by Carrie Elks
“No need. I asked Ally to show me how to make it, and now I know.” Riley grinned at her dad. “I can make it for you whenever you want.”
Nate turned to look at Ally. “What have you done with my real daughter?” he teased.
Riley groaned. “Dad.”
“I should work late more often,” Nate continued, ignoring her. “If it means I get to come home to this.”
“It’s just dinner,” Riley told him.
But Ally knew that wasn’t what he was talking about. She could tell from the expression on his face. The stubborn, gruff daughter had lightened up, for as long as teenage hormones permitted.
As if the universe was listening to Ally’s thoughts, Riley’s phone started to ring. She pulled it out of her pocket, her eyes widening when she looked at the screen.
“Hi, Laura. Just a minute, let me take this in my room.” She walked over to Nate. “You’re up,” she said, putting the bottle of pink polish she’d been holding into his hands. “Two coats and a topcoat, okay? And don’t let her move until it’s dry.” Without waiting for a reply she put the phone to her ear again, resuming her conversation with Laura. “Yeah, that assignment was tough. I managed to find all the answers though. Which one are you having trouble with?” Her voice faded as she walked down the hallway, then disappeared altogether after she slammed her bedroom door shut.
Ally bit down a smile and looked at Nate, who was still hovering in the doorway.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to paint my nails. I can probably manage if I bend over enough.”
He looked at the bottle Riley had shoved in his hands. “It’s a nice color.”
“Riley chose it.”
He took a step inside then hesitated, looking over at Ally. “Is it okay if I come in?” he asked.
“Of course it is. It’s your house.”
“But it’s your room.”
His words made her feel warm. As though she finally belonged somewhere.
“Come in. It’s nice to have the company.”
He walked up to the bed, and looked down at her feet. “Let’s do this thing,” he said, sitting down in the space his daughter had vacated. “I don’t want to incur the wrath of Riley.”
“Do you even know how to paint nails?” Ally asked, trying to keep her voice even. It felt so intimate, having him here in the room when she was wearing only a tank and sleep shorts. God only knew how much more intimate it would feel once he touched her.
And if he painted her toes, he’d definitely have to touch her.
She wasn’t sure how she felt about that.
“I used to paint Riley’s when she was a little girl,” Nate admitted. “She’d insist on having beauty nights when she stayed over.”
“Did you let her paint yours?” Ally asked.
Nate shook the bottle and unscrewed the lid. “I’m gonna plead the fifth on that one.” He reached out for her good foot, sliding his palm beneath her sole. She held her breath for a moment as he gently pulled it toward him, resting her heel on his leg. “You have soft feet for a runner,” he told her.
“I try to take care of them,” she said, attempting to ignore the way his leg felt under her foot. Warm and muscled. “Apart from going head first over rocks that is.”
He gave a little laugh. She liked the way it sounded. “Could have happened to anybody,” he said.
“Nope. I’m pretty sure it’s just me.”
He angled her foot toward him, and pulled the brush out of the bottle, wiping the excess on the edge. He frowned with concentration as he painted her nail with three strokes.
“You do know what you’re doing,” she said, surprised at his deftness. “Most guys I know would have covered half my skin as well as my nail.”
“I’m a man of many talents.” He finished painting the rest of the nails on her good foot and eased it off his leg, pointing it upright so the polish didn’t smudge. “So how was your day?” he asked her. “Get up to anything good?”
“Oh, I managed to kill two hundred evil soldiers, save thirty children and their orphanage, and then I had a little nap.”
“All that with a broken leg. Impressive.”
“How about you?”
“I made some coffee.” He said it deadpan, but there was a smile at the corner of his eyes that made her heart take a little gallop.
He moved across to her other foot. This time he didn’t put it on his thigh. “Tell me if it hurts, okay?”
“It’s fine. Riley did the base coat and I didn’t feel a thing.”
He painted her nails in quick succession, once again avoiding getting any on her skin. “I’ll let the first coat dry for a minute before I put the second on.” He replaced the lid on the polish. “That’s if you want a second coat.”
“Of course.” She grinned at him. “I expect full service in this salon.”
“As long as you’re a generous tipper, you’ll get all the service I can give.”
He touched her good foot again. It was all she could do not to curl her toes in response. He was gentle, yet every time his fingers brushed her skin it sent electricity up her leg.
“What are your plans for tomorrow?” he asked, testing the polish with the pad of his finger to see if it was touch dry. Yeah, he’d definitely done this more than a few times. Was it possible to like him even more?
“Apart from saving the world?” she asked. “I’m not sure.”
“Well, if the world can live without you for one day, do you want to join me on a little trip?” He had the same expression he’d worn when he was showing her how to make coffee the day when he first trained her. His eyes were alert, as though he was willing her to say yes.
“What kind of trip?”
“I need to visit a couple of places. There’s a store just south of LA that the company took over a few months ago and I want to show my face. Plus I’m looking at buying another beach café and I want to check the town out.”
“Another beach café?” Ally repeated. “Should we be worried?”
