Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 77422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77422 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
The woman that owned the place was a crazy gal and found herself in trouble quite a bit because she just didn’t abide by all of the laws. Such as the ones that limited the occupancy of an establishment like hers. Granted, it had been a day when a famous country singer had been there, and she’d been eating up the fact that she had a celebrity in her restaurant.
The country singer’s people had called the police to get some crowd control, and Erin, the owner, had refused to kick anyone out.
She finally agreed to kick some people out to appease the cops, but once the cops left, she let them right back in.
She’d gotten hurt when an overzealous fan decided to climb the glass countertop and stand on it to see over the dividing wall.
The glass had broken and shards of glass had sprayed out in all directions.
No one else had been close enough to get hurt. No one, that is, but Erin.
An ambulance had been called, and then Erin had been arrested for being overcapacity while she was being treated for her wounds.
The police officer had informed Dean that she needed to be seen at the hospital, and Erin hadn’t wanted to leave her restaurant because leaving meant she needed to close it since she worked it practically on her own.
Dean had taken her despite her refusal, and the bond between the two had been established ever since.
“I…”
“Well, hello there, July,” the voice of a man I despised drawled beside me.
I turned to find Barrett and Jensen standing about four feet away from where Dean and I were standing at the hostess stand.
My stomach roiled, and Dean’s hand clenched around mine.
“Hi,” I said, turning back around and saying, “Two” to the hostess.
“You like this place?” Barrett asked at my back. “We’ve never tried it.”
I wasn’t sure why they were even there in the first place. This was my city, not theirs.
I turned and smiled at them over my shoulder. “Love it.”
Jensen’s full body scan had my belly clenching.
Barrett got closer, and Dean moved me until my body was in front of his, pushing me to trail the hostess who’d gestured for us to follow.
“Fucking fuckers,” Dean murmured under his breath.
I shivered.
“I’ve seen them more in three months than I have in ten years. This is creepy,” I said to him.
His eyes found mine.
“I would hardly call twice creepy, but they are annoying, that’s for sure,” he mumbled.
I shook my head. “I’ve seen them about ten times since the reunion. Not just two.”
His eyes widened.
“When?” he asked.
“Everywhere. It’s almost like they’ve moved here. I see them all the time.”
His body went stiff.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked.
I shook my head. “I didn’t think it was that big of a deal…is it?”
He pursed his lips.
“I don’t know.”
“That’s helpful,” I snorted, smiling at the hostess that placed two menus on the table in the very corner of the room. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she exclaimed. “Enjoy!”
“She’s cute,” I said once she’d gotten far enough away from our table.
My eyes went around the room, admiring all the work Erin had done to the place since I’d last been in. “I love these chairs.”
Dean didn’t reply, and I looked up at him to find him typing a text on his phone.
“Remember the rules!” I teased him.
He looked up and shook his head.
“I’m texting your brother to let him know you’ve been seeing those two jokers everywhere,” he explained, placing the phone on the table.
I sighed.
“My brother’s paranoid enough, so thanks for that.”
Our dinner was less than stellar, but not because of the fact that Erin terrorized Dean.
She did.
Quite a bit. Although she never spilled anything onto his lap, and she also refrained from sending him burnt food.
The heckling wasn’t spared, though, and she let Dean know in no uncertain terms that she really didn’t like him.
She liked me, though, and had given us good service, as well as made some excellent food.
I just couldn’t enjoy it, though.
Not with Jensen and Barrett two tables away. Both of them sitting so that they could see me.
Both of them not even trying to hide the fact that they were watching me.
By the time our dinner had ended, I was not in the mood for anything. The night had been a bust, and to top it all off, Dean’s pager went off.
“Shit,” he said, looking at it. “We gotta go.”
I nodded and stood, my eyes widening a bit when Dean threw a fifty-dollar bill down on the table to cover the tab.
“That’s a big tip,” I told him.
We’d spent twenty dollars, at most, and a thirty-dollar tip for a woman that clearly made no real attempt at hiding her contempt for my man wasn’t necessary.
He gave it anyway, though, leaving me no choice but to follow him out.