by Cora Brent
“I want to see you later,” I whispered in her ear.
She peered up at me with an innocent smile. “It’s unavoidable. Today’s the grand opening. And I’ll be at work in an hour.”
I ran my hands all over her body and pressed against her. “That’s not what I mean.”
She bit her lip and blushed. “I want to see you later too. We’ve got a long day ahead.”
“We sure as hell do.”
“You nervous?”
“Fuck, yeah.”
She smiled. “Everything’s going to be amazing, Dominic.”
I tipped her chin up and kissed her once more. “Everything’s already amazing.”
It was early enough that I should have had time to run home for a quick shower and still make it to the restaurant before Gio headed out his own front door.
“Dominic!” Melanie yelled when I was halfway to my truck.
I turned around, and she blew me a soft kiss. I pretended to catch it. Then I smiled like a demented thing throughout the entire fifteen-minute drive home. I was still smiling as I jogged over to the front door of my condo.
I stopped smiling when Gio emerged from his place two doors down.
He gaped at me. “Dom?”
“Oh, hey,” I said as casually as I could while thinking, Shit! Shit! Shit!
His eyes narrowed. “Are you just getting in?”
“What? No, I just ran over to the dumpster to toss a bag of trash.”
Gio gave me a flat stare. He knew I was lying, and I felt shitty about lying to him. But the truth would have made things even messier.
“I’m heading over to Espo 2 now,” he said.
“Well, that’s two days in a row you’re beating me to work,” I said cheerfully.
“Dom, you’ve put in twice the amount of hours I have. I know that. You want a ride?”
“Nah.” I shook my head. “I’ve got a few things to do at home, and then I’ll be right over.”
“I see,” Gio said, and locked his door. He started to move past me, but I stepped in his way.
“Is Leah completely better?” I asked. I wasn’t used to feeling distant from Gio. I hated it.
“Yeah.” He smiled a little. “Full of sass and sweetness, just like her mom.”
I almost came clean right then and there. I almost said, “Bro, I met this incredible girl and I really love being with her and she happens to be our most important employee and I know we’re on the eve of a make-it or break-it situation with everything we’ve been working for and you’re depending on me to keep my head together, but I’m asking you to be cool with the fact that I spent last night in her bed anyway, okay? Okay?”
I changed my mind, though. I’d tell Gio everything, absolutely everything, but this wasn’t the time. I could see the stress on his face, and there was so much riding on the new restaurant being a success.
“See you in a little bit,” I said.
“Sure,” he said. Then he walked briskly to his car and took off. I watched his taillights disappear.
Forty-five minutes later I walked through the front door of Espo 2, bracing myself for an awkward start to the day, but Gio seemed far more cheerful. Neither of us brought up any touchy subjects. The fact that the soft opening had gone so well meant we’d already gotten most of the details ironed out. All the food deliveries had been made yesterday, and the bakery owner we’d hired to supply the restaurant with several varieties of desserts had dropped by with a box of samples to congratulate us on the grand opening.
Melanie strolled in just as we’d filled our mouths with fresh cannoli. We locked eyes for an intense second, and I had a flashback to last night and the way she’d writhed under me, shrieking my name as she came. I tried to force the image out of my head.
“Want a cannoli, Melanie?” Gio asked as he held the box out.
“Sure.” She smiled and took one.
“These are damn good,” Gio commented as he polished off the one in his hand. “But nothing beats those huge pastries Papa used to keep in the dessert case at the old place, right, Dom?”
I grinned. “Ah, those bad boys were easily eight inches long. They were a meal unto themselves.”
Then I realized the sexual innuendo in my own words, and I nearly choked. Melanie noticed too. She bit her lip to stifle a smile. Luckily Gio seemed oblivious.
“No shit,” he chuckled. “I cut my teeth on those monsters. They were epic.”
Melanie took a tentative bite. “Mmm, these are good.”
