“Are you OK?” Heaven asked when Summer arrived in the changing room.
“Just tired,” Summer replied with a smile.
“Let’s hope for a quiet night.” Heaven closed her locker and headed for the bathroom, leaving Summer to change.
She sighed as she put on the heels. Her legs ached already, but she was glad that she had worn flat shoes all day. Checking herself out in the large mirrored wall, she noticed the dark rings under her eyes and wished she’d brought some makeup to cover them. Too late now.
“Good evening, everyone. We’ve got another busy service tonight. The soup is oxtail and the vegetables are shiitake mushrooms, roasted vine tomatoes, and snow peas. Everything is on tonight. Well, so far anyway.” Dominic actually cracked a smile, and everyone tittered at his aside. Summer felt that he was having a dig at her because of last night and felt herself getting hot. She glared at him. So much for his apology.
He looked up just then and seemed surprised by her reaction. “Summer, you’re with Tuesday tonight, OK?”
She nodded.
Tuesday clapped her hands gleefully and smiled over at Summer, who smiled back. It was nice to feel wanted.
“All right, everyone, let’s have a good service.” Dominic finished the curtain call with a flourish, and everyone went to their stations.
“Are you all right?” Tuesday asked with a frown.
“Fine. Just tired, that’s all.” Summer shrugged and smiled. She loved Tuesday’s thick Irish accent.
“When’s your day off?” Tuesday opened the drawer and checked that everything was in order.
“Tomorrow.” Summer sighed. Thank goodness she’d decided against that job. If she had to work a whole day from eight o’clock tomorrow morning she’d be dead on her feet. And the thought of working for that awful woman with that obnoxious guy made her skin crawl. She shuddered.
“Any plans?” Tuesday handed her some napkins to fold.
“Sleep. I might just spend the whole day in bed.” Summer smiled at the thought.
“Sounds great. I’ve got a dental appointment tomorrow afternoon. Having a tooth extracted. I hate the dentist,” Tuesday said with a frown.
“I don’t envy you.” Summer grimaced.
Service was steady for a change, and Summer was able to concentrate on the job in hand instead of her aching limbs and her rotten life. Tuesday was a really cheerful companion, and they joked about some of the customers in hushed tones.
“People-watching is one of my favorite hobbies,” Tuesday whispered as a man with a bad toupee sat at table thirty-one.
“I hope it’s not windy tonight,” Summer muttered.
Tuesday giggled. “I need to stop laughing. I have to take their menus over, and I just know they’ll realize what I’m giggling over.”
“Do it slowly,” Summer said with a grin. “Any sudden draught and…”
“Summer.” Dominic was suddenly right behind her.
Tuesday had a hand over her mouth still trying to stifle a laugh. Her expression was so comical that it made Summer want to giggle too, and she sucked her cheeks in hard to suppress it.
Summer took a deep breath before turning around to face the maître d’. She found him looking at her a little oddly and wondered if he had seen her with Nathan last night after all. The thought sobered her, and she flushed. “Yes, sir?”
Damn! She’d heard all the staff calling him that, and now she knew why. They obviously knew he was a Dom. Heck, they were probably all subs. Hadn’t Hope said that only subs were allowed in the restaurant? Or was that the Bottom Bar? She frowned as she tried to recall, and then remembered that her boss was standing in front of her.
“I think table thirty-one needs menus,” he said quietly.
“I’m on it,” Tuesday piped up, taking the folders from the shelf of the dumbwaiter.
Dominic looked a little puzzled but nodded. “Thank you.” He turned to Summer. “We haven’t got a sommelier again tonight. Darren Hall rang in sick again. Would you be willing to help out if anyone asks for advice?”
“Of course.” She narrowed her eyes, not sure if he was having a dig at her for selling one of their most expensive wines last night.
“Thank you. I’ll let you know if you’re needed.” He walked away with her watching after him. He was a tough man to read.
