Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
1
Reese
I stand in the kitchen with the smells and the noise, the steam and the shouting, holding a tray of food in my arms that I know I’m going to be needing to take out into the dining room at some point.
But that point isn’t right now.
I’m waiting, watching, and hoping that the impossible will happen. That Cal Shelton, our surprise VIP guest, will somehow disappear or vanish into an alternate universe.
Everyone else is super excited he’s here. And why wouldn’t they be?
He’s a mega-famous rockstar and he’s filthy rich, which means there’s a great chance we’ll all be getting big tips at the end of the night. And him showing up to eat here is going to bring a lot of publicity to the restaurant too.
So why aren’t I all excited? Why aren’t I giggling like another giddy teenage girl?
Because I hate Cal Shelton.
He’s the definition of a totally self-important, arrogant asshole.
He’s a playboy who thinks the world belongs to him, and in a way, it kind of does. He’s rich enough that he can buy anything and anyone he wants.
I’ve seen him on TV and on the Internet. Strutting around in the latest fashion, a watch that probably cost as much as the house I grew up in on his wrist, a model or two on each arm, grinning like an emperor.
Talk about a turn-off. I don’t think my vagina had ever been drier. And now, here that asshole is, in the place where I work. And I’m about to have to go serve him his appetizers.
“Don’t be nervous, Reese,” Kate, my manager, says from beside me, looking out the window to the dining room. “He’s just the biggest rockstar alive.”
“I’m not nervous,” I reply, nearly laughing at the suggestion.
“Babe, you’ve been standing here long enough for hell to freeze over,” she replies. “It’s obvious–”
“Fine,” I reply, pushing out the door so I can escape this conversation.
There he is—Cal Shelton and two others with him. A man and a woman. They’re sitting at a table in the corner talking while their two security guards stand by the door doing their best to look inconspicuous.
What is he even doing here? I wonder as I approach the table. Henry’s isn’t even a nice restaurant.
He notices me as I get closer and starts to make room by clearing the water glasses out of the way. Shouldn’t the people with him be doing that, not him?
“Hi, I have your appetizers here for you,” I say as sweetly as possible. “The dry rubbed wings, the vegan tacos, and the hummus and chips.”
“Thank you so much.” Cal smiles back, and if I didn’t know any better, I might just think it was actually genuine.
His eyes are an unbelievably clear blue. So blue they don’t even look real. I’d assumed when I saw them in photos that they were filtered, but I guess I was wrong.
“May I get you anything else?” I ask. “Or I can come back in a bit to take your order?”
Cal’s looking at me funny. He’s kind of staring at me, making me wonder if I’ve got something on my face.
“You’re not the original girl who took our order,” he says.
“No, that was Kate, my manager,” I reply. “She’ll be over with your drinks in just a second–”
“What’s your name?” He cuts me off. I guess he thinks being the big rockstar he is, he’s just entitled to do that sort of thing.
“My name is Reese,” I reply. If I wasn’t working right now, I’d tell him off and ask him who his mom was and if she ever taught him manners.
“Reese.” He nods, as though mulling it over. Without an ounce of humility, Cal drags his gaze up my entire body from toe to temple, pausing at my tits. “You have a boyfriend, Reese?”
The man and woman he’s with both look at me and smirk, and something inside me snaps. “Excuse me?” I ask in a tone that could scare my neighbor’s pit bull. “Look, I don’t know who you think you are, Mr. Famous Rockstar, but that’s none of your business–”
“I am so sorry,” Kate says loudly, coming up from behind me. She sets the drink tray down on an empty table next to us and takes me by the arm, smiling at Cal and his friends. “Reese has a bit of an awkward sense of humor.” She hisses in my ear, “What the hell are you doing?”
I’ve never been in any real trouble with Kate before, but I can feel her anger as she tugs me away from Cal’s table. Her fingers pinch into my skin as she drags me back into the kitchen and basically WWE Wrestler slams me up against the wall.
“What the hell was that!?” she shouts. “Have you lost your goddamn mind?”
“What?” I spit back. “Just because I don’t worship this asshole like everybody else here? What if another customer asked me what he asked me?”