Gio started talking about the stack of takeout menus he’d placed at the counter, and I had to avoid looking at Melanie so I wouldn’t get distracted by thoughts of how much better she looked when she wasn’t wearing clothes and the way she moaned and clutched me when she came.
“Dom!” Gio said, and snapped his fingers. “You listening? Looks like you’re a million miles away.”
“I’m right here,” I croaked and then cleared my throat.
“You sure you’re okay, Dominic?” Melanie asked sweetly, and when I caught her eye, I knew she had correctly guessed where my mind was.
“I’m fine,” I said evenly. “I’m touched by your concern, though.”
“I’m glad you’re touched,” she said, and it looked like she was trying not to laugh.
I immediately steered the conversation back to the takeout menus because Gio was looking at both of us kind of funny and I didn’t want it to be apparent that two out of the three people in this little meeting had screwed each other’s brains out last night.
“Well,” Melanie said, “the staff is going to start arriving around one so that will give us plenty of time to get everything in place before we open at four.”
“And then tomorrow we start regular hours,” Gio reminded us. “Which means we’ll be open before lunch.” He drummed his fingers on a nearby table. “I think we’re ready. What do you think, Dom?”
“I want to do some final run-throughs in the kitchen, but yeah, we couldn’t be more ready.”
“Melanie?” Gio ventured.
“I agree,” she said, and her happy smile just about melted my heart. “We’re ready.”
The three of us scattered in order to pursue our own last-minute tasks. My nerves were starting to get the better of me. Given all the enthusiasm we’d drummed up for the new location, there was no reason to believe that we wouldn’t be successful. But nothing was for sure.
At ten minutes to noon, Jason texted me to let me know he was five minutes away and that he was hauling me off to lunch whether I liked it or not.
“Esposito boys!” Jason bellowed when he busted through the door.
“What’s up, Jay?” Gio grinned as they fist bumped.
Jason looked around with his shrewd, dark eyes. “I’m impressed,” he said. “This place is destined to be the new downtown trend. Sorry I couldn’t make it to the event the other night. I was burning the midnight oil, working on this massive courthouse bid. But nothing’s keeping me from opening tonight.”
“I’m glad,” I said, “but there’s no way in hell I can run out of here and go to lunch right now.”
“What?” He seemed outraged. “It looks fine. The sign on the door says you’re not open until four today.”
“Jay.” I tried again to explain to my stubborn friend. “I’ve got a ton of shit to do. It’s opening day for fuck’s sake. I can’t just take off.”
“Half an hour,” he insisted. “I’ll bring you right back, I promise.”
“Ah, go ahead, Dom,” Gio said. “He’s not going to shut up until you go.”
“Your brother is absolutely right,” Jay said. “By the way, I’ve got good news, Dominic. I convinced the twins you were having a bad night when you blew Briana off. Apparently they like a challenge. They’re willing to give you another shot.”
“You mean both of them?” Gio said, looking confused.
“Never mind,” I growled because Melanie had crept out of the office and was standing there listening to ever
y word.
Jason pouted. “Come on. One of these days you’ll have to relax on the work and play a little, or you’ll explode in an unholy shower of pent-up sexual aggression.”
Melanie’s eyes were on me. Gio was staring off toward the kitchen and probably pretending the conversation wasn’t happening. I just wanted Jason to shut the fuck up.
“Fine, let’s go,” I said abruptly while trying to muscle him out the door. “Thirty minutes is all I’m giving you.”
“Wait a minute.” He fended me off with ease. Jason worked out four days a week—it wasn’t so easy to muscle him anywhere. He pointed to Gio. “You coming with us? I swear I’ll keep wild tales of the bachelor life to a minimum. You can even show off pictures of your kid, and I’ll say nice things about how cute it is.”
“She,” I told Jason. “My niece is a girl, and her name is Leah.”
“Right, right,” Jason said absently. “So how about it, G-Man?”
