Unexpected Storms (The Unexpected Series Book 4)

by Stacy Eaton

  “No, do anything that you need to do.”

  He started to take measurements and looked around, jotting notes on a pad. “Don’t mind, Melton. He was a little brokenhearted when you picked the other guy.”

  “Did he tell you that?”

  Mike chuckled. “No, he didn’t need to. He refused to talk about it at all. That’s not him. When he’s upset, he shuts stuff down.”

  “How well do you know him?”

  “He’s like a brother.” He grinned toward me. “And that’s why I’ll say this. If things don’t work out with that other guy, let Harv know. He is a good man.”

  “Thank you,” I replied. I wasn’t ready to mention to Mike that I wasn’t with the other guy anymore. The world would know soon enough. In fact, only three more days, and everyone would know that I had chosen wrong.

  I waited while he did what he needed, then Mike explained that he would need to get the right cameras and would need several hours to put them into position. We discussed an approximate date and decided that Friday night after the restaurant was closed—if we were able to open at all—I could meet them here, and they could set it all up.

  Mike explained that he would have a couple of guys with him and then paused. “If having Harvey around is going to be a problem, you let me know. I’ll have someone else come.”

  “No, it won’t be a problem for me, but if he’s not comfortable, don’t make him or give him a hard time about it. I don’t want to upset him.”

  He laughed. “You’re nicer than I would be. I’ll give you a shout in a day or so to let you know that we are a go.”

  “Sounds good, thanks, Mike.”

  As I showed him out, I stood at the door and locked eyes with Harvey, who sat behind the steering wheel in the pickup. He lifted his fingers off the wheel and waved. I waved back, and then slowly closed the door.

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket and called Holly. It went to voicemail, and I growled after the beep. “You lied to me again! Holly Melton, if you don’t stop lying to me, I’m not going to be your friend anymore, and there will be no more decadent midnight mousse for you!”

  I set the phone down and then replayed the whole scene over again. He really was a handsome man who exuded strength and power—and sex. It wasn’t that he was large or overbearing; it was the way he looked at you like he wanted to devour you—I shivered. My god, I wanted that. Why did I ever think safe was the way to go?

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Harvey

  Even though I was furious, I knew it wasn’t Mike’s fault. The two of us discussed the number of cameras and positions that would be best for the kitchen. He decided that unless stations were really close, each one should have a specific camera, and then several other blind locations would need eyes. We decided that we wanted every inch of the room covered. If we were going to do this, we were going to do it right.

  When we got back to the office, I was on a mission as I exited the elevator. Alice must have seen me coming because she was out of her seat and disappeared around the corner as I opened the front door. “Alice!”

  There was no way that she didn’t hear me, but that didn’t stop her. I heard a door close down the hall and knew she had just locked herself into the bathroom. I headed toward Jake’s office and burst inside to find Trevor and Maggie sitting across from him.

  He spiked a brow. “You got a problem, Melt-man?”

  “Yeah, I got a problem. I do not appreciate being blindsided. Did you know who we were going to see?”

  “Why does it matter who it is? Aren’t you professional enough to do your fucking job?”

  “Of course, I’m a professional, but I was less of one today because I was fucking blindsided. You should have said something. What if I did that shit to you, Jake?”

  “Then I would have fired you.”

  “Yes, well, I can’t do that, now can I?”

  “What did you do?” Maggie asked as she continued to ping pong between the two of us.

  “I sent him out on a local job,” Jake replied dryly.

  “No, him and Alice.” I pointed over my shoulder. “And I know it is her that really set this shit up—sent me over to Randolph’s to help Ali Davidson with an issue.”

  Maggie started grinning. “Oh, really?”

  I growled at her. “This is not funny, Maggie.”

  “Who is Ali Davidson?” Trevor asked, completely lost.

  Maggie turned to him and put her hand on his wrist. “That’s the woman he danced with.”

