Arousing Suspicions: An Amnesia Romance

by Cynthia Hart

  By the time I returned to the podium, a well-heeled couple waited impatiently, literally tapping their feet. I found them a table, only to return to the podium to find another table waiting, and another and another, lather, rinse repeat until people finally stopped walking in the door around 10 that night.

  I sagged, exhausted, clinging to the hostess stand as the streets in the downtown shopping and eatery district finally died down. I couldn’t leave my post until the restaurant was empty, of course, and we were still an hour away from closing.

  My manager, Cliff, suddenly appeared, looking more alert than usual. “I’m impressed, April,” he said, nodding at the empty hostess area and the neat podium. “Normally Tuesdays aren’t so busy.”

  “No?” I asked, suddenly relieved that every weeknight wouldn’t be this bad.

  “Hardly,” he said. “Apparently there was a popular speaker at one of the hotels downtown, and after it had got out, everyone was hungry! So congrats, kid, go grab yourself a cup of coffee before it’s all gone.”

  “But what about the door?” I asked, both of us looking at the empty atrium just outside.

  “I think I can handle it now that it’s slow,” he teased, absently patting down his wild head of salt and pepper hair.

  I chuckled tiredly and drifted toward the nearest server station to pour myself a cup of coffee. It was hot and black and delicious, reviving my spirits before I returned to my station. As I approached, I saw Cliff talking to a hip young couple, she with piercings galore and he with a man bun piled high atop his head.

  “Here she is now,” Cliff said, beaming to the young couple. “Our newest hostess extraordinaire, April, will show you to your table now.” I grabbed menus and silverware as Cliff leaned over to whisper, “The regular stations are closed, so please seat these two douche bags at the bar, will you?”

  I choked on a chuckle and said, straight-faced, “Please follow me.”

  I’d been too busy all night to drool over Caden, as I had all week. But suddenly, rounding the corner from the half-empty dining room to the bar, I saw him standing idly behind the bar and nearly gasped at his blatant beauty.

  Dutifully seating the couple, I place their menus and silverware on the table before inching away. Leaving the bar slowly, I glanced at Caden who peered back, eyes liquid and dark beneath the dim bar lighting. I smiled, receiving a smile, in turn, one so dazzling and thick I nearly tripped walking back into the dining room.

  Chapter 4 :

  Caden

  “Come on, Cliff, you owe me one!”

  Cliff peered back at me from beneath his unruly head of salt and pepper hair, eyes wide with confusion over his shift drink. “Owe you one for what?”

  “Remember that double I pulled on Memorial Day?” I reminded him, admiring the hot new hostess as she toiled away doing her side work, her tush ripe and appealing beneath her simple maroon skirt.

  “You mean last year?” Cliff chuckled, mustache foamy from the head of his draft beer. “Yeah, and you made about $400 in tips that day so, technically speaking, you should owe me.”

  I rolled my eyes, absently polishing the brass rail surrounding the bar as I worked on Cliff. “Come on, dude, you don’t want to stay and do inventory anyway.”

  “No shit!” Cliff snorted, beer halfway to his lips. “Nobody does, but I can’t let you do it with some newbie. She hasn’t even been properly trained.”

  “Trained to what?” I huffed. “Stand there with a tablet as I call out numbers. You’ve been helping me for months, and you still can’t get used to the new inventory app. Look at her, she’s young and tech savvy. We’ll probably get done in record time.”

  I waited anxiously for his reply, watching as April wiped down wine list booklets at the hostess stand. In reality, I’d already done inventory between waiting on my last high top table at the bar, but I didn’t want Cliff to know that.

  Cliff swiveled on his barstool, following my eyes to where April toiled away at the hostess stand. “She’s too young, Caden.”

  “She’s over twenty-one,” I insisted, watching Cliff’s eyes widen.

  “No shit?” he asked, turning back to me with a wry smile. “I thought we only hired teenagers for the hostess stand.”

  “Yeah, well, one must have slipped through the cracks,” I teased, feeling Cliff’s resistance crumble as I poured him a second drink. “Come on, Cliff. The game’s on tonight, you won’t have to miss it and, I promise, if inventory doesn’t come out all right, I’ll never ask again.”