Summer wondered if she was being paranoid, but if she wasn’t that was the second jibe he’d had at her tonight. She was seriously beginning to wonder if he had seen her with Nathan last night and wasn’t happy about it. After all, she was a member of his staff. Well, it wouldn’t happen again.
“The expo’s in a bad mood tonight,” Tuesday confided when she’d finished serving table thirty-one their appetizers.
“That’s all we need.” Summer rolled her eyes and went to clear a deuce by the window.
It turned into a busy service, and Summer was rushed off her feet. Judy, the expo, was sure in a foul mood, and Summer frowned as she heard the young woman curse at April for taking too long picking up her order.
“Just get on with it,” Judy snapped. “By the time you get it out there the food will be stone cold!”
Summer watched April flush. The black-haired waitress had been so kind to her yesterday, and she wasn’t about to stand by and watch her be spoken to like that.
“Leave her alone. She’s doing her best,” Summer shouted down the line.
Even the clanging of pots and pans seemed to stop as everyone turned to look at her.
“What did you say?” Judy’s face went bright red, and she clenched her jaw as she turned her mean little eyes on Summer.
“I said she’s doing her best. Stop picking on her.”
“How dare you speak to me like that? The maître d’ will hear about this!” Judy spat the words out at Summer.
Summer felt herself go hot but wasn’t sure whether it was embarrassment or just plain anger.
“Good. It’s just a pity he didn’t hear you being rude to the staff tonight.” Summer wasn’t going to back down now. Trying to save her job at the grocery store had led to being well and truly dumped on, and she was darned if she was going to let it happen here. Besides, April was her friend, and she wasn’t going to let “Rudey Judy” or anyone else pick on her.
The head chef brought over the rest of April’s order himself, and she took it with a whispered “thank you.” The large man grinned, winked at April, and then studied Judy and Summer as if he was watching a tennis match.
“Table twenty-five entrées, please.” Summer stared at Judy, daring her to be rude again.
Judy pursed her lips before requesting the order from the chef. “Twenty-five away please, chef.”
The man grinned. “Coming up.” He called the order, and the noise slowly resumed in the kitchen.
“Thank you.” Summer gave her sweetest smile as she took the entrées into the restaurant.
“Thanks for sticking up for me. But she’s bound to tell Master Dominic,” April whispered when Summer passed her station.
“Let her.” She shrugged. She really was past caring now.
Toward the end of service Summer noticed Dominic walking purposefully toward her. She felt a thud of dread in her stomach, guessing that Judy had been speaking to him.
“Summer.” He beckoned her away from the table where she was setting up.
She braced herself.
“Table twenty-two are asking for champagne. Would you serve them, please?” His voice was low, and he looked a little wary as he spoke to her.
“Of course.” She nodded and went over to fetch the wine list. She was aware of Dominic’s eyes boring into her back as she went over to the small table and spoke to the guests.
As service came to an end there was an atmosphere of relief in the room. The girls quickly finished tidying their stations and re-laying the tables and then gathered for the debrief.
“Thank you everyone. Another busy service, but you all did incredibly well. Wine sales are up for the
second night running, so well done.” Dominic looked over at Summer, and Heaven gave her a friendly nudge. “As it stands we should have a quieter night tomorrow, but all that could change, of course. It’s a rough night out there so take care going home. Get some rest and I’ll see some of you tomorrow.”
A ripple of applause signaled the end of the shift, and the staff made their way to the door en masse.
“Summer, could I have a word, please?” Summer felt herself flush at Dominic’s request.
She walked over to him, taking deep breaths to steady her nerves.
“I just wanted to know how you felt having finished your first week with us?” he began.
“Fine.” Her teeth were as clenched as her fists while she braced herself for the worst.
He raised his eyebrows. “You look tired. Are you all right?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. She saw where this was going. “I’m tired so I was rude to Judy, I suppose?” she imagined smarting off. Instead she said, “I am tired. It’s late. But I’m fine.”
Dominic frowned. “Are you sure everything’s all right?”
Summer sighed irritably, wishing he would just get to the point. “Everything’s fine, thank you, sir. I just had a busy shift, and now I’m ready to go home.” Her voice was clipped.