  Trevor smirked. “You mean the one that turned him down?”

  “Shut up, Vaughn.”

  Maggie got up and came to me. “What did she say?”

  “Maggie, this was not a date; this was work.”

  “Are you going to help her with something?”

  “Yeah, I am.” I forced myself to calm down. “Of course, I am, but I don’t appreciate being surprised like that. You all could have warned me, and then I wouldn’t have looked like such an idiot.”

  “Oh, I’m sure you didn’t look like an idiot.”

  Mike spoke from behind me, near the door. “He acted like an ass.”

  “Sometimes, I really fucking hate you guys,” I muttered as I put my hands on my hips and hung my head.

  Maggie rubbed my arm. “I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.”

  My laugh sounded strangled. “No, it was pretty bad.”

  Mike jumped in. “Yeah, but he can make it up to her. We are going to need four visual cameras, eleven stainless-steel minis, and nine mini whites.”

  “Jesus, how big is the kitchen?” Jake asked.

  “It’s pretty big,” he answered.

  “She believes one of the employees might be doing something to the food. She’s got tweleve direct employees in the kitchen, so we wanted every spot covered, plus some of the areas where other restaurant staff have access to the food.”

  “When are you going to set it up?” Trevor asked.

  “Friday night,” Mike replied.

  “Damn, sorry, I would help, but Davina and I are heading out of town for the weekend.”

  “Are you and Greg around this weekend?” I asked Maggie.

  She shook her head. “No, we borrowed Mike’s cabin for the weekend.” She smiled at Mike. “We are leaving Friday right after work.”

  “Okay, so that leaves Harv, Alex, and me to get it done.” Mike looked at Jake. “Unless you want to join us.”

  “Nah, you guys can take care of it. I have plans.”

  Mike glanced at me and shrugged. “It won’t take that long; the three of us can knock it out in a few hours.”

  “Yeah, I’m sure,” I commented.

  I turned to head out of the office, and Maggie grabbed hold of my arm. “How was she?”

  “Who?” I knew who she was asking about, but I didn’t want her to know the mess my head was.

  “Don’t give me that crap, Melt-man—by the way, that’s a weird nickname.” Maggie laughed.

  I chuckled. “Jake gave it to me years ago. She was okay. Surprised to see me, and uncomfortable too. She did say she was sorry.”

  “She did? For what?”

  I scratched the side of my face. “Yeah, I’m not sure what the apology was for exactly because I spouted off about it not being a big deal and walked out.”

  “Harvey! That’s wasn’t very nice.”

  “No, not my finest moment. I’ll apologize to her on Friday when I see her again. At least this time, I’ll be prepared to see her.”

  “Is that going to help?”

  “Pft—easy peasy.”

  Friday night—scratch that—very early Saturday morning, Alex and I sat down the street and waited for the last employee to leave. At twelve thirty-four, Alex’s phone pinged.

  “Coast is clear.”

  I started the truck, and we headed down the alley. I had told Maggie that this would be easy, but seeing Ali standing at the back door was like a punch to the solar plexus.

  Alex lau
ghed when I made a groaning noise. “You okay over there?”

  “Yeah, man. I just need to keep my shit straight, and my mouth closed and get this done.”

  Alex glanced out the window. “She’s a very pretty woman.”

  “She is.”

  Alex turned to me as he grabbed the door handle. “Don’t count her out yet. You met her for a reason; you might not have found out what the reason is yet.” He grinned. “Hey, I never would have expected a package delivered to the wrong apartment would have led me to Lexi.”

  “True.”

  “You’re back here for a reason; keep an open mind as to what that could be.”

  “Let’s just get this job done, Romeo.”

  He chuckled as we got out of the truck, and I saw Ali brush her hair back from her face and shift on her feet. Was she as nervous as I was?

  “Evening, Ms. Davidson. This is Alex Miller. Mike got called away on another job.”

  “Ali, please call me Ali.” She put her hand out to Alex, and he shook it.

