Page 27 of Worth Loving
“I told you double what is here.”
Days like this he wanted to just get in his employees’ faces and tell them who was boss. They knew he managed the place, that he even hired and fired, but most weren’t all that fearful of him, thinking there was a man behind the scenes. One who wasn’t named Dean Easton but rather a company called DT Holdings.
“Did you look in the other cooler?” he asked. There were two walk-in coolers and a massive freezer.
“Everything is always put in the front.”
He walked away, went to the one further back, opened it up, saw immediately where the rest of the ribs were and marched back. “I found them. It took me ten seconds. You could have done that yourself rather than acting like an ass. And before you bitch about why they are there, it doesn’t matter. They are. Go get them. Do what you need to to them, and do your damn job.”
He rarely lost it like that, but for once, he felt he was on a roll with something else and didn’t want it derailed.
He came back out just in time to see Molly signing her receipt and putting her card back in her wallet. Shit, he would have been pissed if she snuck out, because something told him she might not be back.
“Hey. You were going to leave without saying goodbye?” he asked.
“I need to get back to the office.” Her fingers were twisting the strap of her purse around. Fidgeting like she wasn’t sure what to do or say.
“Do you want to take the rest of your salad with you?” he asked. There was at least half left and he was reaching for a container.
“Sure.”
He filled it up and decided since he was one to take risks so much in his life, why not now? “So, I get Mondays off. How about we get lunch that day? Not here,” he said, laughing. “It might be nice to taste someone else’s food for a change. I like to be home with Jonah and he has Pre-K that day.”
He wasn’t sure why he was over explaining things, but there was no reason to hide the fact that his time was limited.
“You’re asking me on a date?”
“Last I looked, that is what it was called. But you’re free to say no.” For some reason she almost looked like a deer caught in the headlights. That was odd. Just as odd as it was she was gripping her purse as if it were her lifeline.
She hesitated for a few more seconds and then finally said, “I’d like that.”
“Can I get your number?” he asked. “I’ll figure out when and where and let you know.”
“Sure,” she pulled over a napkin and wrote her number down, then pushed it back.
“I’ll be in touch.”
She nodded her head and walked out, his eyes never leaving that fine ass of hers he was hoping to tap.
10
READY TO GHOST
By Sunday morning, Molly had given up hope of Dean contacting her.
She’d walked out of Pulse feeling like the paddles of a defibrillator had been supercharged and lit her up.
The game she’d been playing with herself to see if she was confident enough to walk in there again seemed like it was dying with her solo lunch.
When Dean had gone in the back to deal with an issue, she’d taken a few more bites of her salad, moved it around to make it seem like she ate more than she had, then asked the other bartender for her bill. Her plan was to sneak out and never return.
Kind of like “ditch a date Molly.” Only this wasn’t a date and it really didn’t count.
Rotten luck—or good luck depending on how she looked at it—was on her side when he walked back out and caught her ready to ghost.
She’d been shocked he asked her for a date. She’d wanted to say no. She’d even quickly played the scenario out in her head. In the end she agreed.
And now he was ghosting her.