  He rolled his eyes before using them to check out April one last time. “Just promise me one thing, Caden,” he sighed before polishing off his second drink in record time. “Just don’t sleep with her on premises, okay?”

  I crossed my heart in a dramatic gesture, both of us knowing how many hostesses – to say nothing of waitresses, customers, and the health inspector that one time – I’d defiled in and around the Bistro property. “I would never, Cliff,” I insisted, even as he rose and tossed me the keys from his pocket.

  “Yeah, right Caden,” he murmured, rolling his eyes as he shuffled off wearily. “Just lock up after you’re done, okay?”

  “Sure thing, boss,” I murmured, knowing he could no longer hear as he approached April to give her the news. I watched her face sag, slightly, before she turned her eyes to me and smiled, shyly, before looking away and nodding eagerly. I knew then we’d kiss before the night was through, and I’d yet to kiss a girl who didn’t sleep with me in the end…

  Chapter 5 :

  April

  “Peppermint schnapps?”

  His voice was curiously charged, deep yet soft in the darkened alcove around the corner from the bar. I held the bottle aloft, glancing it at in the light from the beer sign overhead. “A trickle?” I laughed, knowing he wanted me to read off a measurement, not a guesstimate.

  He looked up from the tablet in his hand, a curious expression on his handsome face. Then he saw the lack of liquid in the bottle and nodded behind him. “Add it to the discard pile,” he said, grinning as he set the tablet on the end of the bar.

  “That’s it?” I asked, nodding at it.

  He nodded. “I did what I could during my shift,” he explained.

  I glanced around the empty bar, deserted and quiet except for the ever present easy listening music from hidden speakers overhead. “So what’d you need me for then?” I teased, secretly flattered that he’d chosen me to help him do inventory.

  He chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest. They had tattoos up and down each forearm and bicep, vivid tapestries of sea creatures and pirates, mermaids and dragons. “Inspiration?” he said, leaning back against the bar.

  I rolled my eyes. “Does that ever work?” I asked, well aware of his reputation for deflowering every new hostess after working at the Bistro for nearly two weeks now.

  He grinned. “Usually,” he said, shifting slightly to reach for two rocks glasses from behind the bar. “And if that doesn’t, this will…”

  He opened the bottle of peppermint schnapps and poured it equally between the glasses until the bottle was empty and about an inch worth of clear liquid lingered in the bottom of each glass. He handed me one, the smell sweet and clear as I inched it toward my lips.

  “Ever had it before?” he asked, mimicking my movement as he brought the glass up to his own lips.

  I smirked. “I may be a hostess, Caden, but I’m no teenager.”

  His eyes regarded me warmly, brashly devouring me up and down as I felt undressed despite my pleated skirt and soft black T-shirt. Normally I’d be offended, but Caden did it to everybody. At least, everybody, he found attractive. Oddly enough, I felt flattered by his attention.

  To take my mind off of just how flattered I felt, I hastily sipped the schnapps, strong and minty and fresh on my tongue. My belly was empty; I’d never eaten during the long, hectic double shift. It grew warm with the shot. Well, that and Caden’s constant attention.

  “Why are you a host
ess?” he asked, putting his own empty glass down next to mine.

  I shrugged. “I had to quit college before I got my degree, and it was the only job I could find without experience.”

  “Why?” he blurted. “I mean, why quit college before you were through?”

  “My father,” I said, picturing the cold, dark house I had to go home to later. “When he got sick, there was no one else to take care of him…”

  My voice trailed off, none too eager to drag down the warm, mellow evening with Caden by thoughts of my poor father, sleeping soundly under the effects of his strong medication. “So between working and caregiving,” he asked, surprisingly perceptively. “What do you do for fun?”

  “Fun?” I nodded toward my empty rocks glass. “You’re looking at it.”

  “No boyfriend?” He pressed knowingly. “Girlfriend?” he added when I shook my head.

