I had several business cards and a couple of promises for second interviews.
I’d hold on to that, I told myself. It wasn’t much, but it was more than I’d had yesterday. Well, no. Not exactly. Yesterday, I had a job. A lousy one, but a job. But these were interviews, and neither of them had been at lousy places.
Trying to console myself with that, I headed back to the apartment. I was almost as exhausted now as I’d been last night when I finally went to bed. I couldn’t imagine doing this again tomorrow.
So don’t
.
I almost brushed the idea aside and then I stopped.
Well, maybe I shouldn’t. Tomorrow was Sunday. Emma was off. She always spent her day off with her guy, Malachi. I’d have some peace and quiet while I checked some things out online.
***
Sunday was a bust.
Monday promised to be the same—one of my supposed-second interviews called me to reschedule and another cancelled outright.
Molly called a little before noon. “Are you busy?” She didn’t even bother with a greeting.
I sighed. “Yes, but I’d prefer not to be. I’ve been out since eight looking for work.”
“You need lunch,” Molly said. In her opinion, food made everything a little bit better. “Where are you?”
I squinted and then answered. “Not too far from MoMa.”
The Museum of Modern Art and the area around it was normally one of my favorite areas, but I wasn’t there to hang out or kill time. I was job hunting—still—and not having much luck with it either.
“Awesome. Listen, there’s this place…” She gave me an address. “Meet me there in thirty, okay?”
The café Molly sent me to was small and out of the way. It was the sort of kitschy place I’d love to work, but when I asked if they were hiring, the lady gave me a polite smile and shook her head. She did give me an application to fill out. I did—you never know, right?
I was busy working on it when Molly arrived. She dropped into the seat across from me and smiled. I smiled back, but my heart wasn’t really in it.
“How are you?” she asked, concern softening her voice.
“I’ve been better,” I said. I looked up as the waiter came towards us, mentally counting the change I had in my pockets.
“I’ve got this,” Molly said. Before I could argue, the waiter was there and Molly was ordering two cups of coffee. When he walked away, she turned back to me. “I worked a double yesterday, so I’ve got some extra tip money.”
I scowled. “So I haven’t been replaced yet?”
“No.” She grimaced. “Gary’s an asshole, you know that?”
I didn’t want to ask, because I was pretty sure I already knew the answer. Even if I was wrong, I was even more certain I didn’t want to do it. Still, I was desperate. “Is there any chance I could get my job back? They haven’t replaced me and I wouldn’t need training.”
Molly’s expression told me the answer before she said it. “Again, Gary’s an asshole.”
Scowling, I folded my arms across my chest and slumped in my seat. “You know, he’s just pissed off at me because I wouldn’t go out with him.”
“Yeah.” Molly looked away. “Most of the people there know it. But most of the people, me included, kind of need their jobs.”
“Hey…” I reached out and touched her arm. “I don’t blame you. I get it, really.”
“Thanks.” She gave me a sad smile. Then, jerking her shoulder in a shrug, she said, “If he wasn’t the owner’s nephew, he would’ve been out on his ass years ago. But I didn’t ask you here to talk about that loser. Let’s talk about something fun.”
Rolling my eyes, I said, “Then you better drive the conversation. I don’t have anything fun to talk about.”
“Okay.” Molly wagged her eyebrows at me. “I do. I slept with Delphine last night.”
“What?!” I gaped at her.
And just like that, we were off. Molly kept up the conversation after her play-by-play of her night with Delphine, the hot junior chef Molly had been eyeing for weeks. Normally, her transitioning into my own lack of a love life would’ve annoyed me, but this time, even that was a welcome distraction.
As Molly set some cash down on the table, her face suddenly lit up.
“I almost forgot!” She dug through her purse for several seconds before emerging with a small, rectangular card.
She held it out to me. “A guy came by the restaurant and gave me his number for you. He said he found your necklace.”
“And you’re just telling me this now?!” I snatched the card from her, blinking back the tears that suddenly burned my eyes. “He found my grandmother’s necklace.”
