The Accidental Elopement

by Maggie Dallen

  He was dangerously close to losing control after a few hours of being in close proximity with this woman. His patience was at an all-time low.

  Her voice was soft and sad as she wrapped his finger with gentle, delicate movements. “Was I really that bad?”

  And with that, all thoughts of his own desire or discomfort were washed away as he hurried to make things right. To make her feel better. “No,” he said. He reached out a hand to touch her shoulder but pulled back at the last minute.

  She glanced up then with one brow raised in disbelief. “Really?”

  Having finished with the bandage, she went to pull her hands from his but his fingers closed around hers, holding them tight. Her eyes widened and she glanced up at him.

  Was it his imagination or had she stopped breathing too? For a moment, everything stopped. Time stood still. And then Javier called out a crude joke to one of the busboys who’d shown up late and the moment was over.

  Letting out his breath on a long exhale, Ryan turned her hands over so they were both looking at her palms. “You’re not bad, you’re just inexperienced. I mean, look at these hands.” He held them up to the light and he and Lucia both stared at her perfectly manicured hands as though they could read her future. “These are not the hands of a woman who slings drinks or waits on drunk businessmen.”

  Lucia pulled back her hands. “I know I don’t have experience, but I promise I’ll learn.”

  Her pleading tone was heartbreaking. Before he could argue, she continued, her eyes wide and filled with unshed tears. “Please, Ryan. I need this job. I promise I’ll work hard and I’ll be here on time and I will get callouses and not complain and I’ll wait on drunk businessmen and—”

  “Look, I get it, you’re willing to work hard. But there are a lot of girls who need this job and—”

  “I need this job. Please don’t make me go home.” The words came out abruptly and Ryan got the feeling she didn’t intend to say it by the look of surprise on her face. But she recovered quickly and hurried on, “I’m not supposed to be here but I can’t go home.”

  “Is this because you’re here illegally?”

  Lucia froze for a moment with her mouth partially open and he watched her struggle for words, until she finally said, “Yes. I’m not supposed to be here and there are people who want to send me back. But I can’t. Not yet. Okay?”

  Ryan watched fear and desperation flicker in her warm, brown eyes and knew that he would say and do just about anything to make them disappear. He exhaled on a sigh. He’d never stood a chance. “Okay, fine. We’ll give it a week. If you don’t catch on by then….” He let the words trail off, partly because the threat was unnecessary but mainly because her radiant smile had completely wiped away every word in his vocabulary.

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” He watched her whirl away, the dishrag twirling like a tutu as she headed toward the serving station to learn the computer system from Javier.

  * * * *

  Unfortunately for Ryan, Lucia’s second shift was also….not good. His manager had agreed to let him to hire whomever he chose on a probationary basis but also made clear that if his new hires failed, it would be on him to fire them. His job was on the line as much as his new hire’s and he couldn’t afford to lose this job, not if he wanted to see through his plan. He was here for one reason and one reason only—to get revenge. Having Lucia here was not only a distraction for him but could cost him everything. So why couldn’t he bring himself to fire her? If he was smart, he would let her go.

  Javier came up to him at one point in the evening and they both watched as she fumbled and then smashed a wine glass. The third one of the night.

  “Seriously, man, is this some sort of prank?” Javier asked, his face screwed up in honest confusion. “Are we on camera?”

  Ryan shook his head with a sigh. “I don’t think so, Jav. This is all her.”

  “Too bad, I hate to see a hottie go.” With those wise and tactful words, Javier walked away leaving Ryan to cringe at the scene.

  Javier’s words hit home. It wasn’t just his job that was at stake by keeping Lucia on—her ineptitude was affecting the rest of the staff as well. It wasn’t fair to them to keep on someone who couldn’t pull her weight.

  He would do it. He’d fire her. But as quickly the thought formed, he dismissed it. He couldn’t stop thinking about how excited she’d been to get this job, how happy to have a second chance, and most of all, how scared she’d looked at the thought of having to leave. He couldn’t do that to her. She clearly needed this job, even if she couldn’t or wouldn’t share her reasons.

  There had to be another way—a way to keep her on board without risking his job or alienating the rest of the staff. Holding his breath, he watched her juggle a tray before finally steadying it before it tipped into a patron’s lap. She needed help, clearly. The girl was a novice in a restaurant but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be trained. She needed a little extra time and attention, that was all.

  He called one of the barbacks over and told him to pass along a message to Lucia that she should stick around after her shift so he could talk to her. The barback nodded with a sympathetic pat on the back and Ryan saw exactly what was going through the younger man’s head. He thought Lucia was about to get fired.

  Because really, if he was a better manager—and a better brother and son, for that matter—that was exactly what he would do. But not today. Not if there was some other way. And hopefully with a little one-on-one training, she’d get the hang of it. The mere thought of being alone with her that night had his pants tightening against his crotch.

  But no, that’s not what this was about. This had nothing to do with attraction. And he certainly wasn’t looking for an excuse to be alone with her.