Gio shook his head and chuckled. “Thanks, but my beautiful bride promised to stop by and bring me lunch.”
“Lucky man,” Jason said, but I knew he was being the Jason version of polite. For a smart guy he had a painfully short attention span when it came to women. I couldn’t even guess what it would take to domesticate him.
Melanie still hadn’t said a word, and I was hoping to get Jason out of the way before he noticed her, but no such luck. His eyes lit up when he caught sight of her standing there quietly just beyond the dining room.
“Well, hello again,” he said, running a hand through his hair and offering up his most diabolical grin. “Melanie, right?”
She cocked her head and looked at him with what seemed like amusement. “That’s right, Jason. Good to see you again.”
“It’s good to be seen. What are you doing right now?”
“Just about to go grab a quick lunch before the staff starts arriving.”
“Excellent,” Jason declared. “You’re coming with us. I need somebody more entertaining than this guy to talk to.”
Melanie glanced at me. Jason would unquestionably keep his hands to himself as soon as I said the word. Yet I was bothered by the hungry way he kept looking at the girl I’d already started to think of as mine.
“Thank you,” she said politely, “but I’m . . . ah . . . meeting a friend.”
“Really?” Jason frowned. “Where?”
“Well . . .” Melanie looked at me for help.
“Come on,” I said impatiently, and nudged him a little harder toward the door. If he resisted anymore, I just might throw him through it. “Melanie has better things to do than sit through lunch with our ugly asses.”
Jason was insulted. “Who are you calling an ugly ass, you East Coast ape?”
When I finally hustled him out to the street, he stopped cold and just stood there, staring at me.
“What is it now?” I asked, not sure I wanted to hear the answer.
“You and Melanie,” he sang out, and beamed like he’d just solved the cold fusion enigma.
I shook my head and acted like I didn’t know what he was talking about. “Nope, your instincts are getting rusty.”
“Like hell they are,” he scoffed. Then he leaned forward eagerly. “So does the fact that you’re her boss make it extra hot? Do you order her to get down on her knees and take dictation? Does the word overtime possess an entirely different meaning now?”
“Jesus, shut up,” I hissed.
He laughed out loud. “I knew it. And my instincts are sure as shit not rusty. You’re totally into that girl.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled, and pushed him off the curb and toward his car. “I’m into her. Like in a ‘can’t sleep at night’ or ‘keep my thoughts out of the gutter’ kind of way. Happy now?”
My best friend shot me a smug smile. “Very.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
MELANIE
We were now less than an hour away from the great grand opening of Esposito’s new downtown Phoenix restaurant, and suddenly it seemed like there were a million things to do. I still needed to double-check some details, from the presence of first aid kits to the required emergency and inspection signs. Over in the dining room, a couple of the servers were running through a quick inventory of all the plates, glasses, and flatware.
“Remember,” I said as I passed by the built-in cabinets where the servers were busily counting, “any chips or cracks or other flaws, and the item is to be removed from circulation immediately. Place all rejects in the gray bin beneath the register, and I’ll make note of it later.”
“Melanie.” Isaiah, one of the new dishwashers, appeared and looked around at all the activity with confusion. He was the youngest staff member, still in high school. “What should I do now?”
“Um, why don’t you go to the kitchen? I think Dominic’s running through the dish sanitizing process again.”
“Sure thing.”
Fifteen minutes before we opened the doors, Gio gave a rousing speech that made everyone cheer like we were about to kick off a playoff game instead of a restaurant opening. I smiled and clapped along with everyone else, though, because it was fun and exciting and I was happy to be a part of it all.
“You could have been a motivational speaker,” I told him.
“Thanks. It’s good to know I’ve got some skills to fall back on if this whole pizza thing doesn’t work out,” he joked. I could see some angst in his face, though. He looked like his brother, and they both had similar habits that betrayed signs of worry; furrowing his brow, squeezing the back of his neck like it hurt.
