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)
“He’s not any other customer, Reese! He’s Cal Shelton–”
“Cal-fucking-Shelton,” I reply, rolling my eyes. “Yeah. So I’m supposed to just suck his dick and let him say whatever he wants to me?”
Kate frowns. “That’s not what I’m saying, and you know it.”
“So what are you saying?”
It’s been just over a year since I started working at Henry’s. Kate and I became close quite quickly, but there’s a decent chance I might actually get fired for my behavior tonight.
“You know what, Reese? Go home,” she says. “I’ll handle tonight’s service.”
“Fine,” I reply as I take off my apron. I toss it on a hook and turn around, ready to storm out in a dramatic display of emotion, but when I do, I see something completely unexpected.
I see Cal Shelton standing there, holding the door open that leads to the dining room.
“What are you doing?” I bark. “This is the kitchen, for kitchen staff only.”
“Reese!” Kate yelps, scolding me, obviously aghast at my behavior. But at this point, what does it even matter? “Go home, now! And we will talk tomorrow whether you will even be working here any longer!”
“Whoa, let’s not go that far,” Cal laughs, putting both hands in the air. “Kate—it’s Kate, right?”
“Yes, it is,” Kate replies, fuming.
“I came back here to apologize.”
It’s a strange feeling when you hear words you never thought you’d hear in a million years. My body reacts by attempting to stop my heart dead in my chest. In fact, I have to brace myself humiliatingly against the wall.
“Excuse me?” I respond.
“Yes, excuse me?” Kate agrees, but in a much more star-struck manner.
Cal smiles that familiar, charming smile I’ve seen so many times on one screen or another and shakes his head. “I was rude out there. I shouldn’t have behaved the way I did, and, Reese, I shouldn’t have asked you what I did.”
“I…” The rest of my sentence stalls in my throat.
“Sometimes I just get so used to being who I am that I forget how to behave,” he says, stepping forward. “And, Reese, I’d love to take you out to dinner and apologize, if that’s all right.”
I gawk back at Cal Shelton in a way that probably makes me look like my brain has been sucked right out of my body. From this close, it’s not hard to see how those bright blue eyes made him a rockstar.
Or how so many girls fell for him either. This arrogant, romancing playboy who is just back here working his game on me.
“Yeah, no thanks,” I reply. I hear a soft gasp from Kate behind me but ignore her. “How many times have you used this line before, pal?”
“This isn’t a line–”
“I don’t need to be just another name and number. Just another conquest,” I reply. “Enjoy your meal.”
I move to push past him, but he steps in front of me and stops me. He towers over me, and his shoulders are so broad there’s no hope of getting by.
“What I said is not a line,” he says as he reaches past me and grabs the pen and pad we use to mark take-out orders. He begins to scribble something down. “I meant what I said. I’m sorry, Reese. And I’d like to take you out to apologize. You can reach me at this number.”
With a callused hand twice the size of mine, he presses a piece of paper into my palm. “Now don’t let that get out, okay? I’ll have to get a new number.”
“You suggesting I would sell this?” I ask.
“I know you wouldn’t do that, Reese,” he replies, his eyes fixed on mine as he moves aside, making way for me. “Call me. I’ll show you a great time.”
2
Reese
I’m playing with the piece of paper between my thumb and forefinger when I get back to the apartment. My roommate, Sarah, is in the bathroom doing her makeup, getting ready for her shift at Tigress’s, the gentleman’s club where she dances. I come in and say nothing. I just sort of lean against the doorframe, looking down at the string of numbers in my hand.
“What’s up with you?” she finally says as she curls her lashes.
“I…I don’t think you’d believe me if I told you,” I finally reply.
Sarah and I have been friends since freshman year. She’s always been the more outgoing one, which is why she became a dancer when I became a waitress. She turns around and gives me a questioning look.
“Try me.”
“You see this?” I ask, holding up the paper for her to see.
“Yeah?” She shrugs.
“You know whose number this is?” I ask. She leans in to take a closer look, and although I trust her with my life, I snatch the scrap away from her, causing her to frown at me like I just tried to attack her.
“What are you–?”