by Wood, Vivian
“No more protesting! Just think of it as your work wardrobe. Now go change into this,” Luna commands. “And I think I have some black high heels in my car that are your size.”
“Thanks,” I say, although I don’t really mean it. Luna flashes me a big grin and hurries out of the room. I hurry through changing, thanking the Lord that I decided to wear my good bra and panties today.
Turning to look at myself in the full length mirror, I frown. This dress falls to mid-thigh and shows off an eye-catching amount of cleavage. Is this really my uniform for working at this bar?
Luna bursts back in the room, unworried about my privacy. “So I think if you like that dress—“ She stops short, the black heels hanging from one hand. “Daaaamn. That dress looks dope on you! That’s it, I’m ordering five more in different colors.”
“Luna,” I warn. “I only agreed to this because you promised me it wouldn’t cost anything.”
“Pssh,” she says, beaming. “They’re only like $120 each. That’s a total bargain!”
Flushing, I grab her hand when she pulls out her phone. “That’s six hundred dollars, Luna. That’s a ton of money to most people. Please don’t spend that kind of money. I will feel obligated to pay you back and I really can’t afford it.”
Her brow furrows and she sighs. “Alright, fine. But you are totally taking that dress. I thought it looked good on me, but seeing it on you, I’m like… damn.” She hands me the shoes she’s carrying. “Here, put these on. And I’m going to put some mascara and lipstick on you. Not a single word, okay?”
I curl my lip but step into the heels anyway. They’re uncomfortable but I can walk in them. After I begrudgingly allow Luna to do my makeup, she beckons me to the mirror.
“Ready to see?”
I take a moment to thank her. “I just want you to know that I’m grateful for this, Luna. Even though I hate subscribing to other people’s beauty standards, I’m glad that I have you to dress me up. Thank you.”
“Are you kidding? I’ve wanted to do this forever. Besides, you make a great doll.” She fluffs my hair. “Now look.”
Glancing in the mirror, I’m a little surprised. The girl that stares back at me is an absolute knockout, no doubt about it. But she also looks a little… dull. Like someone drained all the personality right out of her and replaced it with hotness.
I pull a face. “I need something—”
“Got it,” Luna cuts in. She offers me a sparkly pink and blue stegosaurus made out of sequins . It’s about the size of my hand and it has a handy pin on the backside.
I look at her, my lips curling. “How did you know?”
She shrugs. “You always did like to be individualistic. This definitely says something more than just the black dress.”
I take a second to hug her and then affix the pin to the right side of my chest, just above my breast. Looking at it makes me laugh, which is good. I was almost sweating bullets without it.
The door bursts open, revealing an all-black wearing Luca. “Cate!”
He stops in his tracks when he sees us, his eyes widening. His eyes go right to my cleavage. “Jesus.”
I feel completely naked under his gaze, and not in a good way. My hands tug down the hem of my dress.
“The nuns can finally dress in their own clothes, huh?” he says. “It’s really nice of you to dress your age and leave the long skirts to them.”
I shoot Luca a glare but don’t have a good comeback.
Luna leans close to me, stage whispering. “That’s the initial reaction you want everyone to have, in case you were wondering. You’re a fox.”
He glares at his sister. “Very funny. We are short a server tonight, so Cate, that’s where we’ll put you in. Come on, Bradford has to run through things with you.”
Nodding, I start following him. I turn to Luna as I go. “Text me later?”
“Of course,” she says, smiling at me again.
As I hurry to follow Luca, I can’t help but notice the fact that there is a hole in his jeans. On the inside of his leg, only a few inches down from his crotch. Is that fashion? Is it just laziness?
Whatever reason that hole exists, it is making me stare at Luca’s ass for a prolonged period… so I guess there is that. Yanking my gaze away, I throw myself into the training Bradford is about to give me.
Twenty minutes later, I’m trying to remember it all. “Go to a table.” I take a deep breath. “Write down the table number. Carry the order back to one of the iPads. Order the drinks. Pick up said drinks from the bar. Take them to the customers.”