“It’ll work out,” I said confidently. “For the last week we’ve had a steady stream of would-be customers arriving at the door to see if we’re open yet. I’ve seen a lot of interest in the social media ads I’ve been running, and just look at that line right outside the door.”
“I’m sure you’re right, Melanie,” he said. Then he snapped his fingers. “Oh, I keep forgetting to mention this, but you remember that reporter from the Sun Republic?”
“Becky Baller.”
“Yeah.” He snorted. “Becky Baller. She called and said the short piece she’s been working on was delayed for a few weeks, but it’s still on.”
“Nice. That’ll definitely generate some buzz.”
“Hopefully.”
“So what’s the verdict?” Dominic asked, emerging from the kitchen. “We ready to open?”
Gio glanced at me and nodded thoughtfully. “We’re ready.”
Then the Esposito brothers took a deep breath and opened the doors to their brand-new restaurant. As the crowd poured in, Dominic returned to the kitchen, but Gio stayed in the dining room, taking orders and stopping by tables to make sure everyone was satisfied. It was like the friends and family opening in that we were ridiculously busy, except these were paying customers.
Tara stopped by with baby Leah, and I was glad to take a two-minute break and greet them. Every time I stopped by the kitchen, Dominic was up to his elbows in flour and pizza dough. After only a few hours, I could tell that our numbers for the night were going to be phenomenal, eclipsing our most optimistic estimates. The only vaguely unpleasant event all night didn’t involve burned food or server mishaps or anything so ordinary.
“I’ve seen you before,” said a young woman who squinted at me across the hostess desk.
I smiled at her. “I’ve been down at the other restaurant in Tempe at times, so you might have seen me there.”
She tapped a manicured nail against her bright-pink lips. “No, that wasn’t it.” Then she blinked as recognition dawned. “I remember now. You were the girl who fell on that movie star bride and then everyone started fighting. I work at McAffey’s over by ASU, and we played the TMZ clip over and over again. Everyone laughed their asses off. You were only in there for a second, but I watched it a million times.” She elbowed her companions. “Look, it’s the girl from that crazy wedding video.”
It was difficult to keep a smile pasted to my face. “
Table for three?” I said. “What name is it under?”
“Kelsy,” she replied, and then started to ask me questions about the event, but I was able to brush her off pretty easily since there was a line of people waiting behind her.
I carefully avoided any more eye contact with Kelsy and her friends. When they walked out the front door an hour later, I felt relieved. Sometimes I forgot the initial, humiliating catalyst that left me unemployed and with no good prospects. As I watched Kelsy depart, I realized none of it bothered me that much anymore. Much worse things happened to people every day. Anyway, I wasn’t going to feel sorry for myself. I was in a good place now.
All in all, the opening night of Esposito’s new restaurant was an unqualified success. Since it was the first night, we kept seating new guests later than we usually would and finally shut the doors for the night an hour after the official closing time.
Cleanup seemed like a breeze, because everyone was in such a good mood. I hung around until everything was done, and then waved a fond goodbye to the staff. I was proud of them, proud of myself.
Dominic finally emerged from the kitchen. He smiled at me, and it was like the sun emerging from the clouds, brilliant.
“All squared away in the kitchen?” Gio asked his brother.
Dominic nodded. “All good. Place got a hell of a workout tonight. So what’s the final verdict?”
Gio ginned. “I think our future here looks pretty damn spectacular.”
Dominic looked my way. “What do you think, Melanie? You think our future looks spectacular?”
I knew he was talking about the restaurant, but the way he said the words our future gave me the chills.
“I do,” I said. “Actually I don’t think the big picture could get any brighter. And who knows, maybe this time next year, we’ll be talking about opening another new place in Scottsdale or on the west side. Frankly, I believe every neighborhood deserves an Esposito’s.”
When I stopped talking, I saw that the brothers were staring at me, each for presumably very different reasons. I cleared my throat. I had something important to say to one of them, and the prospect made me feel a little humble.