  “I’m going to show him where things are going to go, and then we will bring in the gear. Is that a problem?”

  She shook her head. “No, do what you need to do. I’ll be in my office.”

  I nodded at her as she passed by, getting a whiff of multiple scents on her as she passed. I guess as a chef, she would have a lot of smells on her clothes. It almost made me hungry. Although part of my hunger would be to get her undressed and under me. Shit! I needed to forget about that and focus. She had chosen someone else.

  I explained where things would go to Alex, and then we unloaded the truck. Alex and I joked about work on and off as we started setting things up. We worked on the wiring for the visible cameras that the employees would be aware of, and then set up the extra router and booster that we’d need to keep the signal strong enough for all the other wi-fi minis.

  Just after we had the main wiring down, Alex got a call. “Why are you up?” He climbed down the ladder he was on and looked at me. “Are you okay?” He was quiet for a moment. “Alright, I’ll be right there. Stay calm.”

  “What’s up?”

  He hung up the phone. “Give me your keys.”

  “What?”

  “Lexi isn’t feeling well. I have to get home.”

  “Shit!” I tossed him the keys. “Go, man!”

  He started to leave and then looked at all our gear. “What about—”

  “Don’t worry about it; I’ll call Jake and get his ass up to come to get me. Go! Take care of Lex.”

  Alex’s face was tense as he turned and rushed for the door. A few seconds later, Ali popped her head into the kitchen. “Where did Alex go?”

  “Um…” Holy crap! Ali and I were now alone. Breathe, man, just breathe. “His wife is pregnant. He just got a call that she wasn’t feeling well.” I turned away and started busying myself. Although I had no clue what I was doing because the only thing I could think about was that I was alone with her.

  “Oh, I hope she is okay.”

  “Yeah, me too.” I put my hands on my hips and sighed as I stared at the gear. “This is going to take longer with just me doing it. I’m sorry. I’ll work as fast as I can.”

  “Do you want help?” she asked, and I lifted my chin to face her. “I mean, I don’t know what I’m doing, but if you need someone to hold something or hand a tool to you, I could probably do that.”

  The last thing I wanted was to have her right there beside me for the next couple of hours, but then again, was this my chance to show her just what she missed? I had no idea if she was happy with that Blake guy, and I guess I hoped she was, but maybe this was my time to show her what she could have had.

  I grinned at her. “Sure, I could use your help, but could I ask a favor?”

  She stepped forward, a smile on her face. “Absolutely! Anything!”

  That gave me pause as I forced myself to stay on track with my thoughts. “Any chance you could make me some coffee?”

  She chuckled and started to walk toward me. “I could use some too. I’ll put on a pot.” I watched Ali pass me and walk down a short vestibule before she disappeared out a door that led to the front restaurant.

  Okay, I could do this. I could be pleasant and chat with Ali and show her the kind of guy I was, and maybe learn how things were going with Blake. Shit! Did I want to know if they were going well? No. The last thing I wanted to hear was about how she was so happy with her choice and that they were doing hunky-dory.

  I didn’t have a choice, though. Suck it up, buttercup. You got this. If you want to know anything about this woman, you need to listen to what she has to say.

  She came back a few moments later, and I was on the ladder, finishing the installation that Alex had been working on. Ali paused as she came back into the room, and I glanced down to see her running her eyes down my body. I slammed my gaze back to the ceiling.

  “Coffee is on,” she stated a bit huskily and then cleared her throat. “What can I do?”

  “Nothing right now, but after I get this up, you can help. Why don’t you tell me about the kitchen? How long have you been a chef?” Her job was a safe thing to discuss.

  Ali started telling me how she got into cooking as a child, and I listened intently, asking questions every once in a while and laughing at some of things she said. She went to get our coffee, and I came down off the ladder and began to dig through a box to get the next system out. When I opened the box, I jerked back. Taped to the inside of the Styrofoam was a condom.