Bradford leans against the bar, looking pleased. “Rinse. Repeat. Multiply by a few hundred. You’ll do fine. If not, it doesn’t matter. It’s a Wednesday so it’ll be slow. Besides, Bonnie will be back tomorrow to take her usual shift.”
Luca stalks out of the back, looking even more annoyed than usual. “Hey. Miss Not-A-Nun—”
I flush. “Better a nun than a slut. If there are only two ways a man can look at a woman, I’ll take the more innocent one, every single time.”
“God, she’s so right,” Bradford sighs. He gives me a high five.
Luca rolls his eyes. “Christ. I have a private party of fifteen coming in tonight. Usually I would ask Bradford to take them, but he’s also training a new bartender.”
“Lucky me,” Bradford mutters. His sarcasm is missed by no one.
“Come with me. I’ll help you set up their table.” He starts off, leaving me to trail in his wake.
In the back of my mind, I’m still a little off-kilter over the fact that Luca demeaned my dress again in public. Worse than that actually… because I have to work with these people.
When he reaches a table, I catch his elbow. He gives me the same look that a king would give a dirty peasant, but I don’t care. I’m pissed.
“Hey. Do you want to lay off a little?” I ask, whispering angrily.
One of his brows rises. “Excuse me?”
I lean closer to his smug face, pointing a finger at him. “You just can’t help yourself. I’m dressing how you want me to, okay? Isn’t that enough? Do you really have to keeping bullying me about every little thing?”
He glares, moving closer so that he’s right in my face. He reaches out and lifts up my pin. “I didn’t realize that sparkly dinosaurs counted as what I wanted. This thing is ugly as sin.”
I yank my body back. “Don’t touch me.”
He actually laughs in my face. “You are such a nun! Admit it!”
“I am not!” I can feel my face turning red. “It’s not prudish to tell a man to keep his hands to himself.”
Luca’s dark eyes gleam. “But what about your husband?”
Fuming, I smack him on the arm. “I swear, this whole please stay married to me thing is just… stupid!”
He glares at me, opening his mouth. Luckily at that moment Bradford calls out from across the bar. “Save it for the bedroom, guys! We open the front door in less than five minutes!”
Luca narrows his eyes at Bradford, but he does shift his stance to grab another table and pull it close. “We’re not finished here, princess.”
“Whatever. You should just be glad that I’m going to be busy all night.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, I’m scrambling to clarify. “Because otherwise I would… you know… beat you at sparring. Err… verbally…”
Luca grins. “You know what? Maybe princess is the wrong nickname for you. Maybe it should be Old Lady.”
“That’s not fair!” I protest.
“Cate!” Bradford calls. “Come get an order pad, please!”
Giving Luca a foul look, I head across the venue and take one of the paper pads that Bradford holds out to me. He gives me a look, head to toe.
“Honey, I know that you’re all giddy because the boss man is totally in love with you. Seriously, it’s amazing. Any other time I would thank you. But right now, I need you to get your game face on. I’m about to unlock those doors and I need you to pretend that you have the minutest s
midge of experience, okay?”
“Oh, that’s not… we’re not…” I laugh. “I mean, we are getting an annulment,” I finish lamely.
“How nice for you. My point is, put all your personal stuff aside for the next five hours. Look, Levi is unbolting the door… And there is the first guest…” He shoos me away from the bar, turning away to stack copper mugs.
I have to straighten my dress, walk a little taller in my borrowed heels, and go greet the first customers of the night. After that, the night speeds up, going into warp drive around ten. By then I’m waiting on the entire room by myself and I’m way too far in the weeds to so much as think about Luca.
I do catch a glimpse of him, bussing a table here and bringing someone water there. And I have to wonder…
What did Bradford mean when he said that Luca was in love with me? Obviously if he’d been listening, he would know that not a single sweet word crossed Luca’s lips.
Is he just crazy?
By the end of the night, Luca is long gone, leaving me and Bradford to clean up. We do twenty minutes of light cleaning, during which I’m too tired to even process that I had a question for Bradford.
