by Paris Hansen
Chapter 2
“Hey Gabriel, can I get a taster of each of the Hefeweizen we have on tap? Table twenty isn’t sure which one they had last time they were here,” someone called from the opposite end of the bar.
Gabriel turned around in time to catch Meghan roll her eyes. As he grabbed three of the small tasting glasses he gave her a pointed look. She knew better than to roll her eyes or disparage the customers while out on the floor. Most likely the person at table twenty was looking for some free beer, but there was always a chance that they really couldn’t remember what they liked. No matter what, the goal was to get them to come back and if a couple of free tastes of beer did that, then Gabriel didn’t mind.
Placing the glasses on her tray with instructions as to which was which, he watched her walk back to her table. Her section was nearly full even though it wasn’t even 6 o’clock. Thursday nights at Arrow were getting busier and busier every week, which was surprising and exciting. Without a reservation, a party of two usually had a fifteen to twenty-minute wait, sometimes even longer the later it got into the evening. Over the past three years, business had gotten better and better which had given Gabriel ideas that he wasn’t sure he was ready to explore. When he had first taken over Arrow, he had no idea how to run a business, let alone a successful restaurant. After a couple of years taking classes and learning the ropes by being thrown into the fire, he finally felt like he had the hang of it so he stepped out of the office and behind the bar.
Working behind the bar gave Gabriel a better look at the way the restaurant ran and where things could improve. Tweaks here and there resulted in a well-oiled machine, which Gabriel liked to think was one of the reasons behind the large number of regulars that they had. Regulars like the beautiful blonde that currently sat at the end of his bar. She had been in the week before for lunch and up until recently had often come in at least a few times a week for lunch or dinner. Most of the staff knew her by name, but Gabriel hadn’t had the pleasure of being introduced to her yet despite the fact that he had noticed her well over a year ago. She had never sat at the bar before and when they were busy he barely got out from behind it.
He poured a glass of the house red as he watched another member of the Arrow staff stop by and say hello to her on their way to the pickup station. She gave Ray a genuine smile and then held up a colorful brochure that she had been going over. They talked for another minute before Ray made his way to where Gabriel stood.
“Hey Ray, who is the blonde you were just talking to? She comes in all the time. It’s embarrassing for me not to know her name,” Gabriel said while placing Ray’s drink order on his tray.
Ray laughed, “That is the bane of Sam’s existence. Her name is Savannah. She owns Delectable Delights down the street.”
“Oh yeah, the place that Sylvia goes to that has those amazing cupcakes right?”
Ray nodded then walked off with his drinks. Now that he knew her name and who she was, Gabriel knew that he had to talk to her. He’d been putting it off, mostly because he wasn’t sure what to say. When she sat in the dining room, she seemed so far out of his reach. Even when she dined alone and he had time to get out from behind the bar, he was intimidated by her, but he didn’t know why. It wasn’t like he’d never talked to a beautiful woman before. Hell, he talked to plenty every night, flirted with them too if they flirted with him first. Once upon a time, he’d been engaged to a beautiful woman, though that was so far in his past it seemed like a completely different lifetime.
Sucking it up, he checked to make sure he didn’t have any orders pending and then walked toward the end of the bar where Savannah was sitting. She had her head down as she looked over the brochure. Part of him wanted to turn around so he didn’t interrupt her work, but he also knew that there was no guarantee he would ever get the opportunity to speak to her again. In the year he’d been working behind the bar, she’d never sat there and he worked nearly every day, all day, so he would have known if she had.
“So you’re the one that has Sam constantly grumbling that we’re all traitors,” Gabriel said leaning his hip against the bar, his arms crossed over his chest. He must have startled her because she jumped a little before raising her eyes to meet his. Her eyes were the brightest, most vivid shade of blue he’d ever seen. For a moment they stared at each other. Gabriel knew he should say something, do something other than stare into her eyes, but he couldn’t stop. He could easily get lost in the amazing blue depths. She was even more gorgeous up close than from across the room. Most of the time when she came in she had her hair up in a ponytail or one of those messy buns that were all the rage and she wore jeans and a t-shirt or something just as practical. Tonight her blonde hair was down framing her face in soft waves and she wore a simple, yet stunning black dress. Something was definitely different about tonight and Gabriel had a feeling he knew what it was.
“Uh…y…yeah,” she stammered. “Sorry about that.”
“Oh don’t be,” he said a smile spreading across his face. “Your cupcakes are freaking amazing. Better than my grandma’s, but please don’t tell her I said that.”
She smiled back at him, laughing at his admission. The sound was intoxicating and the smile on her face was genuine, something Gabriel didn’t often see. He wanted to stand there and talk to her forever, but someone was calling his name from the other side of the bar and for the first time he wished he had someone else to tend bar so he could have a conversation. In the last three years he hadn’t felt much need for regular conversation which is why he kept himself busy with the restaurant. Less social interaction meant there was less of a chance that someone would ask him about Jonathan or how he came to be the owner of Arrow.
“Um, I have to go, but I’ll be right back. My name’s Gabriel by the way. Can I get you a drink? Anything you want, on the house.”
