by Liz Gavin
“It’s not that bad,” he replied as he closed the door behind her. “Grab a seat in the living room. Beer?”
“Beer’s fine, thanks.”
“Be right back.
When he returned with their drinks, he found her perched on one of the armchairs that faced the panoramic windows. She accepted the glass and smiled up at him. “I stand corrected. The line of grieving women isn’t that long. Most of your dates don’t live in the island. Like that lady you were with tonight.”
Not sure if he was more stunned by the realization she had noticed his dating pattern, or the fact she had seen the woman he was with for a couple of minutes, he didn’t find words to reply. He ignored the buzz in his ears as his blood rushed to the lower parts of his anatomy at the possibilities.
Ana’s youth and beauty combined with strong will made for a tempting package. One Noah wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole. She spelled trouble he couldn’t afford.
At the restaurant, she had a reputation for being a flirt. She was sassy, had a quick tongue and rarely let her opponent have the last word. After what he had just witnessed, Noah wondered if her attitude was smoke and mirrors to hide something, maybe a shy personality. Her trembling hands suggested the altercation on the dance floor impacted her more than she was willing to let on. He would be curious to discover why she had taken up self-defense classes in a city known for its low crime rate. Despite the time they’ve been working together, he realized he knew very little about Ana’s past. She talked about her classes and future plans often, but never mentioned her life in São Paulo.
“Tell you what; it’s late and you live far. We’ve got a spare room, so why don’t you crash here for the night?”
She hesitated and eyed her evening clothes.
“You can borrow one of my t-shirts. No big deal. Also, each bedroom has its own bathroom, so you don’t need to worry about running into naked dudes in the morning.”
Ana’s cheeks flushed and the glow spread down her neck, disappearing under her low neckline.
“Funny,” she elongated the word and his head snapped up. Tristan was right, the sound was annoying. He noticed it because, for the first time, his eardrums were on the receiving end of it.
He showed her to the room and as she closed the door, he winked. “I wouldn’t mind waffles for breakfast. Just saying.”
Her soft chuckles followed him to his bedroom and way into his slumber.
5
Ana
Present Day
Clicking the glasses together in one hand, Ana wiped the counter with a large white cloth. Shaking her head at her colleague, she chose a humorous tone to take away the sting of her words. “Come on, Moira Romano. You’re not the prototype stupid blonde. On the contrary, you’re smarter than that. I mean, they’re his kids. He should be helping support them.”
Moira stopped sweeping the floor to look up into Ana’s eyes, one hand holding the broom while the other clutched at her hip. Their difference in height gave Ana a physical advantage that at the same time, toned down Moira’s indignant attitude. “I don’t need his charity. I can take care of my kids, thank you very much.”
“And you’ve been doing a great job at that. Nobody would dispute it. Dani and Filipe are what, three and four?”
Moira nodded, her expression still closed as she resumed cleaning the floor. They were getting the bar and the restaurant main room ready for the day. “What about their age?”
“I mean to say they’re young kids, who get sick and can’t go to school. Then, you need someone to take them to doctors’ appointments. Without an extended family, you’ve been counting on your neighbor’s good heart, since you can’t afford a full-time nanny. See where I’m going?”
“No,” Moira’s tone would have made any person change the subject.
Ana was on a mission, though. She felt very strongly about parents who abandoned their kids. Plus, she liked her co-worker too much to stand by and watch her work herself into a nervous breakdown.
“You rarely take days off, you work the busiest shift at Chez Nous, you bust your ass to provide for your children. I get it. Now, if your ex-hole were to pay alimony, which is the least he should do for his kids, in my humble opinion, you’d have more time to spend with them. You wouldn’t be so exhausted all the time either. When was the last time you sat down to play with them?
