The Path to You: A Steamy Small-Town Romance (Jetty Beach Book 7)

by Claire Kingsley

  I wonder what Sadie is doing tonight. It’s been a few weeks since her first day at the restaurant. I have to give it to Clover, Sadie does a great job. She learns fast, she’s polite and efficient. Everything I could want in a server.

  She’s also incredibly distracting. Her thick auburn hair. Her sparkling green eyes. Her fascinating curves. I’m drawn to her; she pulls at me like gravity. There’s something mysterious about her; it makes me want to know more. And our spontaneous breakfast at the diner the other day was one of the best hours I’ve spent in a long time.

  Although I have to admit, at work I’m pretty short with her. To be fair, I’m that way with everyone when I’m working. It’s my job to make sure the kitchen runs smoothly. I’ve never worked for a chef who wasn’t an asshole, and I do try to tone it down so my staff doesn’t hate me.

  The strange thing is, I’ve never worried about it before. When I first brought Clover on, I was hard on her. I wasn’t a dick, but I had high expectations, and she’s thrived as a chef. Through it all, I never thought twice about what she thought of me. We get along well enough, and she’s never been afraid to push back if I get unreasonable.

  But I’m constantly wondering what Sadie thinks. I catch myself staring, and then overcompensate by either avoiding her or only giving abrupt responses. I’m trying to make sure I treat her like any other server, but I don’t think I’m doing a very good job of it.

  Case in point, it wouldn’t occur to me to wonder what the rest of my staff are doing tonight. And yet, I can’t stop thinking about Sadie.

  Shortly before ten I change into jeans and a black t-shirt, then head out to meet everyone.

  The air in the bowling alley seems stale, almost as if there should be a haze of cigarette smoke hovering over the lanes. The lights are dim and about half the lanes are taken. Bowling balls thunder down the smooth wood, slamming into the pins with sharp cracks, followed by cheers from the bowlers.

  I spot Emma and Hunter at a lane on the far side. Hunter looks intimidating, with his huge tattooed arms and straight posture. But he’s one of the most easy-going people I know. I wasn’t sure if things would work out between him and my sister, but he makes her happy and takes good care of her. There’s not much more I could ask for.

  Hunter’s brothers, Cody and Ryan, are here too. Cody has a protective arm around Clover. He leans in and kisses the top of her head. I’ve long since given up wondering how two people as different and Cody and Clover ever got together—the doctor and the free spirit. Somehow, they work.

  Ryan sits in one of the chairs by the ball return, his wife Nicole perched on his lap. I’ve known them forever, but I didn’t think either of them would wind up living back here in town. But it’s been three years since their wedding and they seem to be happily settled. Hunter and I helped Ryan with the addition on their house last year. They live in a small remodeled church not far from my restaurant, and they needed more space when their daughter was born.

  As expected, I’m the odd guy out. I consider turning around and going back home, but Emma sees me and waves from the other end of the bowling alley.

  I walk over and nod to Hunter, then greet my sister with a hug.

  “I’m so glad you came,” Emma says.

  “Yeah, me too.” That’s a big fat lie. I realize I’m not fooling her, but I wave to the others and say hello.

  “So we were thinking we’d pair off,” Emma says. She tucks her blond hair behind her ear and shifts on her feet.

  Figures. I lower my voice. “And now you see why I didn’t want to come. Do I have to be someone’s third? Or play alone?”

  “No,” she says. “You can play with—”

  “Sadie!” Clover exclaims. She darts past me and practically crashes into Sadie, wrapping her in a big hug.

  I must look confused—or worse, angry—because Emma nudges me with her elbow and leans in to speak in a low voice. “Don’t be grumpy. Clover invited her. Which is good, because she’s so sweet, and she doesn’t know many people yet.”

  “Sweet?” I ask. “How would you know?”

  “I hung out with her the other day,” Emma says.

  “How did you even meet her?” I ask.

  “Clover,” Emma says with a smile, then walks past me to greet Sadie.

  Sadie’s dressed in a light green top and a pair of curve-hugging jeans. Her red hair is loose around her shoulders. She looks as surprised to see me as I am her.