Dominic pursed his lips. “I heard about your altercation with Judy earlier.”
She looked up at him expectantly.
“Do you usually speak to the expeditor like that?” His eyebrows were raised and his voice was calm.
“No,” she said, staring him in the face. “But then I’ve never worked with one who was so rude to the staff before.” She felt herself go red but was glad she had kept the tremble out of her voice.
“I see.” He took a deep breath, and she watched his change in demeanor as he seemed to loosen up a little.
“Excuse me, sir.” The bartender came across to inform Dominic there was a call for him.
“I’ll take it now,” Dominic replied. “Thank you for helping with the wine tonight, Summer. Good work. Have a good rest, and I’ll see you next time.” With that he hurried over to the bar, closely followed by the young bartender. Summer breathed a sigh of relief.
As she walked back to the changing room, she felt a little irked by his last comment and wasn’t sure about his sincerity. The room was empty as she quickly kicked off her heels and changed into her comfortable clothes. Something fell from her jacket as she pulled it from her locker, and she bent down to find the letters she had stuffed in her pocket earlier.
One envelope was obviously junk mail, but the other was handwritten. A cold shiver ran up her spine as she checked out the shaky scrawl. With trembling fingers she tore it open.
Hey bitch
Bet you thought I wouldn’t find you—well you will have to do better than that! You owe me big time and I intend to collect my payment.
Do not think your fancy new friends can help you either. One word to them or the cops and your new boss will find out all about you, slut!
I will see you soon. You can count on it!
Summer slammed the door of the locker shut. Her mind was racing, and her heart thumped painfully against her ribs.
“Shit!” She punched the locker door, hurting her fist in the process, but she didn’t care. Angry tears rolled down her cheeks, and she felt herself flush.
“Are you OK?”
She spun around to see Nathan standing in the doorway, his suit jacket hooked on his finger above his shoulder, and his shirt half unbuttoned. He looked amazed at her and took a step into the changing room.
“No, actually I’m not OK. Happy?” She snarled at him, dismayed that he should see her in this state, annoyed that he should look so handsome.
Nathan walked toward her with his hands up in the surrender position. “Hey, I just came to see if you needed a ride home. It’s awful out there.” His voice was calm, which somehow made her feel more irate.
“No. I don’t need your lift. I don’t need your advice. I don’t need anything from you. So just stay out of my life, OK?” she hollered.
He frowned. “You look tired. Have you had a bad day?” He looked concerned, but it only made matters worse.
“Yes, thanks. I’ve had a fucking awful day if you must know! I got taken for a ride when I went for that job you told me not to get. I only got one hour’s sleep all day. That bitch in the kitchen nearly lost me my job. Then my fucking boss chewed me out all night. And now this! Yes, I think you can safely say I’ve had a bad day!” she yelled at him, taking a step backward as he came toward her.
“Now…what? What’s happened?” He narrowed his eyes, and she realized she’d said too much. Angrily she screwed up the letters and thrust them back into her pocket.
“Never mind. Just get out of my way!” She stormed past him angrily and nearly bumped into Dominic right outside the door. She knew he had heard her rant from the expression on his face, but he didn’t speak to her. He just stared.
Summer ran out of the building and into the dark, stormy night, which perfectly matched her mood.
She was drenched within minutes of leaving the club, but she didn’t care. The cold seeped into her bones, and she wasn’t sure if it was the weather or the shock. Her blurry vision read every person on the street as a threat, and she ran as fast as she could to get away from there.
A large, silver car sidled up to her, and the window opened slowly. “Get in, Summer. This is stupid!” Nathan’s voice called over.
“Fuck off!” She was sick of being called stupid. She was even sicker of people thinking she was stupid.
“Summer, wait. Something’s not right. Let’s talk about this.”
“I’ve got nothing to say to you, asshole!”
A second later she heard the engine stop and turned to see him hurrying out of the car. She started to run again, but her head had turned to mush, spinning and aching, and she couldn’t see straight. She felt two strong arms grab her just before everything turned black.