The short blonde didn’t reply for a while. Ana thought she had gone too far and her friend wouldn’t acknowledge her input. She was wrong. Pulling a chair, Moira slumped on it, then rested her elbows on her knees, burying her face in her hands. “I feel overwhelmed. Like I’m not sure what I’m doing anymore, you know? My neighbor, Mrs. Oliveira, is a sweetheart for keeping an eye on Dani and Filipe for me, but she’s got her own shit to take care of. Like tomorrow, for instance, she’s got a thing and won’t be able to take Dani to a doctor’s appointment it took me two months to get. I can’t cancel it. If I miss work, I don’t get the money from the tips either.”
Before Ana had a chance to say that was the point she was trying to make, that if Moira’s ex-husband paid alimony, she wouldn’t be in that tight situation, the office door opened and out came Tristan and Noah. The dark-haired owner usually worked the last shift, but had swung by to get Noah to sign some papers. Sensing the tension between the two women, he frowned. “Is everything okay with you two?”
“We’re fine,” Moira mumbled as she unfolded from the chair and resumed her task.
“It doesn’t seem like it.”
Ana waited for her co-worker to reply to their boss, but when she didn’t, she explained the situation to Tristan. “Apparently, Moira’s neighbor has a conflicting schedule tomorrow and won’t be able to take Dani to the doctor.”
“You need the money, so you wouldn’t ask another person to cover for you, right?” Tristan swung around to face the blonde. “You need the whole shift off?”
Moira shook her head. “A couple of hours would do it.”
“What if I covered for you? I haven’t bartended in a while, so it’ll be fun,” Tristan offered. “That way, you still get part of the tips.”
“What about the band? We just got that gig, we need to rehearse for it,” Noah’s upset tone took Ana by surprise. He wasn’t the selfish type. “Sorry, Moira. I sympathize with your problem, but Big T always finds excuses to ditch the band.”
“Don’t be an ass. I’ll do both. I’ll leave rehearsal early and come here to cover for Moira.”
“You’d better.” Noah returned to his office as Tristan left the place.
* * *
Later that afternoon, Moira and Ana sat on a leather couch in the staff room during their break. Each one checked their phones instead of talking, but they had patched whatever tension transpired between them before their shift started.
“Yes!” Ana celebrated louder than she had intended, so she stole a glance at Moira. “Sorry.”
“Why so happy?”
“The professor has just posted the grades for a test we took last week. I aced it.”
“Good for you! It isn’t easy working and going to school at night.”
“You can say that again.”
“You seem to be doing a good job.”
“I’ve got the right motivation, I guess. I mean, I love you guys and Chez Nous is the best place to work and all, but teaching is my passion.”
Moira rolled her eyes and laughed. “A room full of little kids? You’ve got to love it with a passion to get through the day. I admire those who do.”
“Having a steady income as opposed to depending on tips is certainly appealing. But the kids are the main reason I’m getting my credentials.”
“Careful, you sound like a woman wishing to get pregnant,” Moira teased. “Believe me, it’d be easier if you had a steady man in your life before you start dreaming of chubby babies.”
“Not really. I could always choose independent production and the guy would never know he had fathered my child.”
/> “Yeah, right. So, what was all that talk about making my ex take responsibility for his children?” After a long pause, when Moira’s stare drilled Ana to the point she started to feel uncomfortable, the bartender shook her head and smiled. “I guess I’ve got you all figured out, Ms. Ana Oliveira. You put on this slutty show, act all flirty and stuff. Nobody ever sees you with a steady boyfriend and they assume you’re this big sex-craving woman. I mean, you’re young and gorgeous, with long legs that go on forever. You just brush the topic off, kind of letting people think whatever they want. Now I realize it suits you, right? Granted, between night classes and Chez Nous, you don’t really have time for dating, but it’s more than that. You don’t want to go steady, do you?”
Ana pondered if she could confide in Moira, but decided it wouldn’t be fair to burden her friend with her shit. “Let’s just say I once was very young and naïve, but have learned my lesson the hard way.”