She smiled again, it was infectious. “You don’t have to do that…the on the house part, I mean. I’d love a glass of the house pinot grigio though when you have a moment.”
He nodded and then turned to grab a bottle of their best pinot grigio out of one of the bar refrigerators. He poured her a glass and set it down in front of her before heading down to the pickup station where Meghan and Ray were standing. There were more than a few drink orders waiting to be filled. Apparently he had spent more time with Savannah then he’d realized. Quickly, he filled each ticket and checked on the other patrons at the bar before moving back down to where Savannah sat watching him; the look on her face unreadable.
“This is far too good to be the house pinot.”
“That’s because it isn’t. I’m sorry; I don’t remember you specifying that you wanted to order the house pinot. That’s my mistake, I’ll make sure that you don’t have to pay for that drink,” Gabriel smiled.
“Well, that’s a tricky way of getting me to let you buy me a drink. Are you always this nice to your customers?” Savannah asked.
“Only the pretty ones that come in as often as you do. Although, I do have to ask why I get to be honored with your presence tonight? All this time, you’ve never once sat at my bar. Nor have you ever come in wearing a dress. Special occasion tonight?”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth Gabriel wished he could take them back. He sounded like he spent a lot of time watching her, like he knew her routine. It was creepy which was not at all what he wanted to portray. He watched her face to see if she reacted to what he said, knowing that he had to do something when Savannah raised an eyebrow. This was not the first impression he wanted to make, especially not after a year of wondering about her.
“Sorry. That sounded really bad. I swear I’m not a stalker or anything; I’m here every day from opening to close and it’s not always busy back here. I have plenty of time to people watch during my shift and there is no way I could ever forget a woman as beautiful as you.”
Gabriel hoped he had recovered well, but he still couldn’t really read Savannah. Although the slight blush that was now covering
her cheeks was hopefully a good sign. It definitely looked good on her either way and instantly he knew that he’d do whatever it took to make it happen again. Although, he wouldn’t blame her if she ran far away from Arrow after his bumbling performance.
“It’s kind of embarrassing, but I have a blind date tonight,” she admitted then quickly picked up her glass of wine and took a long drink. His stomach sank at her words even though he had a feeling that was why she was dressed up. The fact that it was a blind date was a plus, but blind dates worked out all the time. Of course, he didn’t want anything bad to happen to Savannah, but Gabriel silently hoped that the date was a dud.
“There’s nothing wrong with a blind date.”
“Well…yeah, but…the embarrassing part is that this is just the first of many. It’s…uh…been awhile since I’ve dated, so my kid sister decided to sign me up for a matchmaking service to finally get me to put myself out there so I could ‘find the one’,” Savannah said, her hands coming up to form air quotes at the end of the sentence.
Her nervous stutter was adorable and was one more thing to add to the list of things he was starting to like about her. When she wasn’t stammering, her voice was like velvet, smooth and sexy and he could almost hear her purring his name. God, he couldn’t think like that. Not in front of her anyway. Not when they were supposed to be having a normal conversation. Their time together was obviously limited and he didn’t want to waste it fantasizing about her. He could do that later when she was sitting at a table with some stranger getting to know him better.
“Well that sounds like it could be fun,” he said, trying to sound optimistic.
“And it could be complete torture. Thankfully, I got to pick what we did and I decided that we would come here for all of my dates. Figured it was best to keep things in my comfort zone as much as possible and I love this place. I know that if the date is going bad I can get one of the servers or whoever’s at the host stand to help me out since I know everybody. And since I can’t go on a second date with any of these guys until the three months is up I’ll be the only one who has to eat here repeatedly, which definitely isn’t a hardship.”
“Well we thank you for bringing in the business. Just for that your next drink should be free too, so can I get you another glass?”
Savannah nodded before looking over her shoulder toward the host stand where Sylvia stood taking names and directing the other staff members to empty tables. Gabriel poured another glass of wine and noticed for the first time that her hands were shaking a little. He supposed she was nervous. Nerves would be understandable if it had really been a long time since she last went on a date. He knew that he’d be nervous if it was him. It had been a long time for him as well, so long that he wasn’t even sure he knew how to date, although he knew it was probably time he tried. As he watched Savannah fidget he knew exactly who he wanted to try with. He definitely needed to get to know her better.
“So how many dates are you looking at?” he asked when she looked back up at him.
“Well Kerrigan, that’s the matchmaker, said that she could easily keep me busy every night of the week for the entire length of my contract, but I told her that I would go on no more than twenty dates during the three months. Holy crap, that sounds absolutely horrible when I say it out loud.”
“Twenty dates isn’t really that many dates. It’s not like you’ll be doing anything else with them except having dinner and a little conversation right? The odds that you’ll want a second date with all twenty of them is pretty slim and if it makes you feel better you can think of them as business dinners since dating is kind of like doing business. So really, you’re going to have twenty slightly awkward business dinners in the span of three months. At least the food will be amazing.”
“I never would have thought of it like that,” Savannah said in between fits of laughter. “Thank you so much for saying that. I’m feeling a little better about the entire situation, even though I’m still dreading it.”