“Nope. You should be pleased. It’s a testament to how well the Angel Sands acquisition is going. It’s our first non-city location and it’s doing better than we expected.” He shrugged. “I wasn’t planning on expanding any more this year, but this building is going for a song and it’s too good not to take a look.” He pulled out the brush and started to put on the second coat of polish. “So what do you think? It might do you some good to have a change of scenery. Plus you’re the expert on beach towns. I’d be interested to hear your thoughts.”
She tried to ignore the shivers snaking up and down her spine. “Yeah, sounds like a nice change,” she said. “I was getting bored of saving the world anyway.”
He looked up, his gaze meeting hers, and the smile that was crinkling his eyes spread down to his lips. “Well tomorrow you can save me instead.” He’d finished the second coat. Tightening the lid back into the bottle, he reached forward to put it on her bedside table, grabbing the bottle of top coat. His arm brushed hers, sending a fresh pulse of energy through her body.
“Okay,” she agreed, taking a deep breath. “It’s a deal.”
14
“You took the roof off the car.”
Nate looked up to see Ally standing at the top of the stairs that led down to the driveway. She was wearing a grey skirt that was fitted at the hips and flared out to her mid thighs, complementing her toned, tanned legs that seemed to stretch on forever. She’d teamed it with a simple white t-shirt that skimmed her curves. But it was her hair that drew his eye. In the coffee shop she mostly wore it up in a twisted bun, and for the past few days she’d had it in either a ponytail or braids.
But not today. Today she was wearing it down, golden waves tumbling over her shoulders. Looking at her was like looking into the sun. He was almost certain he was going to get burned.
“It’s the right kind of day for it,” he said, looking up at the cloudless sky. “Though we might regret it when we’re sitting in traffic for
an hour in LA. It’ll probably turn into an oven.”
“Every day’s the right day for it.” Her eyes twinkled. “You’re not in Seattle anymore.”
And didn’t he know it. You only had to take one look at Ally to know she wasn’t from the Pacific North West. She was a California girl through and through. She looked tan and outdoorsy. It took all the strength he had to pull his eyes away from her.
“Stay there,” he said. “I’ll come and help you down.”
“No need. I’ve been practicing.” With the help of her crutches she made it to the top step. “It’s easy when you know how.”
He watched as she slowly made it down to the driveway. And yeah, maybe there was a part of him that wanted to carry her. Not because she was some kind of damsel in distress, but because he wanted some contact – any contact – with her.
“When did you learn to do that?”
“After I saved the world, I had a thought that I might need to save myself in an emergency. What if I needed to evacuate and you and Riley weren’t here?”
He glanced to his left. “You could leave by the back door and come through the gate,” he said. “I thought you knew that.”
Her face fell, and he immediately felt bad. “Not that you need to now,” he added. “And anyway, now that you can navigate steps it should make today a lot easier.”
He opened the passenger door and helped her inside, putting her crutches on the backseat. Then he settled himself into the driver’s seat and pushed the ignition button to start it up. Almost immediately the stereo came on at full blast and he leaned forward to turn it off.
“Sorry about that. I tend to play my music loud.”
She smiled at him. “Me, too.”
He put the gear shift into drive and maneuvered the car out of its spot on the driveway, clicking the remote control to open up the gates. He could feel her looking at him.
Eyes on the road, Nate. Not on the pretty lady’s face. That way you might both make it home in one piece.
It had seemed like a good idea to invite her to join him when he’d suggested it last night. But right then he’d been a little high on the smell of nail polish, and the feeling of Ally’s skin as he held her feet and painted her nails. It had made sense – she was clearly bored at home all day, and the thought of having some company as he drove around California seemed like a bonus. It was always good to have somebody to bounce ideas off, after all.
But he hadn’t banked on the effect she’d have on him this close up. He could smell the scent of her floral shampoo as the wind lifted her hair, could see the glow of her skin every time he glanced out of the corner of his eye.
“So what were you listening to?” she asked him. “I didn’t hear the song long enough to recognize it.”
“Dark Wolf. They’re a Seattle band. You probably won’t have heard of them.”
“No, I haven’t. Are they good?”
“Yeah. They play at a club down the road from my place on the lake. They’re even better live than they are recorded.”
“Can we listen to them?” Ally asked.
He nodded at the center console. “Be my guest.”
She flicked the stereo back on and sat back in the seat, tucking her hair behind her back. “I really picked a bad day to wear my hair down,” she told him. “I should have thought about the wind.”
“You want me to put the roof back up?”
“No. It’s too nice to hide the sun. I’ll just keep leaning back on it, that way it won’t look like a bird’s nest by the time we make it to our first stop.”
He was glad. If he had to make a choice he’d prefer looking at her hair to having the sun shine down on them, but right now they were both welcome. He felt a sense of joy rush through him – a feeling that today was going to be a good day.
By the time they made it to the outskirts of the city, they’d listened to the whole album. When it finished, he asked Ally to play something she liked, and she’d pulled out her phone, a small smile on her face as she scrolled through some tracks.
