COF man. She couldn’t help but stare at the strong line of his jaw as he spoke, clenching his teeth between words like he was biting back things he wanted to say. The third man with them was young, but he wasn’t even paying attention to the conversation. His body was rigid in the seat, back straight, eyes scanning the room casually before returning to the ocean god.
“Maybe Alex will let me leave early, I was up so late last night.” Regan was just sitting on the rubber mat behind the counter, ignoring her tables again.
“Maybe you should get up and take care of your tables so I don’t have to help you pay your rent again next month?” She raised an eyebrow as she looked down and Regan scrunched her face up. “Tips, Regan. Smile, and take care of your tables, and get tips. I love you, but you can’t crash on my couch forever if you lose this apartment like you did the last one.”
“It would be easier to get tips if I could just swish my ass around like you do. I swear, being flat as a board on both sides is the worst possible –”
“I do not swish my ass around.” Phee hissed quietly at her and she rolled her eyes. Best friend or not, Regan could really whine when she wanted to. Her hair was an ash blonde, and was currently tucked in a messy bun, and she was tall and skinny. Three inches taller, she always reminded her of an aspen tree. Pale, tall, and thin. Phee had always been jealous of her effortless grace, a perception that was usually shattered the moment Regan opened her mouth.
“Oh fuck off, Phee. I swear, if I could ask for one thing for my birthday, it would be boobs. And an ass. Okay, two things, boobs and a nice ass that would get me tips.” Regan looked up at her again, “If I had your ass I’m sure Alex would let me go home early.”
“Regan!”
“You know he has a thing for you, Phee. He’s always saying ‘Morning, Phee’, and ‘Oh, Phee, you’re so pretty today’.” Her voice was mocking, and Phee groaned.
“Alex is nice to both of us.” She whispered, glancing back at the table and noticing the trio’s conversation looked less intense.
“Sure, but Alex only wants to bend one of us over this counter.”
Phee kicked Regan’s leg and she laughed and shoved her in return. Phee almost spilled the water on Regan’s head, but her best friend only cackled as she pushed herself to her feet and turned to walk back to her half of the café. Regan was jealous of her because she had her mother’s curves. A waist that looked narrow because her hips were so big, and a ribcage that made her chest look bigger than it was. A perfect hourglass, Regan always complained. In turn, Phee always felt massive next to the sleek elegance Regan put off even if she was in sweatpants and a t-shirt. That was what best friends were for though. They saw the best in each other, and always pointed it out, even through the playful jealousies and taunts.
Adjusting the glasses in her hands Phee headed back to the table with the trio and forced herself to look straight ahead, past the ocean god, and smile at the government guy. The more she looked at him, the more she realized how important he must be. As each of them rattled off their orders she felt the plastic smile covering her face, heard herself asking the right questions, but her eyes were drawn to the custom tailored suit the government man wore. There was a large gold ring on one hand that looked important. Manicured nails. Curt responses out of an elegant face. As she finished writing the orders down the blond man next to him adjusted his jacket and she caught sight of a handgun holstered under his arm. Her heart hammered in her chest and she forced her smile wider, nodding at them so she could scurry away before her face revealed what she’d seen. She was always terrible at hiding her feelings and the panic was going to show.
Why the fuck did he have a gun?
Phee met Regan as she posted up an order for Alex just ahead of her, and she tucked her ticket in just after hers. Regan was about to hurry back to her side of the café, which was filling up with the lunch rush, but instead she looked at Phee with concern, “Hey, what’s up?”
“Nothing.” She watched Alex as he wandered back and forth getting another order ready.
“Seriously, hey, look at me.” Regan’s voice was calm and concerned as she tugged her arm so Phee would look at her. “I was just messing around before, you know I’m not mad at you right? I was kidding about you-know-who.” She tilted her head at Alex in the kitchen, “I’m just tired today, you know when I stay up late I’m a total bitch. Don’t be upset?”
“I’m not, I swear. It’s just –” she glanced back over her shoulder and looked at the table of men again. The ocean god was leaning back and laughing now, even more gorgeous than before without the serious lines on his face.
“He’s cute.” Regan grinned when she looked back at her and she felt the blush in her cheeks, grateful the olive tones in her skin would hide it a little.
