Page 89 of Risk It All
“What are you doing here?” I asked as I pulled away from the embrace.
“I’d been meaning to visit the bar and see what Leo’s been up to, but the weeks have gotten away from me,” she said as she sat back down. “I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it. If I had my way, they would’ve just given me a table in the corner.”
“Wait, so Leo doesn’t know you’re here?” I asked, returning behind the bar and getting Celine a glass of water.
Celine shook her head. “I didn’t want to bother him. And I didn’t want to bother you, either. Hence the request for a table in the corner.”
“But you’re a special guest!” I exclaimed, setting down a coaster and her water. “I’m glad you’re sitting at the bar. I’m honored.”
That got a smile out of her, and her shoulders relaxed. “I just didn’t want to overstep. With Leo or with you.”
“You’re not overstepping at all,” I assured. “I’m so happy you’re here. Leo will be, too,” I said without a doubt.
Leo would give me updates here and there on how his mom was doing or the progress of getting her house ready to sell, but I missed talking to her. She had such a warm and welcoming presence, and it was easy to get lost in conversation.
“Did you want something else to drink?”
She shook her head. “Water is fine. Thank you, dear.”
I cleared off the empty glasses from the people who’d been next to her. Suddenly, I wondered if she was meeting Colin here since it wouldn’t be that long of a drive for him, and a pit formed in my stomach. Colin and I had been playing phone tag last month, but I hadn’t heard from him recently. “Are you, uh, are you meeting anyone here?”
Celine looked up at me, understanding quickly dawning on her. She shook her head. “No, dear. Just me.” She scooted her stool closer to the bar, setting her hands on the menu. “I walked past your yoga studio on my way over. It looks amazing, Eliza. I’m so proud of you and all you’ve accomplished. Leo has filled me in on bits and pieces of what you’ve been up to.”
“Yeah?” I asked with a smile. “I’m glad you were able to see it. You’ll have to come by for a class if you’re ever in the area.”
“I’d love that.” She beamed.
“I’ll give you some time with the menu, but let me know if you have any questions or need a suggestion. You can’t go wrong with any of the items.”
Once Celine had her order, I planned to ring it up and goback to the kitchen to tell Leo. Without a doubt, I knew he’d move her order up in the queue and want to come say hi.
“Actually,” Celine said, looking down at the menu for a moment before back up at me, “my decision is easy. I’ll do the fish tacos. They sound amazing.”
“They’resogood. You’ll love them,” I said while entering Celine’s order. “And you should meet Wes. He owns the bar, and his parents owned it before him. I’ll go find him.”
Before Celine had a chance to stop me, I went off to find Wes, knowing he’d want to introduce himself to Celine and thank her for coming in. He was helping run food and told me Celine would be his next stop, which then led to me going to the kitchen.
From the beginning, Leo and Ray worked well together, but it was something else to see them in action. How they moved without being in each other’s way. How they played off each other’s strengths.
“Behind!” Leo called out, walking past Ray with four plates—two in each hand—to place in the service area for servers and food runners. He set the four plates under the heat lamp, along with the ticket that let everyone know who rang the order in and which table it was going to. It was then that Leo spotted me, the corners of his lips twitching into a smile.
“Working hard or hardly working?” he teased then lowered his voice and added, “You look beautiful tonight.”
I rolled my lips to try to hide my smile. “Always the flirt.” My eyes flicked to his mouth, and I was eager to press a kiss to his lips, but I held back, remembering why I was back here to begin with. “Your mom’s here, by the way. She’s sitting by the bar.”
That snapped Leo out of whatever moment we’d shared seconds earlier. “She’s here?” He pulled his phone from out of his pocket. “She didn’t tell me she was coming.”
I let out a laugh. “Apparently, her goal was to be discreet. Shedidn’t want to draw any attention. Just wanted to check the place out and have a meal.”
Leo shook his head with a chuckle. “That sounds like her.”
“I rung her food up and sent Wes over to say hi.”
His features softened. “Perfect, thank you. I’ll run the food out myself and see if she needs anything else.”
“Hey, lovebirds!” Ray called out, a shit-stirring grin on his face. “Save the flirting for after.”
“We’re not flirting!” we both called to him, which had Ray raising his brows.
