SNAP (The SNAP Trilogy Book 1) (11 page)

I recall the story for Cady and she hangs on my every word. As I tell her about how he introduced himself to me, she sighs and fans herself.

"Tell me about it." I sigh in return and we laugh.

"I told you he has the hots for you," she says nudging me with her elbow.

"You never know, we may never see him again. It would probably be for the best after what he did to Phil."

"Screw Phil. Don't let him dictate your life. If Cash asks you out, you say yes. If Cash wants to get naked, you scream hell yes and get naked." We start laughing uncontrollably.

"If Cash wants me naked, that won't be a problem. I'll get naked for him." I shock myself with that little bit of truth. I wasn't sure if I'd want anyone to touch me for a while after what Phil did, but the attraction between Cash and I has my body on fire. A fire only he can extinguish. An image of Cash as a firefighter pops into my mind. Oh lord, the man would look good in anything he wore.

"Slut," Cady says seriously, making us laugh even harder.

Hazel

Cady strolls into the tavern five minutes before her interview dressed very conservatively in a sundress and a pair of flats with her fiery red hair pulled up in a ponytail. She's holding her application in her hand as she waits behind the customer picking up their takeout order. She steps up as they walk away with a grin on her face.

"Good morning, sunshine," I sing to her as I brace myself against the counter. "You ready?"

"Absolutely. Is he ready for me?"

"Let me go check. Be right back."

I go tell Roger that Cady is here for her interview and he tells me to send her back. I show her through the kitchen to the small office that sits to the side.

"Be good," I whisper as I open the door.

"I'm always good," she whispers back with the most innocent face.

Roger snorts overhearing us and I laugh. "I'll be up front if you need me, Roger." He nods and I shut the door. I check on everyone as I make my way back to the front to help the servers.

For an hour I run back and forth between the kitchen and the dining area before the breakfast rush slows. I grab a bite to eat along with the daily paperwork and sit in the dining room in case anyone needs anything while Roger conducts Cady's interview. Several people have inquired about the open positions. Seven applications rest in front of me on the table. As I look over everyone's job history, a body slides into the booth seat across from me. I glance up and freeze.

"Good Morning," Cash says and smirks at me.

"Good Morning." It almost comes out as a question. His surprise visit has me looking around to see if anyone else notices his presence, but there are only a couple of customers in the tavern and Mary is busy with them. Turning my head back, he's staring at me. I nervously slide all the papers up into a neat pile and scoot them to the side. Grabbing my cup of coffee, I take a sip trying to ease my nerves. He watches, not saying a word. Setting my cup down, I point to it and ask, "Would you like some?"

"Yes." He crosses his arms and rests them against the tabletop, not breaking eye contact.

"Okay," I say in confusion. "Want anything else?" I make to stand up as he answers.

"Yes."

That one word is spoken a million different ways at once. I turn to him and his eyes jerk back up to mine. Hmmm, what kind of game is he playing? "What do you want?"

"I'll start with coffee and a breakfast platter." He points to the picture stand on the table.

Start with? The look in his eyes seems like he wants me for breakfast. It makes my stomach flip as I nervously fumble around to put his order in at the window and pour his coffee. I walk back to the table and set his cup in front of him. He nods his head and rips open two sugar packets pouring it into his cup before stirring it. Eyes closed, he smells the coffee before taking a sip and making a satisfied sound. The deep hum coming from his chest makes my thighs rub together wishing his head was between them.

His eyes open and briefly catches the desire written all over my face before I place my attention back on my food. We sit in silence as he waits for his meal. Uncomfortable silence. I don't think I've ever been on edge as much as I am now. I take another sip of my coffee then clear my throat. Cash, who's looking out the window, tilts his head and glances at me out of the corner of his eye. I don't even know what the hell to say him. I'm extremely confused by this meeting of sorts. Instead of talking, I get up and go check on his order taking my dirty dishes with me. Mary wags her brows at me as she passes and mine go wide silently screaming at her to stop it.

A couple of minutes later, I deliver Cash his meal. Mary must have refilled his coffee while I was gone.

"Here ya go." I set it down and reach for my papers and coffee cup.

"Are you leaving?" he curiously asks.

"I'm going to the bar to smoke and then I have to get back to work."

A look of disgust crosses his face when I mention smoking. Guess he doesn't like it. Oh well, I do. Keeps me sane and leveled, especially working this job. I give him a little wave and turn to walk to the bar.

It's so quiet in here during the day. This is the place I escape to do paperwork and have smoke breaks. I love the stale stench of cigarettes and booze. It makes me feel at home. My nerves start to calm as I enter my element. I sit far enough down from the door so I can focus and won't be tempted to watch Cash. The pull of smoke into my lungs when I light my cigarette makes me sigh. It's a moment of release and relief.