“Agreed. But the guy across from him has a gun; I think he’s security for the government guy. The olde
r one is wearing a COF badge, he’s got to be from the justice building.” She whispered quietly, trying to act natural as she mentioned it. Regan’s eyes went wide and she looked over again. Phee pinched her arm, “Stop staring! You’re going to kill my tip if they think I’m over here gossiping about them.”
“You are over here gossiping about them.”
“Not the point.” Phee rolled her eyes. Regan was usually the one gossiping, couldn’t she cut her a break?
Regan laughed, “You know, if he’s got security he’s probably high up. We get people in here sometimes with those badges, but none of them have security.”
“I know. Weird, right?” Phee was about to talk more, but the loud clang of the bell in her ear made her wince. Both of them turned to see Alex grinning on the other side of the window.
“Wow, girls, are we slow already?” Alex raised his eyebrows; his sarcasm was biting as he not so subtly suggested they get back to work. Regan sighed, and his eyes flipped to her. “Problem, Regan? Because this is your order.”
“No problem, Alex. I’m super excited to carry food, can’t you tell?” Regan gave a bright smile, before she grabbed the plates Alex pushed through the window. He laughed despite his best efforts and Phee bit her cheek so she didn’t encourage her. After she wandered away Alex turned back to her.
“I’ll have your order up quick, Phee.”
“Thanks, Alex.” She gave him a brief smile before she went to bus the two tables that had just left. They had left a grand total of sixteen dollars in tips between the two of them, and she groaned. She spent almost nine dollars a day just getting to and from work. Three other tables had arrived and she grabbed their orders and put them in. As she was putting plates into the back to be washed she heard the bell and went to grab the trio’s food.
Approaching the table she saw the COF man on a cell phone, turned away from the table to talk. The ocean god was talking to the security guy and laughing, “She was so boring, Nate. I swear, there weren’t two brain cells to rub together.”
“So why did you even go out with her, Bryant?”
“Because it’s what I’m supposed to do. I can’t show up at an event like that without a date, my uncle would have a fit and you know it.” The last words were whispered across the table, and Phee felt frustrated that they seemed to be deliberately ignoring her even as she balanced the heavy serving tray on her shoulder.
“Maybe you should ask out someone interesting then.” Phee mumbled as she leaned down to drop the plate in front of the ocean god, Bryant. He looked up at her in shock, those turquoise eyes still an unreal shade of blue, as she slid the other plates onto the table.
“Oh really? And exactly where would you suggest I find someone interesting, miss?” Bryant smiled at her and she made herself ignore how handsome it made him. The guy across from him, Nate, had his eyebrows up and a slow smile creeping across his face.
“Well, I’m pretty interesting.” Phee shrugged, tucking the tray under her arm as a blush heated her cheeks.
What the hell was happening with her mouth? Why was she even talking to these customers like this? Especially with one being COF and one having a fucking gun?
“It sounds like you think I should ask you out on a date?” Bryant’s surprise showed in the half-laughing way he asked, and it made Phee bristle.
“It sounds like I’m the one who had the balls to suggest it, sir. Whether or not you have the balls to actually do it is up to you.” Phee felt her stomach flip, but inside she imagined herself at the edge of the beach, leaves wound in her hair as she pushed back the ocean god with a forest army. He could crash his waves against the line of trees, and her soldiers’ roars would come like the sound of a thousand ancient throats sending up a single challenge. And she would stand on a pillar of earth as it rose from the ground, making her tower over him in all his glistening glory. Men like him always thought they could do whatever they wanted, but he hadn’t come up against her yet.
And his power would mean nothing in the face of hers.
“Well –” Bryant started to speak, but she cut him off with a polite smile.
“Enjoy your meal, gentlemen.” Phee turned so sharply she felt hair flare behind her, and she immediately went to take the orders of a new table. One side of her was so nervous at what she’d said, the idiotic tone she’d used, but the other side was being carried in branch like arms across damp sand as the ocean receded – victory.
Almost an hour later, Phee had dropped the check off at the ocean god’s table without a second glance at him. Then she’d headed behind the counter to grab items from the bakery case for a to-go order.
“Ah, excuse me?”
Phee’s head snapped up to see the ocean god leaning on the glass bakery case, smiling as he looked her up and down. Damn him for his good looks. She made her voice calmly professional to cover the thrill that ran up her spine that those ridiculous eyes were checking her out, “Yes? Can I do something for you?”