“Oh, honey. I’m sorry. Men can be such jerks,” Moira squeezed Ana’s hand as she checked the watch on the wall. “We should be heading back. Just know I’m here for you if you ever feel like sharing.”
Ana nodded and said nothing. She didn’t trust her voice. The other woman’s sincere concern had moved her. She might have isolated herself from the world for far too long.
* * *
Happy hour was the busiest shift at the bar, so Noah usually stepped up to lend a hand. That day, it wasn’t different. When the crowd waned, he hung around instead of returning to the office. Sitting on a stool, leaning his back against the counter, he made the other men in the room fade, or so it seemed to Ana. She did her best to avoid drooling, but his tanned skin made the crisp white shirt stand out and his radiant smile look even brighter. It wasn’t fair that such an attractive man was also intelligent and sensitive. Even though she knew Noah Cartwright was out of bounds, a woman was entitled to admire a fine male specimen. Right?
“What is?” he asked her as she wove her way between the tables and the bar counter while keeping the tray full of empty glasses intact.
Parking the tray to his left, she proceeded to empty its content on the counter without looking his way. Still, she felt his stare on her as if it were branding her skin. “What’s what?”
“What’s right? You looked at me and said ‘right’. I want to know what I did right this time.”
Feeling her ears burn, Ana could only pray she wasn’t blushing. Judging by his smug expression, she wasn’t that lucky. “I didn’t say anything.”
Noah tipped his head to look at her when she turned her face to the side and pretended to arrange the glasses. “The color suits you, not the lie. I never pegged you for someone who’d give up a fight.”
Her mistake was biting his bait and snapping her head up to face him. The million-dollar smile, dimples and all, told her he was teasing her and that she had fallen for it. Before she could reply, Moira appeared on the other side of the counter to rescue her. “Stop tormenting the staff, will you? I can’t afford to lose Ana.”
“Me neither,” his low voice, meant to tease her further, connected with some primal part of herself Ana had ignored for a long time.
Out of breath, she managed to quip, “Not going anywhere. At least, not until I finish college.”
Always immune to Noah’s boyish charm, Moira swatted his forearm. “Stop tormenting the poor girl. Don’t you have enough groupies drooling all over you as it is? You don’t need to break Ana’s heart as well.”
For a moment, their stares locked making Moira and the room around them fall to the background. Ana convinced herself the glint she spied in his green eyes had nothing to do with feelings he might have for her. That would be insane. They had a good boss-staff relationship, one could even say they were friendly, but that was it. She shouldn’t expect anything else from a man like Noah Cartwright. A player, if she had ever seen one. No room for silly dreams where he was concerned.
As if affected by the same pull that Ana felt, eyes still on her face, Noah sounded distant when he replied, “I’d never break her heart.” Then, smiling and resuming his playful attitude, he turned to Moira. “For the record, I don’t have groupies. Not yet.”
“Come on, boss. Women fall for your charms like flies on honey.”
Winking, he threw his hands up. “Not my fault they like what they see. I never mislead them, though. They know exactly what they’re getting into when they go out with me.”
Ana wished Moira would drop the case and frowned at her, trying to get the message across. She was ignored.
“Meaning?”
“Best sex of their life, no strings attached,” he tapped the counter and winked at them both, before jumping from the seat and turning towards his office. “Ladies, you know where to find me if you need me.”
Ana wished her body would stop humming at the endless possibilities his words had brought to her active imagination. Unable to control her response or take it out on the source of her discomfort, she glowered at Moira.
“What? I’m entitled to some fun, aren’t I? And it’s a hoot watching the two of you pretend there’s nothing going on between you.”
“There is nothing,” her indignation made her voice pitch. “You nuts? He’s my boss, for fuck’s sake. I won’t fool around with him. I need this job.”
“You’re both single and gorgeous. What’s the problem?”