  “Tempting,” I teased, trying to remember the last time I’d been with a man. “But not quite tempting enough…”

  “Sounds like you’re in need of a little fun,” he said, so close I could smell the peppermint on his breath.

  “Right about now,” I murmured, eager for a little more warmth in my empty belly. “I’d settle for the rest of that coconut rum.”

  He snorted and reached for the bottle, muscular body rippling beneath his clingy black t-shirt. “Why not?” he sighed, pouring us both a shot as he slid the empty bottle next to the first. “We can’t count these ‘trickles’ anyway, right?”

  We sipped the rum slower this time, my inhibitions loosening with each swallow. I wasn’t a stupid girl, nor was I a virgin. Sure, it had been a few years since I’d slept with a guy, but that wasn’t for lack of desire – just opportunity. Now I’d found it, in Caden, but wanted to tread lightly lest I become just another notch on his barstool!

  “What flavor next?” he asked, nodding toward the half-dozen mostly empty bottles too diminished to add to the inventory count.

  I demurred, wanting to savor the moment without regretting it. “I’m good for now, Caden.”

  He nodded, peering at me intently. “Me too,” he said, surprisingly. “Besides, I’d prefer a combo anyway.”

  “A combo?” I asked. “Of what?”

  He teased long, thick fingers beneath his stubbly chin, features chiseled as if out of marble. “I think peppermint and coconut would be nice.”

  “Too bad they’re all gone,” I reminded him, nodding toward the recent empties.

  He inched closer, moving his fingers to gently address my chin, as he’d done his only moments earlier. “Naw,” he murmured, drawing me closer. “There’s probably just enough left on your lips to savor a small taste.”

  “Fuck off!” I chuckled, backing away nervously as his dark brown eyes registered neither disappointment nor frustration. Instead, they smoldered, cockily, knowing he’d eventually wear me down. He wasn’t wrong, actually.

  I knew the minute I saw the last dishwasher clock out and wave goodbye, leaving us both alone in the dimly lit bar, I’d at least kiss Caden. I mean, why not? He was the most handsome guy who had hit on me in like… ever. I’d slept with some cute guys in my time – any college campus in the country was full of them – but Caden took the cake, hands down. I’d be stupid not to at least savor those full, ripe lips and feel the tingle of his scruff on my cheeks at least a little. But I was no slut, either, and it was going to take more than a few sips of peppermint schnapps for me to open my lips, to say nothing of my legs.

  Chapter 6 :

  Caden

  I liked her more and more with each passing interaction. Every bat of her eye, every lick of her lip, every shift of her hip, every witty comeback made me smile with appreciation. I’d never been much for conversation. Frankly, I’d never had to be. Girls were either into my cocky bravado or not. And even when they said they weren’t, like April, they secretly were. So it never really took more than a few cheesy come-on lines to get in their pants and, after that, well… what was the point of talking much anyway?

  But April was different. As much as I wanted to get into her pants, and I wanted to very badly, I enjoyed the journey. She was, simply, fun to hang with. And the empty restaurant, a place I felt more comfortable than most, wasn’t hurting matters any.

  “Don’t threaten me with a good time,” I teased back, watching a soft blush rise to her pale cheeks.

  “You know what I mean,” she purred, making no move to leave as we lingered in the darkened bar area. The dim light cast her pretty face in soft shadows, to say nothing of her soft, supple body, aglow in its paleness from the subdued sconces along the wall. “If you want another drink, pour yourself one like every other bartender I know.”

  “Where’s the fun in that?” I wondered aloud.

  She turned slightly, running a long, slender finger along the padded bar railing. “I wasn’t aware inventory was supposed to be fun.”

  “It is when you convince the hot new hostess to do it with you.”

  She blushed anew but didn’t shrink back as she turned slightly toward me. If anything, I noticed her jutting her ripe young breasts out against her clingy black work shirt, making me wonder what kind of bra she might have worn beneath – and if I’d have the opportunity to find out. “So that’s what this is?” she purred, still rubbing the padded bar rhythmically. “Another come on?”

  I reached for a plastic cup, eager for something other than sweet run or schnapps on my lips. Pouring myself a beer I asked, “What do you mean ‘another’?”