“Since you played me a bit of Seattle, I thought I’d play you some California,” she told him. Almost immediately a guitar riff struck up, joined by a deep bass. He recognized it right away. Who wouldn’t? It had to be one of the most played songs in the world.
“‘Hotel California’?” he asked. “You’re an Eagles fan?”
“My dad used to listen to them all the time. I didn’t really get a choice. He always said they were the best Californian band he ever heard. And he went to a lot of gigs when he was younger.”
She was tapping her fingers against her bare thigh to the rhythm of the song. When it got to the chorus she joined in, singing softly enough that he had to concentrate to hear her over the noise of the highway.
He was almost disappointed when they made it to the first shop and he parked in the lot behind the building. He got out and looked around, taking in the overflowing bins and trash that was scattered on the ground. Frowning, he opened Ally’s door and grabbed her crutches to hand to her.
“So this is an incognito visit,” he told her. “I want to watch how they do things for a little while before I introduce myself. If they know who I am as soon as I walk in, they’ll play up for me and I don’t want that.”
He glanced over at the trash again.
“Like Undercover Boss?” Ally asked, a smile in her voice. “Won’t they recognize you?”
“I wasn’t involved in the training or opening of this location. One of my staff members took the lead.” He shook his head. “Christ, this place looks terrible.”
The trash stank to high heaven. Ally wrinkled her nose as they walked past it. “This is the first impression a customer gets of the place.”
“Exactly.” His voice was grim as they walked into the shop. It was half empty even though it was lunchtime and usually the busiest time of the day. “You want to find a seat and I’ll go order?” Nate said, gesturing at the vacant tables.
“I should go and order while you sit down,” she suggested. “Just in case somebody recognizes you. And anyway, it’ll be a good test of how they treat customers who aren’t as mobile as others.”
He looked at her for a moment. Her smile did things to him he didn’t want to think about for too long. “Okay. But you’ll need some help to carry the drinks over.”
She shrugged. “That’s what the staff is there for, right?”
Nate walked over to a table next to the window, looking out onto the road. There was a lot of traffic, or a lot of potential customers, as he classified them. All they had to do was nip into the shop and grab a drink to go – it would take them five minutes. And yet they all drove on by.
He’d chosen this shop to be part of the Déjà Brew chain for a reason. It was in the central business district, surrounded by offices and retail outlets. There was no way he should have been able to grab a table at this time of day, and yet here he was with a choice of them.
The tables were mostly covered in old half-drunk cups and crumb covered napkins that nobody had bothered to clear away after the last customer had left.
He looked over to where Ally was resting on her crutches, her leg stretched out as she waited at the counter. The only staff member he could see was at the other end, either ignoring her or completely oblivious to the fact he actually had a customer.
Nate sighed. Some asses were definitely going to get kicked today.
“What can I get for you?” the barista asked when he finally noticed Ally standing there. She’d been waiting for over two minutes without any acknowledgement. She’d timed it, just in case Nate asked her to report back.
“What have you got?” she asked.
“It’s on the board.” He gestured up with his thumb, a bored tone to his voice.
She leaned forward, scrutinizing it as though she hadn’t looked at the same board in Angel Sands for the past few weeks. “Um, what’s a latte?” she asked. Was it wrong she was enjoying this? After years of being on the
other side of the counter, being an undercover customer was so much more fun.
The barista looked at her as if she’d asked him to do a little polka on the countertop for her. “It’s a coffee,” he said, incredulity laced in his voice.
She tipped her head to the side, still smiling. “What kind of coffee?”
“With milk. Steamed milk.”
“Do you have soy milk?”
“Yeah, we do.” He frowned and muttered to himself. “Somewhere.”
“In that case, I’ll have one soy latte and a cappuccino. With one percent. And two lemon muffins, please.”
He rang it up on the till and took her money, then ambled slowly off to make the coffees. She watched him surreptitiously as he loaded up the filter basket with fresh grounds, then tapped it out before he screwed it into the machine.
So far so good. At least he knew how to make a coffee, even if his customer service needed a little work.
When he’d finished he slid the cups across the counter, then bagged up a couple of muffins for her. “There you go,” he said, turning away.
“Um, can you help me carry these over?” she asked, looking down at her crutches. “I’m a little incapacitated.”
“Can’t your boyfriend help?”
Oh, it was going to be so much fun when Nate revealed himself. If she wasn’t undercover she’d be rubbing her hands together with glee. “He’s got terrible balance. He’ll end up spilling it all.”
The barista gave another huff, but walked around the counter and picked up her cups and hooked the bag of muffins on his fingers. Ally followed him to the table Nate had chosen. It was completely covered in dirty cups and napkins, with nowhere for the barista to put down the coffee.
Nate looked up from his newspaper, his face a picture of innocence. “You’ll probably need to clean this table,” he said, his voice even. But Ally could see a glint of steel in his eyes.
The barista sighed loudly and put the cups down on the table next to Nate and Ally’s, which had slightly more space than theirs. Then he picked up some of the empty cups and ambled over to the trash can. “You know, the customers are supposed to throw their own trash away,” he mumbled, coming back to pick up some more. “It’s not in my job description.”