“Seriously? I could come up with a list, but let’s just focus on breakups. How many steady girlfriends have you met since you’ve started working for Mr. Cartwright?” When Moira shrugged, Ana added, “Exactly. None. They come and go just like that. You think I’d be able to keep working here if I dated Noah and he broke up with me?”
“Good point, well made. FYI, I was only teasing you. It seems you’ve given it some thought, though.”
“Fuck off,” Ana turned towards the kitchen, but Moira’s laughter followed her.
She couldn’t be mad at the woman for saying the truth. She had been thinking about their boss, more than she should. For the most part, the thoughts didn’t affect her, but in days like that one, when he decided to flirt with her, Ana needed to be extra careful. She knew the romantic eighteen-year-old, who had once believed in love everlasting, had never died inside her. That Ana was still there, nudging at her every time she dared to dream.
Handing the tray to the busboy, she mentally slapped herself on the forehead. There was nothing intrinsically wrong in dreaming about a future, wishing she found true love. As long as she didn’t look for it with Noah Cartwright. He wasn’t looking for love and he had made it painfully clear.
6
Noah
Nelson Razzini, the owner of the previous restaurant at that site and Tristan and Noah’s Brazilian partner, was at his desk when Noah returned to their office. Over twenty years their senior, Nelson had taken upon himself a fatherly role to both his younger partners, regardless of how the Americans felt about it. Noah wouldn’t say he hated that attitude, but sometimes it felt intrusive. It was reassuring to have an older person watching out for you when all your family was thousands of miles away, but Brazilian families’ boundaries seemed more fluid than Americans, in Noah’s experience with Nelson. The older man would often offer advice he didn’t ask for.
“Not very wise,” Nelson muttered as Noah sat down, without turning his eyes from the computer screen.
“Care to explain? I don’t get where you’re coming from.”
Nelson was in charge of numbers in their partnership. He looked the part, resembling an accountant with his conservative suit and tie and bifocal glasses. Pausing, fingers hovering over the keyboard, he looked over the top of his glasses to meet Noah’s stare.
“Ana is a lovely young girl. You’re a healthy young man. If circumstances were different, I’d be the first to congratulate your taste in women. I’m afraid I can’t do it in this case.”
“Not that it’s any of your concern, but there’s nothing going on between the two of us. If we were to dat
e, why would it be so wrong? Afraid of a sexual harassment suit?”
Nelson raised his hands, fingers entwined, then rested his chin on them. He pinned his younger partner down with an analytical stare and took his time to reply. When he did, his voice sounded sad. “That’s not what I meant. I’m sorry you thought I would value such petit things. Ana has gone through hell and survived. I worry if you broke her heart, she wouldn’t recover that easily. She cares about you.”
Noah frowned and studied the other man. Finding only sincerity in his expression, he inquired, “What do you mean? Ever since I helped Ana escape those jocks, we’ve gotten close. We even hang out sometimes, but there’s nothing going on between us. We’re friends, nothing more.”
“If you say so.”
“What do you know about her past, though? I’ve the feeling it was rough, but she’s never confided in me.”
Nelson hesitated for a moment, shrugged and said, “She didn’t tell me anything in particular. I put two and two together, that’s all. I’m not even sure my conclusions are accurate, but I’d say they’re close to the truth. However, that is something only the young lady would be able to disclose to you, if she sees fit.” They resumed their tasks, but Nelson turned to Noah after a little while and added, “You’d also have a hard time recovering if she dumped you.”
Noah glared at the other man, then inhaled and exhaled before saying something he would regret. “There’s nothing going on between Ana and me.”
“If you say so.”
Rolling his eyes, he focused on the email inbox in front of him. Before he was able to reply to any of the messages, he had to shoo the images that his mind conjured up. Not for the first time, he wondered what it would be like if he went out on a date with Ana. They got along well and shared many interests. However, he had never worked up the courage to ask her out. Deep down, he feared Nelson was right. He might not recover that easily if he found out he wasn’t good enough for a woman like Ana.