  What. The. Fuck.

  I stared at it for a second and heard Ali coming up behind me. Those shits just set me the hell up.

  I turned to Ali; she held the coffee mug out to me. “Here you go, just cream as you requested.”

  It took everything in me to take the coffee mug and put it to my mouth. My entire body screamed for me to take Ali in my arms and put her against my lips, not the damn ceramic mug.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Ali

  “I seriously can’t believe you didn’t tell me he was your brother, or that you were calling him to help!”

  “I didn’t call him; I called Alice to ask if she knew anyone. I had nothing to do with Harv showing up here.”

  I glared at her over the table. Holly had come to the restaurant to do a final film blurb about the ending of the romance between Blake and me. It gave me a chance to provide a quick meal as a thank you.

  “You knew very well that once you spoke with Alice, that she’d make sure that your brother came here.”

  “Hey, at least he came. What did you think when you saw him again?”

  I peered at the camera crew one table over. They weren’t paying us any attention. “I was kind of scattered when I saw him because I wasn’t expecting it.”

  “What did you think of him?”

  I stared at her. “I think he was pissed off that he had been kept in the dark too, and that he would have rather been anyplace else.”

  “Ah.” She waved a hand at me. “He was doing the same thing as you. He was surprised to see you and unsure of what to do.”

  “Well, he sure knew what to do in the end, because he told me that he wished me well and walked out without a look back.”

  “Did you tell him that you made the wrong choice?”

  “No, he didn’t give me a chance. When I tried to apologize, he shut me down and left.”

  “Maybe you will get the chance to tell him when they put the cameras in.”

  “Oh, I doubt he will come to do it himself. I’m pretty sure he will keep his distance.”

  Holly grinned at me after a moment. “You never know.”

  Friday, the restaurant was open—thankfully—and as hard as I tried to keep my head in the game and focused on the cooking, I couldn’t. I kept wondering if he would show up tonight once the kitchen was closed, or if he would keep his promise and avoid me.

  I was torn on what I wanted. I did want to see Harvey—probably more than I cared to admit—b
ut I also wanted to honor his wishes. He was upset with me; maybe he was glad that I had picked Blake. However, his attitude didn’t suggest that. It suggested that he had been hurt. I couldn’t blame him; I guess I would have been too. Could we end up being friends?

  Before everyone left, I gathered them around and handed out a paper for them to sign. “Hey, guys, I need you all to sign these. The insurance company is requiring us to put cameras up. There will be one in the main kitchen, one near the fridge and freezer, and one at the back door.”

  Nate, my grill chef, frowned. “Why do they want cameras?”

  “After what happened earlier this year with the two employees stealing, they require us to put them up as our policy renews.”

  “Why do we need to sign this?” Maryanne, my meat chef, asked.

  “Because we need to give permission for them to record sound. We won’t do anything with this unless something goes missing. It will all be recorded, and then I can go back and look at it if there is a problem. But I’m not expecting any other problems.” I grinned and laughed as if I trusted all of them.

  The problem was, I had trusted them, but now as I glanced around, I wasn’t sure who I could trust and who I couldn’t. God, sometimes it sucked being the boss.

  David, my dishwasher, and Wallace, the junior chef, glanced at one another, but it was David that spoke up. “Do we have to sign these?”

  “If you want to continue to work here, yes,” I stated. Wallace shrugged, but David frowned and then signed the paper.

  A few read the form in detail, but most of them passed around a pen and put their John Hancock on the paper without much thought.

  I collected the papers and said goodbye to them all. In my office, I set them down and tapped my finger on them. Which one of you is responsible for making my customers sick?

  Anton was going to get the waitstaff to sign theirs tomorrow. He questioned me about the insurance, and I’d finally let him in on the real reason for the cameras. He asked if Randolph knew, and I told him that Randolph told me to do what I needed to do to fix the problem. That was good enough for Anton.