Knox looked like he was going to pick him up and hurl him through the door. I took a cleansing breath and did what I did best—stuffed all of my feelings into a little box with a tight lid. “Is there something you need before I go back to work?”
His eyes narrowed at my polite tone. We stared each other down until we were interrupted.
“There she is,” a familiar voice boomed over the din.
“Justice!” My cafe-owning future husband had his arm around a beautiful woman.
“I brought the wife so she could meet my fiancée,” Justice joked.
“Wait’ll Muriel hears about this,” Hinkel cackled, whipping out his phone.
“I’m Tallulah,” she said, leaning over the bar to offer her hand. “Hubs told me all about your first day in town.”
She was tall with a cascade of long braids down her back. She was wearing a St. John Garage t-shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots. “Sorry I missed your first time in the cafe. Heard it was quite a show.”
“This one hasn’t been half bad either,” Hinkel interjected.
“It’s nice to meet you, Tallulah,” I said. “I’m sorry for proposing to your husband, but the man makes coffee that angels sing about.”
“Don’t I know it,” she agreed.
“Where’s your section? We’re here to patronize you,” Justice said.
Knox rolled his eyes.
“Don’t mind him,” Silver said, elbowing the boss out of the way. “He’s just pissy because Nay hasn’t screwed up yet.”
I wanted to kiss her for giving me a nickname other than Not Tina.
“He gave me one shift and no mistakes,” I explained, not caring that he was standing behind me.
“Knox Morgan,” Tallulah chided. “That’s not how we welcome new Knockemouts. Where’s your sense of community?”
“Go away, Tally,” Knox grumbled, but there was no heat to it.
“Naomi, I’ll have your darkest, strongest beer,” Tallulah said. “And the hubs here will have a pi?a colada with whipped cream.”
Justice rubbed his palms together in anticipation. “And we’ll split an order of the pulled pork flatbread. Extra jalape?os.”
“No sour cream,” Tallulah interjected.
“You got it,” I said with a wink. “Have a seat, and I’ll bring your drinks right out.”
“You gonna write that down?” Knox asked as the couple wove their way through the crowd.
I flipped my hair over my shoulder. “Nope.”
He looked at his watch and smirked. “You won’t even make it to the end of the shift at this rate.”
“I’ll be happy to prove you wrong.”
“In that case, you just got yourself another table.”
He pointed to a rowdy table in the corner where an older man with a potbelly and a cowboy hat appeared to be holding court.
“Don’t do that to her on her first night, Knoxy,” Max chided him.
“If she’s so confident she can handle it, no use letting her wade around in the kiddie pool. Gotta throw her in the deep end.”
“There’s a difference between sink or swim when you introduce sharks,” Silver argued.
TWELVE
A RIDE HOME
Knox
I had paperwork to do, but I was more interested in the impending crash and burn of my newest employee.
Naomi strutted her high-class ass right on up to the table like an idealistic kindergarten teacher on her first day. I hated Wylie Ogden for good reason, but I didn’t mind using him to prove my point.
She didn’t belong here. And if I had to prove that by dangling her in front of a wolf, then so be it.
Wylie’s squinty little eyes zeroed in on her, and his tongue darted out between his lips. He knew the rules. Knew I wouldn’t hesitate to toss his ass out of here if he so much as touched one of my employees. But that didn’t stop him from being a creepy old man.
“What’s your problem with Not Tina?” Silver asked, punching the button on the blender and pouring vodka into three rocks glasses.
I didn’t reply. Answering questions only encouraged conversations.
I watched as Wylie lavished Naomi with his pervy brand of attention without feeling the least bit guilty.
She wasn’t my type on any plane of existence. Hell, even in jeans and a Honky Tonk t-shirt, she still looked high-class and high-maintenance. She wouldn’t settle for a few nights between the sheets.
She was the kind of woman with expectations. With long-term plans. With honey-do lists and would you minds and can you pleases.