  Emma and Clover introduce Sadie to the others and we all get our bowling shoes from the counter.

  “I guess you’re with me tonight,” I say to Sadie as we put on our shoes.

  She meets my eyes and grins. “Looks that way. Do you like bowling?”

  I shrug. “I can take it or leave it.”

  She stands and brushes her hands together. “Well, you better up your game tonight if we’re going to be a team. I plan on winning.”

  The heat in her voice gets my blood pumping. “Does sweet Sadie have a competitive streak?”

  “Who said I was sweet?” She smiles again and walks over to where Clover and Cody are choosing bowling balls.

  I put on my other shoe and follow her.

  Cody seems to be keeping Clover from picking up any of the balls. She has her hands on her hips and rolls her eyes.

  “It’s just a bowling ball,” Clover says.

  “But we need to find you a light one,” Cody says.

  Clover shakes her head and touches her slightly protruding belly. “All right, sexy doctor man.”

  Sadie picks one up. “What about this one?” She hands it to Cody.

  “Nope, too big,” Cody says. “Do they have kid sizes?”

  Sadie bends over to reach a ball on the lower rack. Shit. Her ass looks fantastic in those jeans. I look away quickly, hoping no one noticed me watching her. She tests out another one, but Cody still deems it too heavy. And there she goes bending over again. I tear my eyes away and go find a ball on an adjacent rack.

  Hunter brings over a couple pitchers of beer and a big platter of homemade potato chips while the rest of us get situated in our lane. Nicole sits down to put our names in the scoreboard.

  “Okay, first up, Hunter and Emma,” she says, but she doesn’t type in the name Hunter.

  “Rambo?” Hunter asks. “He was Army, Nicole. I’m a Marine.”

  She waves her hand at him. “Just go with it, Stallone.”

  “Fine, if I’m Rambo, Emma is Lieutenant Hot Ass,” Hunter says and lightly smacks Emma on the butt.

  “Watch it, Rambo,” my sister says and gives him a playful punch to the chest. He wraps his thick arms around her and kisses her while she giggles.

  I pinch the bridge of my nose. “For fuck’s sake, Hunter.”

  “Okay, Clover and Cody,” Nicole says.

  “Call him Sexy Doctor Man,” Clover says.

  Nicole grins and types it in. Then she adds, Crazy.

  “Crazy? Is that me?” Clover asks. “I’m not crazy.”

  Everyone swings their gazes to her, eyebrows raised.

  “Okay, fine, maybe being pregnant has made me a little bit crazy,” she says.

  Hunter slings his arm around Emma’s shoulders and grins at Clover. “Nope, that’s you pretty much all the time, weirdo.”

  Cody draws her into him and scowls at everyone. “Crazy hot, you mean.”

  Nicole laughs and types in Tripod on the next line.

  “Tripod?” Cody asks. “Oh, because Ryan’s a photographer.”

  Nicole smiles, her cheeks flushing. “Yeah, that too.”

  Ryan stands up straighter, flashing his wife a crooked smile. “And you can be Chesty LaRue.”

  She laughs and looks down at her chest. “Post-baby boobs for the win.”

  “Preach, sister,” Emma says. They fist bump.

  I roll my eyes. These people are killing me.

  Nicole types in Grumpy Smurf and the other guys snicker. Sadie tries to hide her laugh behind her hand.

  “
Wait, is that me?” I ask, crossing my arms. “I’m not grumpy. Or blue.”

  “Well, you’re one of those things,” Nicole says between giggles. She types in Red for Sadie.

  Hunter moves closer to me and puts a hand on my shoulder. “Red, huh? Does that make you the Big Bad Wolf?”

  I flinch away from him. “What? No.”

  Hunter just laughs and pats me on the back.

  The game starts and I stand off to the side, feeling kind of awkward. Our turn comes up, and I nod to Sadie to go first. It’s impossible not to stare at her ass while she bowls. She gets a spare, and I give her a high five when she comes back.

  “Nice work,” I say.

  “Thanks,” she says with a smile.