“Actually, yes. I’d like six blueberry muffins to go, and your phone number.” His smile grew wider, and she hated that she had failed to hide the surprise on her face.
“That’s not funny.” Phee dropped the bag she had been preparing for another customer on the counter, opened another, and started putting muffins in it as she fought the embarrassed heat in her cheeks. The ocean was rising in his favor again.
“I’m not trying to be funny. I would really like your number, and I happen to like the muffins here.”
“Why?” Phee folded the top of the bag over and stared at him over the case.
“Because you make them fresh daily? Or at least, that’s what the menu says. If it’s not true maybe you can tell me all the dirty secrets of this place over dinner.” Bryant grinned, “Like, does the soup of the day actually change every day?”
Stupid, charming –
The ocean wasn’t just rising, it was knocking down her line of tree soldiers, the sun glinting off sea foam as it eroded the earth from beneath her feet. “That is not what I meant and you know it. Why are you asking me for my number?”
“Because I’d like to call it.” Bryant said it with a serious tone, but his smile wasn’t fading. He leaned over by the register and grabbed a pen from a cup and ripped a napkin out of the holder. With a flourish of the pen he was pushing the napkin towards her across the top of the bakery case, it had a phone number on it. “Listen, if you won’t give me yours, at least give me a call. I’m serious about dinner.”
“Why?” Phee was too surprised, too unsettled by the shift in her actual reality and her internal fantasy, to do more than repeat the same question.
“Because you seem interesting, and you’re beautiful, and you did have the balls to suggest we go on a date. I’m just manning up.” Bryant grabbed another napkin and held it out to her with the pen, “Come on. Can I have your number?”
She slammed her heel down on the earth in her mind, her soldiers roaring their encouragement with the creaking weight of a thousand trees standing against the gale of a hurricane. On the outside she just smiled, grabbed the napkin, and wrote her number down. “That’s twelve dollars and ninety cents.” Phee handed him the napkin with her cell phone number on it and the bag of muffins at the same time.
“I’m Bryant, by the way.” He was smiling brighter than the sun in her head as he took the bag and the napkin and handed her a fifty.
“This is too much.” The water was clouded with silt and leaves and sticks as the ocean met the earth in a clash, but neither side gave way.
“Think of it as a bribe for your name?” Bryant tilted his head, waiting.
Stalemate.
“Phee. My name is Phee.” She met his eyes, and he glanced over his shoulder once before turning back to her.
“Well, Phee, I’ll call you soon.”
“You do that, Bryant.” She smirked and he laughed at her response before he headed for the door.
In her head she was breathing hard, whispering the language of
the trees to fortify defenses at the beach; because Bryant wasn’t done with her. That was obvious.
And the next time they spoke, if he actually called, she didn’t plan on giving an inch.
Chapter Two
At the end of their shift Alex had been surprisingly curt with her. He’d paid out their hourly wages in cash from the register, and slammed the drawer shut harder than necessary. Regan hadn’t seemed to notice the way Alex had looked. Tense, irritated, almost angry. Phee had tried to ask him what was wrong, but he’d flipped the lights off in the main café and headed for the back door with a call to see them tomorrow.
Regan had babbled about Bryant the entire walk to the bus stop, grilling her for information and giggling at the idea that he might call. Phee was tempted to toss the napkin in the trashcan. What had she been thinking? Why had she even said something? Men like Bryant didn’t take girls like her out on dates.
He wasn’t an ocean god, and she wasn’t a forest queen. There was no epic battle to be waged between the two of them, and their brief banter back and forth at the café had likely just been a passing form of entertainment for him.
Regan seemed to catch on to Phee’s mood and left her alone as they got off the last bus and boarded the train that would take them to their neighborhood. With each change in transportation the fog grew thicker as they headed South and the city sloped down towards the lakes that kept the city wrapped in its misty embrace. When the train turned around the old C. T. Thompson warehouse, Phee felt the odd sensation of her stomach turning as the train angled down. The fading evening sunlight couldn’t broach the fog anymore, and she turned away from the window as it covered them completely. Occasionally, yellow street lamps would form will o’ the wisps in the world outside the train, floating and taunting, tempting foolish travelers to leave their safe paths and go wandering. Phee looked down in her lap, ignoring the pools of light, and tried to read the book she’d tucked in her purse.
Twist (A BDSM & Romantic Erotica Boxed Set) Page 42