  He clung to that thought until the last staff member left and he was alone with Lucia. At that precise moment, when she turned to him with those wide brown eyes in the empty bar, he realized he’d been lying to himself. Of course he’d wanted to get her alone. Yes, he wanted to help her, and yes, this could quite possibly be the best way to save her job. But he would have been lying to himself if he hadn’t been aching for some time alone with her. He would have settled for a few seconds without the prying eyes of their fellow staff or the nosy bar patrons.

  And now here they were. Alone. At last.

  Get a grip, Ryan.

  “You wanted to see me?” she asked, settling in on a stool at the end of the bar.

  He handed her a tray and some glasses. “Show me how you’re loading your tray.”

  She looked from the glasses and back up at him with a questioning look. “Is this a test?”

  “Not a test.” He laughed. “A lesson. We need to improve some basic waiting skills if you’re going to last past the probation period.”

  At that her eyes widened and she licked her lips nervously.

  He resisted the urge to groan out loud. How could he politely tell her not to lick her lips because it drove him crazy….in a good way? Not exactly a work-friendly conversation.

  Work. This was about work. Stay focused.

  She started loading the tray and he stopped her. “There’s the problem. You want to put the heaviest and tallest glasses in the middle to center the weight.” She did as she was told and looked up for approval.

  “Perfect.” He stepped out from behind the bar so he could stand next to her. “Then when you lift the tray you want to put your palm here, in the center and spread your fingers to keep it balanced.” He handed it over to her and it immediately started to tip. He helped her steady it and then moved his hand to cover hers so he could nudge it into the correct position.

  Bad idea. Very, very bad idea. A sweat broke out on his forehead at the electric awareness that arced between them. He moved away quickly and she flashed him a wide grin as the tray stayed in place on her hand.

  “Thanks,” she gushed. “That’s so much easier to handle.” She walked
slowly toward the tables and then spun around, keeping the tray perfectly balanced. Her eyes widened with excitement as she made her way back to him without breaking a single glass. “Seriously, thank you.”

  He shrugged. “No problem. There are lots of little tricks like that that’ll make the job easier. You’ll pick them up in time.”

  She sat back down at the bar. “Did you have a lot of experience before you worked here?”

  Her arm brushed against his and the jolt of awareness had him moving behind the bar, where he was safe from any unsettling contact. “I waited tables throughout high school and college so, yeah, I guess I’ve got some experience. I took a break from it when I got my MBA but I guess it’s true what they say…it’s like riding a bike.”

  She leaned over the bar and suddenly his plan to keep control by standing back there backfired. Her restaurant-issued crisp white shirt gaped open just enough to give him a tantalizing glimpse of her cleavage. It was enough to make his head spin.

  “You got your MBA?” she asked, her voiced filled with eager enthusiasm. “That’s impressive. My grandfather is dying for me to go to business school.”

  Impressive? Hardly. Not when he’d walked away from a promising entry-level position at the insistence of his family. As if reading his mind, Lucia asked, “Why are you still tending bar if you got your business degree?”

  Excellent question.

  “I, uh….” He’d been lying long enough to know that sticking as close to the truth as possible was the easiest way to lie. “My family fell on some hard times. They lost everything.”

  Lucia’s pouty lips turned into a sympathetic frown.

  “They needed me to help.”

  She made a murmuring sound of understanding. “So you went back to the service industry for the money to save your family?”

  More like, for revenge, but who was he to correct her? Besides, his revenge plan was ultimately to get the money that his family deserved—that they needed—so it wasn’t exactly a lie. “Someone had to.”

  At her questioning look, he added, “My family used to own a manufacturing company—it was really successful back in the day, but my father lost it shortly before he died.” Lost it. As if it was a set of keys. More like, had it stolen out from underneath him by a greedy shark named Daniel Gladwell. “My mother, brother, and I were left with nothing.”

  “That must have been hard, to lose your father and the sense of security all at once.”

  A familiar resentment made his next words come out gruffer than intended. “It was hard to lose my dad but the money…I don’t know, sometimes I think it was for the best.” He picked up the rag and rubbed at a sticky spot at the bar with more force than necessary.

  His mother and brother didn’t see it that way, of course, but growing up the only poor kid on the Upper East Side while his mother tried to cling to their status had left him with a bad taste in him mouth. He’d watched his mother throw herself at their father’s wealthy friends, watched his brother try so hard to fit in with the other kids at their school. The ones who weren’t there with the help of grants and scholarships. No matter how hard his brother tried—no matter how hard he’d tried, they were never accepted by that crowd. When Daniel took the company, he took everything. Their father, their social lives, their place in the world…

  Ryan shook his head. His mother and brother were prone to self-pity. He’d opted to make the best of their situation. “Better to grow up learning how to manage in the real world than be a spoiled rich kid with nothing but dreams, right?”

  When he looked up her hands were clutched to her chest and her eyes were wide with surprise and something else…hurt, maybe? Oh God, please don’t let it be pity. What was he doing spilling his family’s dirty laundry? For a moment there he’d nearly forgotten where he was and why he was there. Time to change the topic.

  “What about you?” he asked. “What brings you to the wonderful world of waitressing?”

  She met his gaze. “You’re here to save your family and I’m here to escape mine,” she said a little too breezily.