  We both have a drink—the beer isn’t bad, considering it’s a bowling alley—and snack in between turns. I loosen up as we play. Sadie does indeed have a competitive streak, and she’s a pretty good bowler. I do my best to keep up with her. Between the two of us, we keep our team tied for first place with Ryan and Nicole.

  I hold my hand up for another high five as Sadie walks back after a strike that puts us in the lead.

  “You weren’t kidding,” I say. “You do plan on winning.”

  She laughs, a soft tinkling sound. A little bit of the sadness she seems to carry disappears behind the sparkle in her eyes when she smiles. It makes me feel like I’d do anything to make her smile again.

  “What can I say? I take my bowling seriously.”

  “I’m just glad I haven’t screwed up,” I say. “I don’t do this very often.”

  “You’re doing great,” she says, touching my arm.

  It’s just a quick little nudge, but the brief physical contact makes my body ache for more. I nudge her back and wink. She rewards me with another smile. Before I can do anything else, she walks over to the table to get a handful of chips.

  I take a deep breath. What am I doing? Hunter’s words echo in my mind—does that make you the Big Bad Wolf? I’ve spent the last hour getting increasingly flirtatious with her. I need to remember who she is. Sadie works for me. That means I shouldn’t cross the line with her.

  Doesn’t it?

  We finish up the game, Team Grumpy Smurf and Red inching out Ryan and Nicole by five points. I’m tempted to scoop up Sadie in a hug, but I hold back, offering her the millionth high five of the night instead. But she grins at me, her green eyes shining.

  Clover decides she’s tired, so Cody whisks her out. I’m surprised he doesn’t pick her up and carry her, as protective as he’s being. The others have to go pick up their kids from Ryan and Hunter’s parents. We say goodbye and Sadie and I wander back to our lane. I notice she isn’t grabbing her coat, so I don’t go for mine.

  “Tonight was fun,” Sadie says. “How about another game?”

  She’s right, tonight was fun. I haven’t laughed this much in a long time. “I have a feeling you’ll hand me my ass, but yeah, why not?”

  We punch in our names—our real ones this time—to start a new game. I’m as competitive as the next guy, but I’m okay with Sadie beating me. I’m enjoying her company so much, this is a good an excuse as any to keep hanging out with her.

  She gets ahead of me in the second frame, and I never recover. But I do enjoy watching her bowl. That woman can gloat all she wants when she’s wearing those jeans.

  I find reasons to touch her between almost every turn. I nudge her arm or let my hand brush her thigh. Every contact sends a little spark through me, like completing a circuit. I should probably stop, but as the night goes on, it gets harder to remember why. I start to wonder if I can kiss her when I walk her to her car. Maybe invite her out for a drink.

  Maybe invite her back to my place.

  We finish our game—I don’t even want to admit to my abysmal score—and sit to take off our bowling shoes.

  “So he can cook, but bowling… maybe not so much,” Sadie says with a grin.

  “You have me there. I bow to your bowling superiority.” I slip my regular shoes back on. “Oh, hey, I needed to mention. I have to switch a couple of your days next week. Sam asked for different days off. I hope that’s not a problem.”

  “Oh… no, that’s not a problem at all.”

  “Great,” I say. Now that I’m thinking about the restaurant… “And remind me to show you how I fold the cloth napkins. I have a trick that makes it easier.”

  “Sure.” Her smile is gone and she grabs her bowling shoes. She takes them to the counter without looking back at me. I follow and return mine.

  She waits a few feet away while the clerk takes my shoes, fiddling with the zipper on her purse. I thank the guy and she starts walking toward the front. I take a few quick steps to catch up and hold the door open for her.

  My heart beats a little faster with anticipation, the words going through my mind, like I need to rehearse them. Sadie, would you like to go get a drink with me? Actually, I do need to rehearse them. I’m so out of practice. I can’t remember the last time I asked a woman out.

  At least, not when I wanted her to say yes so badly.

  I open my mouth to ask, but she talks first.

  “I guess I’ll see you at work,” she says.

  It isn’t so much her words, but the way she delivers them that sucks the wind from my sails. She’s not looking at me, her eyes on her car, keys already in her hand. Like she’s anxious to go.

  “Yeah,” I say. “Um, thanks for hanging out.”