CHAPTER SIX
Summer awoke in a luscious, soft bed with sunlight streaming in through a crack in the curtain. She sat up and looked around, dazed and confused.
“Hey, sugar.” Nathan sat on the edge of the bed, placing a cup of hot coffee on the nightstand. He looked even more gorgeous than ever dressed in a white shirt and Levis. As usual, his shirt buttons were partially undone, allowing an enticing shock of dark hair to peep through from his ripped chest.
She stared at him blankly, trying to fathom what was going on. She knew she should be angry with him, but it was hard when he looked so gorgeous and she felt so comfortable. He grinned. “It’s all right. Don’t look so worried. You’re at my place. I thought it best after you passed out in the street.”
“W-what?”
“Did you miss your dinner again last night?” He had one eyebrow raised—it was the sexiest expression she had ever seen.
Her mind raced back to yesterday. Not only had she missed dinner—because she had chosen to get an hour’s sleep before her shift, but also breakfast—because of her interview. Then, she realized, lunch too, because of that damn awful job. She wasn’t about to tell him that though, so she just nodded.
“I thought as much.” He shook his head, rolling his eyes. He placed a large, warm hand over hers. “You need a keeper,” he told her with a grin.
More like a bodyguard. She snorted. Colin was on to her. He wouldn’t look for her here though. Hopefully Nathan had bought her some thinking time by bringing her to his home. The thought eased her mind.
Summer smiled. She felt a little more relaxed now that she was warm, dry, and rested—and safe! She was also feeling a little embarrassed for her earlier barrage of abuse, although Nathan didn’t seem at all perturbed.
“The bathroom’s through there. Take a hot shower if you like. There’s a robe behind the door. I’ll get some breakfast on.”
It was then she noticed that she was naked under those covers.
&nbs
p; “Did you…?”
“Had my eyes closed the whole time, love.” He chuckled deep in his throat. “I won’t take a peek until you clearly want me to.” He gave her a wink before he left the room.
She couldn’t help but be turned on a little.
Summer took a minute to really take in her surroundings as she sipped the aromatic coffee. The room was huge and tastefully decorated in cream with gold accents and dark, antique furniture. The huge bed was in the middle of the room with claw-footed nightstands either side and a large dressing table against one wall. The picture window took up a large portion of another wall, festooned with luxurious, long drapes. Her feet sunk into the lush carpet as she padded over to the bathroom, which turned out to be larger than her living room.
Steam rose from the double shower as the hot water soothed her aching limbs. She moaned as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the soft bubbles deliciously massaging her body. It felt like she was a million miles away from Colin and all the worry he caused her. She knew she would have to deal with it all soon, but for now she resolved to take a break from all that and just enjoy being safe for a while. She looked around for some jell and found the spicy fragrance Nathan used. With a secretive grin she took the bottle and smelled it. It was like being surrounded by the man himself. As she stroked her body with the sensual liquid she closed her eyes again, imagining it was his hands, not hers, rubbing and caressing her skin.
Her nipples puckered under her own ministrations, and that electric cable that attached a woman’s breasts to her pussy was suddenly alive with power. She teased herself by stroking her arms and her abdomen before venturing lower. She was surprised at how sensitive her skin felt as she breathed in the scent of the handsome man.
Her outer thighs trembled slightly as she touched them, and their inner counterparts screamed out for attention. She obliged, her eyes tightly shut as she neared her aching pussy. She recalled the anticipation of the other night, when Nathan had smacked her butt, sending ricochets of heightened sensation through her quivering labial lips. Her little hard nub had vibrated against her inner lips, lifting her to sensational heights, the like of which she had never felt in her life before that night. The thought of him consumed her as she gently stroked her lips and swiped the hard nub of her clit, as he had, and she leaned back against the cool, tiled wall as her orgasm swept through her whole body, causing an audible moan to escape her lips. Bright lights flashed in front of her eyes, and she was overwhelmed by an unsteadiness that had her plastering herself to the wall in order to keep upright.
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