“Sorry.” She grinned at me and gave me a lascivious wink. Molly made no secret of the fact she was bisexual. In so many ways, Molly was my mirror opposite. “He was hot too. I was tempted to ask if I could come by and get the necklace for you.”
I gave her an absent smile as I stared at the card. Dominic Snow. There wasn’t anything else on the card to explain who Dominic Snow was, but I didn’t care. He had my grandmother’s necklace. I’d given up ever seeing it again. It took all of my self-control not to ignore Molly and call the number right now.
At least
one
thing didn’t totally suck right now.
Either Molly sensed my impatience or she was ready to go because she didn’t linger over good-byes like she usually did. Instead, she just got up and gave me a hug before she headed out.
I decided to stay a bit longer so I could make my call without the noise of the city’s chaos. I still needed to cover a few more places before I went home and I didn’t want to wait that long to call.
“Hello?” The man’s voice was pleasant and vaguely familiar. That didn’t mean anything though. In the six months I’d been waiting tables, I’d talked to thousands of men. He could’ve been any of them.
“Hi, this is Aleena Davison.” I paused, then realized that he might not know my name. “You have my necklace.”
“Ah, yes, Aleena.” He sounded…what was it? I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Amused? Pleased?
Frowning, I concentrated on his words instead of that odd tone. And the sexiness of it.
“I was hoping you’d call,” he continued. “This piece of jewelry appears to be fairly old and I assumed it was something quite special.”
“It is,” I said. Suddenly, I was nervous, wondering if I should have stayed silent. Now that he knew it was important, he might think that he could get some money out of me.
“Unfortunately, I’m out of town on a business trip at the moment,” he said. “But I’ll be back in the morning. Can you meet me?”
“Um, sure.” I waited for it, the price-tag.
“Do you know Bouley?”
I silently swore. Bouley was a hot-spot for the high-spending execs—the kind of money I
did not
have. They’ve got five-course lunches, well-priced, I guess, if you can afford to spend money on a
five-course
lunch in a
five-star
restaurant.
I can’t even afford a soda there.
“Yes, I know it.” I was also pretty sure I didn’t own anything I could wear to it. I couldn’t tell if he’d just invited me to have a drink, but I certainly wasn’t about to show up looking like I worked there.
“Would you be able to meet me there tomorrow at noon?”
What could I say to that? I wanted—no, I needed—my grandmother’s necklace back. So I’d look like a loser and just order ice water.
“Sure.”
“Great. I’ll see you then.”
And just like that I was going to meet a complete stranger at a fancy restaurant.
Chapter 3
Aleena
Bouley was just as nice inside as it was out. I smoothed down the sweater-dress I’d borrowed from Emma.
I say
borrow
although technically it was more like I swiped it out of her closet after she left work. I’d already planned to take care of her laundry tonight to make up for not getting the rent money to her. I’d just add the dress to it.
Considering the difference in our body types, the dress actually fit pretty well. I figured my curves stretched it enough to compensate for the height difference. The color had been the deciding factor. It was a rich, deep red, the kind that looked good on true blonds like Emma or on those with a darker complexion like me.
“Are you meeting someone?” The hostess smiled at me as I came inside.
“Dominic Snow.” I gave her the name he’d said on the phone.
“Right this way.”
I followed her, trying not to fidget with the dress or my hair. All those thoughts fled when I saw who was sitting at the table.
My mouth went dry.
My hands went clammy.
Shit.
The hot stranger from the other day, the one who’d stopped me from falling and had tried to save my job, he was Dominic Snow. He was the guy who had my necklace. And judging by the lack of surprise on his face, he’d known who I was.
“You don’t seem surprised to see me,” I said as he stood and pulled out my chair.
“I’m not.” He flashed me that same charming smile. “I found the necklace on the floor near the plates when I went back to my table to get my jacket. I wasn’t positive it belonged to you, but I suspected as much.”
Is he flirting with me
? I didn’t know. I’d never been as good at reading these signals as some girls.
“I know I asked you to meet me here so I could give you the necklace, but my business meeting just canceled on me. Would you care to join me? My treat, of course.” He settled back down in his seat and reached for his water glass. “I do hate to eat alone.”
Get the necklace. Get out.