  She glances at me with a tight-lipped smile. “Sure. You too. See you at the restaurant, boss.”

  I shove my hands in my pockets and step back, suddenly feeling like I’m crowding her personal space. I’m not sure what just happened. A few minutes ago, we were all smiles and sparking chemistry. Now she’s walking away, her stride quick.

  I guess I had the wrong idea.

  She gets into her car, and I’m deflated by disappointment. What the hell happened? I didn’t think I was coming on too strong. It’s not like she could read my mind and see the dirty fantasies I kept having about her.

  Her car pulls out of the parking lot, so I head to mine. Figures. Just when I was starting to think there was a little something happening between us, reality comes crashing back. A bowling partner when we’re among friends? Fine. But more than that? Nope.

  Not for you, Gabriel. You’re headed home. Alone.

  6

  Gabe

  As much as I would love to put what happened last night out of my mind, I come to work in a terrible mood. When Sadie arrives, it only gets worse. She glances at me when she puts her coat and purse in the back, but quickly looks away. She joins the other servers in getting things ready for tonight, all business, with hardly a look in my direction.

  Well, fuck it, then. I don’t know what I did to make her turn so cold on me, but if that’s how she wants things to be, I’m happy to oblige.

  I focus on prepping for tonight’s service, and staunchly ignore Sadie.

  “What’s your problem?” Clover asks out of the blue.

  “No problem,” I say. “Just working.”

  “Did you and Sadie stay out last night?” she asks.

  “Not for long.” Damn it, Clover, I don’t want to talk about Sadie.

  “Well, how was it?” she asks, her tone conspiratorial.

  I shrug. “Fine, I guess.”

  “Fine, you guess?” she asks. “Gabe, come on. What happened?”

  “Absolutely nothing,” I say, and walk away from her.

  The host seats our first guests and the pace in the kitchen ramps up. We get going on appetizers and I lose myself in the familiar routine of cooking. Sadie comes in and out, and I tell myself a hundred times that everything is normal. Nothing remarkable happened last night. Bowling was fun, but she must have gotten a whiff of my interest in her and promptly backed off. Despite how well we get along, I was clearly seeing what I wanted to see when I thought she might want to extend the evening. I got my hopes up. My mistake.

  Dinne
r orders come in, plates go out. I snap at Clover a few times and she glares at me hard enough that I apologize. We have a full house, but even the busy pace isn’t enough to keep my mind off Sadie. I do my best to stay focused and not be too much of an asshole to my staff.

  I look over and see Clover talking to Sadie, both of them using hushed voices. Clover looks concerned, with her brow furrowed and hands on her hips.

  “What table?” Clover asks.

  The anger in Clover’s tone makes me pause. What’s going on? I inch closer.

  “Table seven,” Sadie says. “He touches me every time I walk by, but not a lot. Just enough that I can feel it, but not enough that anyone else notices.”

  “Is he alone?” Clover asks.

  “No, his wife is with him.”

  “Ugh,” Clover says. “Horrible. Okay, we’ll get Sam to finish up with him. You don’t have to talk to him again.”

  “Are you sure?” Sadie asks. “I don’t want to get in trouble.”

  “Positive,” Clover says. “You’re fine. Just ignore him and take care of your other tables.”

  “Thank you,” Sadie says.

  Clover walks to the other side of the kitchen to talk to Sam. I hesitate as Sadie goes back out to the dining room. I’m seething with fury at the thought of some asshole touching her. I look down and realize I’m clutching a knife, my knuckles white from the strain. With a deep breath, I place the knife gently on the counter.

  I move just outside the doorway to the dining room, to a spot where I can watch most of the customers without being intrusive. Usually I pause here to see how a service is going—get a feel for the crowd, so to speak. This time, I watch Sadie as she goes to one of her tables.

  There’s a couple at table seven. The woman has a black dress and a large diamond necklace at her throat. Her hair is up and her deep red lipstick looks freshly applied. She’s busy looking at something on her phone, swiping across the screen with long, manicured fingernails. The man is dressed in a dark suit and blue tie. He rubs his chin, his eyes on Sadie.