I head home, so tired that I’m about to drop. Only when my head is on my pillow, my eyes closed, does Bradford’s statement float back up to the top of my mind.
The boss man is totally in love with you, he said.
Yeah right. I fall asleep with a smile curving my lips, thinking about what Luca would act like if we didn’t absolutely hate each other.
Chapter Ten
Luca
“You push the cart like a bitch.”
I eye Owen, grunting. “These carts are tiny. If you don’t like how I do it, you push the cart.”
I let the cart go, forcing Owen to grab it before it runs into a huge display of apples. “I hate going to the grocery store. Can’t we just make a list and send one of the employees to do our errands?”
“No,” I say, stopping at the citrus display. I pick up a lime, squeezing it. “We are going into the spring season, which means we need to change our bar menu. This is how I get inspired, man.”
Owen crosses his arms and grumbles. “I don’t know why you had to pick right now to go grocery shopping.”
“You want to watch the Seahawks game on the big screen? This is the price you pay.” I sweep a bag of lemons and a bag of limes into the tiny cart, then throw a couple of grapefruits in for good measure. “Besides, this store is in such a weird part of town. I never drive by this place, I only come here on purpose.”
“It’s expensive as fuck.” He looks unimpressed. Then his head turns and his brows lift. “Is that Madisyn?”
My heart seizes up. I look over and there she is, at the other end of the produce area. She tosses her long hair, looking displeased, and points at her cart. She’s not alone, of course. No, Madisyn is with a big, ripped dude that’s wearing a Seahawks jersey.
“Fuck,” I say.
As if she feeds off of my unhappiness, Madisyn turns away. Our gazes clash. And the biggest smile overtakes Madisyn’s whole face.
“Ah, shit. She’s coming over here,” Owen complains, shoulders sagging. “Like I need to be dressed down right now. I had a long day.”
“Hello boys,” Madisyn chirps, striding up to us. “I’m not sure you’ve met Reginald, my fiancé?”
She motions to the guy ten paces behind her, who is having a hard time controlling his cart.
“Hey,” I say.
Owen stays quiet, watching Madisyn through slitted eyes. They never got along very well. I can’t say that Owen was sad in the least when Syn dumped me. He crosses his arms reflexively, tugging on his dark blue hoodie.
“I see you’re shopping…” Madisyn looks around. “I don’t see your wife, though. Where is she?” She pulls a sad face. “She isn’t fake, is she?”
Owen snorts. “Cate is realer than your fake ass handbag.”
She shoots him a glare, adjusting the big purse on her elbow. “This is a Birkin, you cretin.”
He leans forward but I silence him with a hand gesture. “We’re shopping for the bar. Trying out a few new recipes.”
“And she’s… what, at home?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I don’t keep tabs on her. We’re in a healthy relationship that relies on both us wanting to come back to the other every day.”
Owen coughs and I eye him. Yeah, I know it was a lie. So what?
Madisyn gives me a bored look. “I want to meet her. See what my life would have been like if I hadn’t… you know…” She makes a face. “Broken your heart.”
“Okay,” Owen says, rolling his eyes. “I think I should go look at something… somewhere else. I’ll be in the next aisle, man.”
“Mm,” I answer, narrowing my gaze on Madisyn. “You’ll have to catch her some other time.”
She makes a sad face again. “That’s too bad. I really want to meet her before my wedding. Make sure she’s not a psycho before I let her into a ballroom full of my loved ones.” She pauses, thinking. “Maybe I’ll try to catch her at your house!”
That catches me by surprise, as I’m sure it was intended to. “My house?” I echo, my face showing a little of the horror I feel. I can just imagine Madisyn coming by the house to meet Cate and concluding that she isn’t real.
“Yes, silly.” She rolls her eyes.
“Well… you can… but Cate is in the middle of moving in still. Boxes everywhere, that whole thing. I don’t think she would take kindly to a visit. I feel like she would think that you’re being an intrusive busybody.”
I just let that lie, putting my insult onto Cate. Madisyn glares at me. “I think that’s an excuse. Either she is real and you live together or she isn’t and you don’t. Which is it?”