  Leaning against the bar, he tried to read her expression but she looked away from him. Alarm bells went off. How much trouble was this girl in? “What are you running from?”

  Lucia didn’t answer. She turned back in his direction but the only sign that she’d heard him was her lips puckering as if she was struggling with what to say.

  “Is there someone looking for you? Someone you need to avoid?”

  He shouldn’t press her, he knew that, but he couldn’t help himself. Every instinct in him wanted to protect her and the longer she remained silent, the more convinced he was that she was in real danger. An abusive boyfriend waiting back in Italy, maybe? A stalker who wouldn’t leave her alone? His imagination was doing a hell of a job filling in the blanks, especially when she turned those wide eyes to him and he saw the struggle there. She wanted to talk to him, she wanted to share her secrets. So what was stopping her?

  “You can tell me the truth,” he said.

  That earned him a smile, along with a sad sigh. “Trust me, you don’t want to hear it. Besides, I hardly know you.”

  He covered his heart with his hands as if wounded. “What am I a stranger? And here I thought teaching you how to use the espresso maker was a bonding moment. I’m crushed.”

  He was relieved to see her eyes sparkling once again. “How well do I really know you, Mr. Smith?” Her eyes narrowed teasingly, “If that’s really your name.”

  “It’s not.” He surprised himself with that one but she laughed out loud.

  “So we’re both liars then.” She raised one brow. “Don’t suppose you want to tell me your secrets?”

  He couldn’t help himself. He gave in to temptation and leaned over the bar so they were nearly touching and adopted the same teasing tone. “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”

  Her bright, beautiful smile was a sucker punch and he found himself struggling to breathe. “Fair enough. No secrets tonight,” she said as she stood and headed toward the exit. “Goodnight, Mr. Smith.”

  * * * *

  So maybe she wasn’t the best waitress of all time. Okay, maybe she was a disaster. But at least Ryan had taught her how to properly load up a tray full of drinks so tonight there was no way she would spill another round of beers onto the laps of her customers.

  Nope, not tonight

  Admittedly, the first two nights had been a bit…disastrous. But tonight, she was pretty sure she was getting the hang of it. She had to be. She only had a few shifts left to show Ryan that she could do this. And she needed this job. She also wanted this job—and not just for the money. Well, the money was a big part of it—who else would hire her, giving her a chance to stay in NYC? But she also hated the idea of saying goodbye to her new bartender friend.

  Lucia glanced over to see Ryan eyeing her tray warily. Lucia made a show of rolling her eyes and glided toward the table that was patiently waiting for drinks. Setting each drink down carefully, she couldn’t resist turning back to gloat.

  But Ryan’s back was turned as he poured a draught beer and her attention was caught by a familiar man leaning against the bar, typing on his phone.

  Her heart gave a little stutter as recognition set in. She could have sworn she’d seen him before.

  Yes, she was positive. That was the guy she’d seen at her last runway show with Eleanor. She remembered because he’d looked as out of place there with his cheap suit as he did at this high-end hotel bar. She was almost certain she’d spotted him outside her apartment building a couple of days ago and again in Prospect Park when she’d gone for a jog.

  She’d been starting to think she was paranoid but now here he was…again. At her bar. What were the odds? Her mind was racing to figure out what why this man was following her, but no matter how she looked at it, there was no way she could pretend that this man was interested in Lucia Jones. No—he was looking for Lucia Bru
nelli.

  Heart racing, Lucia dropped her tray at the nearest serving station and slipped into the back hallway leading to the kitchen, where she could stare at the mystery man without being seen.

  Javier’s voice behind her made her jump. “Your shift only started an hour ago and you’re hiding already?”

  “I’m not hiding, I’m—” She forgot her excuse when the mystery man looked up from his phone and turned back to the restaurant. He was clearly looking for someone—for her.

  Javier stood beside her now. “Who are we watching?” He followed her gaze. “Oh, that guy? Looks kinda shady, right? He was in here last night too.”

  Lucia turned to him, her blood freezing in her veins. “He was?”

  “Yeah, he came in late. We told him we were closed.” Javier looked from the man and back to her, his brows drawn together in confusion. “What’s the deal, do you know this guy or something?”

  Lucia shook her head. “No, but…I think he’s here for me.”

  Javier’s brows shot up in surprise. “What for?”

  Lucia opened her mouth but no words came out. That was what she needed to figure out. Javier was waiting for her to speak but what could she say? He may be a tabloid reporter who’s tracked down the missing Italian heiress. Or maybe he’d been sent by her grandfather or by her former fiancé whom she’d practically left at the altar. Any answer she gave would only lead to more questions and she needed to make some phone calls to get to the bottom of this.

  “Ummm,” she started.

  Javier’s look of interest was rapidly turning to concern. “Lucia, what is it? Who is this guy?”

  Lucia flashed the excuse that Ryan had given her that first day and she couldn’t give him her name. “Immigration.”

  Her mouth clamped shut. Did that even make sense? Javier’s eyes narrowed for a moment as he studied her in apparent confusion and she found herself mimicking his look until suddenly—and unexpectedly—his stance loosened and he was nodding in understanding.