Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 81113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
But this was Virginia. This was the woman who’d done him dirty and proven she didn’t care about him the way he deserved.
It was time to take drastic measures.
I went back into the kitchen. Brooke was looking around like she was considering walking into the freezer and just freezing to death rather than going out into the dining area again.
“Hey.” I moved her to stand in front of the ticket dispenser. “How about you cover for me for a little bit? The dinner rush is dying down and you know how to supervise the kitchen. It’ll give you something to keep you away from your mom, and I’ll let you know when she’s gone and the coast is clear. She can’t fault you for being busy, can she?”
Brooke gave me a huge, relieved smile, her shoulders slumping. “Thanks so much Stevie, you’re a gem.”
“Great. I’ll just be in the back for about a half hour, okay? I gotta take care of this. Text me if you need me, I don’t want you to have to leave the kitchen unsupervised.”
This was a bald-faced lie, actually, since I wouldn’t be in the back at all.
No, I was going home.
I left Brooke in charge and then gave a quick word to my other cooks to give her a break and let her call out the tickets. Brooke had grown up in this restaurant and so she knew how things worked, and I knew I could trust her to keep an eye on things and not mess it all up. Especially since we were winding down.
Then I snuck home.
My apartment wasn’t too far away from the restaurant. I was able to get home in record time, especially this late at night, and dashed into my room. I was glad that my brother was out—the last thing that I needed was Andy asking me why I was dashing back home in the middle of the shift. I had no real explanation, no excuse I’d be able to give him.
I yanked off my clothes and ransacked my underwear drawer. Even though I’d never been with anyone intimately before, I’d stocked up over the last three years on some gorgeous lacy lingerie. Baby dolls, lacy bras, the whole works. Part of it was because I liked the feeling of confidence, knowing how good I looked underneath my clothes, even if nobody else knew. I could look at myself in the mirror and feel good about myself, a little secret boost, just for me.
The other part of it, though, the part that I didn’t want to admit fully to myself at times… was that I was also buying things to wear to show off to Michael.
Hmm. The black negligee I got with the built-in push up bra should work nicely. I put that on, and then the rest of my clothes on top of it—and then I heard the front door.
Ah, great. Andy was home.
I quickly did my hair and makeup, nothing too crazy for work—I didn’t want my coworkers asking questions—but definitely nicer than the no-makeup, ponytail look I usually went for in the kitchen because I was running around all day.
I hoped that I could just walk past Andy without him noticing, but I heard a wolf whistle as I tried to slip through the living room, and winced.
“Where are you going all dolled up?” Andy asked.
He was lounging on the couch, looking exhausted but in a good way, like he’d just come back from a party or spending the night with someone. I wanted to tell him that stuff like that was why Brooke didn’t trust him when he asked her out, but I figured this wasn’t the time.
“None of your business,” I replied, putting my shoes back on and grabbing my car keys.
“It’s always the older brother’s business,” Andy said.
I rolled my eyes. This wasn’t the time for a lecture about my being an adult and being able to make my own choices. I had to get back to the restaurant before too much craziness went on without me, but damn did I want to.
“I heard through the grapevine that you’re flirting with one of the servers in the restaurant,” Andy went on.
Oh fucking hell. Brooke couldn’t keep a secret to save her life, she must’ve fucking told Andy that I let her think I was into Cameron. Or, well, she didn’t know that I had just let her think that.
“You shouldn’t believe everything you hear,” I told him. Having Cameron be a bit of an alibi for myself to Brooke was one thing but I didn’t want my brother or a bunch of other people thinking that there was something between me and that idiot when there wasn’t. Cameron wasn’t a bad guy, at least as far as I could tell, but no fucking way did I want people thinking I’d bother sleeping with him, of all people.