“The first,” I say. My gaze slides around the store. I can feel Madisyn wearing down my edges. She already knows that listening to her talk about any topic for more than three minutes will bore me to death.
“Well then,” she says brightly. “I’ll just feel free to pop by and try to meet her sometime soon.”
“Well, you should call first. I mean, you have to realize what you might be interrupting. Cate is so fucking hot and it hard for us to keep our hands off each other.”
There, that one was only a partial lie. Cate is hot. It’s only the touching each other part that is completely untrue.
She rolls her eyes. “I’m willing to risk it.”
Eyeing a very bored-looking Reggie, I shrug. “Doesn’t your man Reggie have any concerns about you coming to my house? After all, you did practically live with me for a year…”
She looks completely smug. “Nope. Reginald knows where his bread is buttered, okay?”
She giggles, glancing at Reggie. Reggie shrugs and nods, which is apparently enough to satisfy Madisyn.
“See?” she says. Her phone chirps and she peers inside her giant purse, looking for it. “Anyway, I’ve really got to get moving… so much to do for the wedding, so little time. Right Reggie?”
“Yup,” he rumbles.
“I’ll be seeing you soon though, don’t worry.” Madisyn gives me a cheesy smile. “Bye bye, Luca.”
With that, she starts walking toward the front of the store. Reggie dutifully wheels the cart in her wake, utterly unbothered by anything at all. I stare after him for a second, shaking my head.
Maybe Madisyn would never have dumped me if I just went along with every stupid thing she said. If that’s what she was looking for in a mate, I’m very glad that we broke up when we did.
Very, very, very glad.
I hurry to find Owen, my mind spinning. Do I just hope that the wedding hoax works out and Madisyn never finds out? Or do I escalate things by asking Cate to move in with me for the duration?
I mean, it really wouldn’t be a big deal to have her move in. My place is huge. We could practically live together and never see each other. And Cate’s home life is… well, from what little I know of her situation, it seem
s like it’s chaotic at best.
Really, I would be doing Cate a favor. At least, that’s what I tell myself when I decide to ask her to move in.
Once I drop Owen back off at the bar and unload the groceries, I head to Cate’s place again. It’s a drive, way on the very outskirts of Seattle, in a big old house next to a set of railroad tracks. I pull up out front and walk around the vegetable garden growing in her front lawn.
A very old black lab watches me skeptically from a dog bed on the front porch when I pound on Cate’s front door. After a few seconds, I’m about to knock again.
The door is yanked open by Cate, wearing a bathrobe, a towel in her hair, and a face mask. “Yeah, yeah,” she starts. Then she sees me and stops. “What... what are you doing here, Luca?”
She pulls the edges of her robe closer together, as if I care about that. I clear my throat.
“Move in with me.”
The surprise on her face is clear. “What? Why?”
I shrug. “Because. You’re my wife for the next seven weeks. We should present a united front.” I look behind her, where three dogs are fighting over a rope toy. “Plus it would be your own space for a while. I doubt that this place can boast that.”
She sucks her lower lip into her mouth. “I don’t know, Luca. Won’t we be tripping over each other just the same at your house? At least here, I know I’m not… you know, unwelcome.”
Rolling my eyes, I challenge her. “I have a ton of space. And you’d be doing me a favor.”
Arching a brow, she crosses her arms. Her little pink bathrobe hitches up on one side, showing me more of her hip than she probably wants me to see. But I can be gentleman, and to prove it I keep my eyes raised.
“How much of a favor?” she demands to know. “Are we talking an extra bonus? Because I’m pretty comfortable here already.”
My nose wrinkles. “All right. Let’s say… eight thousand dollars, as opposed to five. At the end of the whole thing, for your signature on the annulment papers.”
“Ten,” she fires back. “And I get to bring my cat.”
Grinding my teeth, I pause for a second. The cat is no thing, but… is Madisyn not being able to find out that we’re not married really worth an extra five grand? Well, not married in the long term, anyway.