“Well anything you need, I’m here. If you want you can make sure you’re always seated facing me, we can work out some hand signals like in baseball so I know if you need help or if things are going well,” Gabriel offered even though the last part made his stomach roll.
“That would be fantastic. Maybe before my next date, I can come in early again and we can work those out,” she laughed. “Looks like you’re being summoned again. You’ve been awfully neglectful of the rest of your customers.”
Gabriel sighed when he saw that she was right. Three of his wait staff stood at the pickup station and the receipt printer that printed out the drink orders was overflowing with work that he had forgotten about. Without a word, he pulled off the receipts and started to fill the orders. He ignored the dirty looks he was getting from his staff and the other customers around the bar. He worked quickly and diligently until he was caught up with the pending orders and had checked on everyone sitting at the bar.
When their drinks were refilled and those leaving were cashed out, he turned back to Savannah only to find her stool empty. The wine glass she had been drinking out of was also empty, but he could see that there was something underneath it. Immediately, he hoped it was her phone number, but he knew that wasn’t likely. Beneath the glass was a piece of the brochure that she had ripped off. Neatly written on the top were a thank you and an invitation to come into the shop for a free cupcake or two whenever he wanted. He looked up and scanned the room until he found her sitting at a table near the front window, which seemed to be her favorite spot. Like they had discussed she was facing the bar while her date had his back to Gabriel. As he found her, their eyes met. He held up the paper and smiled at her, delighted when she smiled back. It wasn’t her phone number, but it was damn close. Thankfully, there were at least nineteen more opportunities for him to try and get it from her. And he wasn’t going to give up until he got what he wanted.
For the next six weeks, Savannah came in early before her date and sat at the bar. Each night she looked amazing and each night Gabriel liked to think that she was dressing up for him and not the schmuck she was meeting. He watched her during her dates and while she looked cordial and accommodating, she never looked like she was enjoying herself. The smiles she offered her dates weren’t genuine; her eyes didn’t sparkle like they did when she smiled at him and she never truly laughed when she was with them either. Not like she did during her time at the bar.
He was wearing her down; he could see it in her eyes when they talked. Even before her second date when they worked on the hand signals he had offered, he could tell that he affected her. The signals they had come up with were pretty easy; a brush of the shoulder and things were fine, if she touched her lips she was having a good time and if she threw up her arms in an exaggerated stretch she needed to be rescued. So far, she’d only used the shoulder brush, which was a good thing. Although he definitely didn’t want Savannah to find someone that she liked, he also didn’t want her to suffer through horrible dates. So far, she’d been lucky and he dreaded the day that she came across a jerk or possibly worse, a really great guy.
“So date number eleven tonight…feel any different now that you’re crossing over the half way mark?” he asked as she sat down on the same stool she’d used before every date. He would never admit it to her, but he made sure that no one sat on the stool when he knew she had a date that evening. In fact, even on days she didn’t have dates scheduled he left the stool empty just in case she came in for her usual random lunch or dinner like she had before the dates started. So far she’d only been able to come in on date nights, but he wanted to make sure her “spot” was open on the off chance her schedule changed.
The entire situation sounded kind of pathetic, but with every interaction Gabriel felt himself falling for Savannah. She was more than just a beautiful woman. She was funny and smart, compassionate and alive. Her drive and determination was sexy as hell. Knowing that in just five years she opened three businesses and was in the pro
cess of opening a fourth made him feel like a slacker. When they discussed her work, Gabriel felt like he could follow in her footsteps and open another Arrow somewhere. She motivated him to be more, to try more.
Having her around made him want to be a better man. While it had been a long time since he’d just gone through the motions, he still hadn’t pushed himself too hard since Jonathan’s death. There was so much more that he could have been doing with his life in the last three years, but he wasn’t because he never felt the need to. Now he realized how much was missing from his life and he didn’t want it to stay that way for long. Savannah made him feel things that he never felt before. She made him want to do things he’d never done before. It was a far cry from how his life had been with his ex-fiancée Valerie.
“Well it hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would be. None of the guys have been repulsive or complete jerks, so that’s been nice, but there hasn’t been a single spark with any of them. Not even a hint of the possibility of a spark later on down the road. It’s a little depressing until I remember that I still have ten more possibilities to meet,” Savannah said as she accepted the glass of wine he held out to her.
Their fingers brushed as he released the glass which was completely by design. He wanted to touch her nearly every second that she sat at the bar. He wanted to reach out and run his fingers through her soft hair as he moved it away from her face. He wanted to trace along the inside of her wrist, her silky skin warm under his fingertips. And he wanted to do things that would definitely cause the beautiful pink blush that he loved so much to color her cheeks, but he was trying to be good. The last thing he wanted was to come on too strong or scare her away, so he kept his looks and his flirtations to a minimum. Instead he let her lead. If she flirted, he flirted. If she gave him a look that made his dick twitch, then he gave her one that hopefully melted her panties. Whatever she dished out, he reciprocated because he wanted her to think she was running the show.