  “Keisha told me all about your man whoring ways,” she said, reaching for the beer as I began hoisting it to my lips.

  I nodded, neither shocked or dismayed by the admission. “And yet you still decided to stick around in an empty restaurant with me anyway?” I purred, pouring myself a fresh beer and savoring the hoppy after notes on my tongue. “Why is that?” I wondered aloud. “I mean if you knew I was coming onto you and all?”

  She shrugged, dragging soft black cotton across soft, budding breasts. “Curiosity, I suppose.”

  I nodded, knowing in that moment we would at least kiss. As if preparing, I slugged down the last of my beer and licked the foam from my lips. “Curiosity about what, April?”

  She gave another quick shrug, using the opportunity to inch closer. I felt myself swell with anticipation as her body heat wafted across the inch or two between us behind the empty bar. “What all the fuss was about, I guess.”

  “Fuss?”

  She licked her lips in reply. “Keisha says you’re a good kisser.”

  “Does she now?” I chuckled.

  April shook her head, again using the motion to move closer. “No,” she sighed. “I just wanted to see if you’d deny it.”

  “I like women, April,” I said. “What can I say?”

  “I like guys, too, Caden. It doesn’t mean I kiss everyone I meet.”

  I chuckled, realizing she was about to do just that. “Yeah, but what if they’re really, really cute?” I teased, knowing she wouldn’t still be here, in the dark, empty restaurant, if she didn’t find me at least a little attractive.

  She laughed and purred, “That you are, Caden, that you are. But it doesn’t mean that I want to—”

  “Yes you do,” I interrupted, reaching out a hand to cover hers. She flinched, slightly, but didn’t shrink back. “You want to kiss me, or you wouldn’t still be here right now.”

  She chuckled, then nodded. “Yeah, so what?”

  Suddenly it was my turn to flinch. I had no answer for that. “I still get to decide whether or not I kiss you, right?” she added, slipping her hand out from beneath mine only to cover it again. “Unless you’re the kind of asshole who thinks it’s cute to force a girl to kiss you.”

  I grinned. “You know I’m not that kind of a guy, April.”

  She nodded. “So now you get to squirm a little,” she murmured, caressing my hand as gently as she had to padded bar edge. “How does it feel, player?”

  I smil
ed. “Pretty damn good,” I teased, inching closer as her eyes widened. “Because I know you’re going to kiss me eventually.”

  She nodded energetically, then teased back, “Yeah, Caden… but when?”

  Chapter 7 :

  April

  I found that I enjoyed making Caden squirm. I’d never flirted with anyone so intensely before; had never wanted to, actually. But with Caden it was fun and, I found, effortless. He was so cocky and self-sure, something I felt oddly attracted to. I’d never been into “bad boys” before, though I’d brushed up against my share at frat parties and other soirees while on campus back in school.

  They were fine for a drunken one-night stand back in my off-campus apartment, but most of my relationships were with fellow classmates. They’d begin quickly during a new semester, blossom around mid-terms and then slowly fizzle just before final exams. After we turned in our blue books and shuffled outside the classroom doors, we both found ways to break it off – however amicably.

  But since my last one, I’d endured a longer-than-usual dry spell, making me uniquely vulnerable to Caden’s charms, particularly standing so close to him behind the deserted bar. The quick shots of alcohol, followed by the long, lingering beer, didn’t hurt. Now, a fire in my belly and my panties damp with desire, I felt his hand, warm and masculine, beneath mine.

  “Has anyone ever called you a tease before, April?” he chuckled, voice low and breathy as his hand squirmed before mine.

  “I dunno,” I hemmed. “Has anyone ever had enough willpower to tease you before?”

  He blushed – an actual blush – before shaking his head. “I hope you don’t find it vain of me to say ‘no,’ no one’s ever lasted as long as you before.”

  “How long is that?” I asked.

  “Too long!” he blurted, making me laugh. Then he laughed, and we both laughed and, as handsome as he looked playing the GQ hard body, he looked even cuter relaxed, laughing and enjoying his own witty repartee.