Common sense told me that was the smart thing to do.
And my stomach chose that moment to growl.
Hunger won out over common sense. I hadn’t had a decent meal in two days—my groceries were all but gone and it wasn’t like I had money coming in tomorrow, right?
“I’d like that, thank you.”
He smiled at me and gestured a server over. “Would you like some wine?”
“No, thanks.” I smiled as I answered.
He nodded and ordered a glass for himself.
I asked for water. We chatted about the food while we went over the menu. We had barely closed the menus before the server arrived to take our orders.
Once that was done, he leaned back in his chair and those extraordinary blue eyes focused on me.
“So, Miss Aleena Davison...it is Miss, right?” His smile flashed, hot and bright, and his eyes glinted at me.
“Yes.” I held up my left hand and wiggled my fingers. Then, surprising myself with my boldness, I raised an eyebrow and gave his hand a pointed look.
“Yes,” he said as he held up his hand. “I’m a Miss too.”
I laughed, and he immediately joined in, a low rumbling sound that made heat coil in my stomach.
As that tug of heat spread, I reached for my water. I’d hoped the reaction I’d felt the other day had been a fluke.
“You’re not from around here, are you?” He took a sip of his wine. “No accent.”
I shook my head. “I’m from Iowa. And you?”
“Me?” There was a flicker of surprise in his eyes, gone so fast I barely had a chance to recognize it.
“You don’t have an accent either,” I pointed out.
“True. But I’m New York, born and raised.” He lifted a brow, a faint smile curling his lips. “In the business world, especially when dealing internationally, it’s...better to have a more general American accent.”
As we talked, I began to relax. It was nice, sitting in a good restaurant, eating the kind of food I couldn’t afford on my own. He was attractive—
whoa
he was extremely attractive and that laugh. Every time it rolled through the room, I felt a tug deep inside me.
Not that he was flirting, exactly.
Occasionally, his eyes would linger on mine, but there was nothing less than courtesy in the way he acted and after the way my past few days had gone, it was something I desperately needed.
Since this was the first—and probably the last—time I’d had the chance to sit down in a high dollar restaurant with an urbane guy like Dominic, I planned to enjoy it.
Enjoy wasn’t the right word, though.
He wasn’t just sexy, and there was more to him than that amazing smile. He made me laugh. He had an insightful way of looking at things and a kind way of treating others. He gave the server who brought our food the same courtesy he’d shown me—and that meant something.
Since it was the same job I had, it mattered to me when a guy didn’t treat others in that line of work as invisible.
Before I knew it, our plates were being cleared and the server was asking about dessert. Regret was something I was familiar with, but I can’t ever recall feeling it quite as strongly as I did then.
“Thank you, no,” Dominic said after I’d declined.
As the server walked away, Dominic looked at me. He reached into his coat pocket. “I should probably give you this.”
The chain of my grandmother’s necklace glinted in the subtle lighting overhead. “Wouldn’t want to forget the reason you came.”
My heart leaped at the sight of it and then it practically stopped when our fingers brushed. As a gasp lodged in my throat, I looked up at him. He was watching me, his gaze intent on mine.
“Thank you,” I said, my throat almost painfully dry. As he continued to stare at me, something unfamiliar settled inside me. I curled the chain in my palm and tucked both hands in my lap. “Thank you so much. My grandmother gave it to me before she passed.”
“You were close?” he murmured. “It hurts to lose somebody you love. I’m sorry.”
“Yes.” I looked away. There really wasn’t anything else to say, was there?
“We should go,” he said a moment later. “I hope I’m not making you late for work or anything. Wouldn’t want to give your boss another reason to bother you.” His mouth tightened.
“Ah…not likely.” I placed my napkin on the table, taking care not to look at him. “I don’t currently
have
a boss.”
It’s amazing how much tension can flood a silence. It startled me enough that I looked over at him. His jaw was tight, almost rigid with anger, but the moment our eyes met, the expression was gone.
“I see.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “Are you job hunting then?”
“Yes.” I gave him my best,
everything’s fine
smile. I had a lot of practice with it. I could bluster with the best of them. I’d been doing it most of my life.