The applications keep me busy as I make notes of who would be a great asset for Maggie's, whose work history is decent and won't be a waste of our time training, and who are absolute no's. I narrow it down to four people to call to set up interviews. There will be more applications over the next few days. Might as well get a jump on them now. I call the first few applicants and set up times for later in the week. As I'm speaking to the last one, Cash walks up and pulls out a bar stool sitting right in front of me. My voice begins to waver as he watches me work. He reaches over and picks up my notes of all the applicants and raises an eyebrow reading what I've written. I snag it back and write down the time for the last interview on it.

Hanging up the phone, I look back at Cash as I light a cigarette. He makes a face as I take a hit and blow it out. I flip on the fan behind me and turn it around to suck the smoke away from us.

"Those are some pretty descriptive notes just to hire people for tavern duty," he says, grabbing the paper again and reading it.

"Not that it's any of your concern, but we are running a business here. Doesn't matter if we were hot dog vendors on the street, it's about making money. Some people have no work ethic."

Cash looks at me as if he's trying to discern something before chuckling and laying the paper down. "I'm not disagreeing with you on that. I'm just impressed is all."

I purse my lips and use this moment to take him in. Relaxed against the bar, his clean shaven face is wearing a cocky smirk as his eyes twinkle with laughter. He knows I'm trying to figure out his game, hell I'm not trying to hide it. After a moment, he leans forward and retrieves his wallet from his back pocket. Pulling out a twenty, he lays it on the bar and stands.

"See ya, Hazel." He smiles and turns to walk back into the diner.

As he struts away, he pulls up the edge of his shirt to tuck his wallet back into his pocket. I couldn't pull my eyes away from his perfect jean-clad ass if I wanted to. Before he rounds the corner, he looks over at me and catches where my gaze is lingering. He pauses for a moment locking eyes with me. There are all kinds of lovely, dirty promises in them. He turns away and leaves, making me realize I was holding my breath.

I reach over grabbing the money and my paperwork then walk to the diner. Cash is walking out the door as Cady comes out of the kitchen. She stops and checks him out before seeing me coming near her.

"Mm mm mmm, that is one fine man," she says under her breath as Roger appears behind us. I jab her with my elbow and she jumps. Roger just rolls his eyes and keeps on moving.

"We'll talk later," I tell her then follow Roger to tell him about the interviews I scheduled.

***

The next couple of days go like clockwork. I received several more applications to review Wednesday and Thursday. I found myself checking the diner for an appearance from Cash, and he didn't let me down. He always showed up during our down hours and had me wait on him. Angela and Mary started asking questions when he showed up yesterday and I was in the back. Cash asked for me specifically and when I got to him all he did was order his food. He never really talked to me other than that. Just watched me flit around the diner while he ate. I'm becoming a little more comfortable with eyes on me as I work, but it still leaves me hot and bothered in other ways.

I've been trying to keep an eye on Jimmy, as well, but he's not been as talkative. He's been avoiding eye contact. I assume he's figured out what his eyes look like when he's using and that others notice it also. If he's using, it makes me wonder if anyone else in the kitchen is using too. Jimmy hangs out with a couple of the guys back there outside of work. I wouldn't put it past some of them. They were probably the ones to introduce him to the drug in first the place. Jimmy is a good, clean cut kid. Well, he was. I'm not so sure anymore.

The night terrors haven't stopped either. In fact, they've gotten worse since Phil attacked me in the parking lot. Going to sleep scares me. I try to calm myself at night and think of other things as I drift off to sleep, but I'm always awaken by the same thing. The feel of fingers around my throat and evil eyes staring into mine. I'm beginning to think I will never get a good night's rest again. The lack of sleep is affecting my mood and making me angry a lot. My coworkers are taking notice and Cady is watching me more than she did before.

As I take down the Help Wanted sign, I think of the few people I interviewed yesterday and all the new applicants, mentally making a note to call a few of them to set up a time to talk. I have to have people hired by next week so we can start training. If I thought it was crazy around here now, it's only going to get worse trying to train people short staffed. Don't know how I'm going to make it through without falling over dead in the floor. I walk to Roger's office and put the sign in his drawer before heading to the bar for my evening shift. Standing in the doorway, I see all of the regulars sitting at the bar. Paul waves at me and I smile and wave back. He pats the stool next to him and I sit down to smoke a cigarette before I start my shift. It's Friday night, which means we are going to be busy. I already told Roger that I told Cady to come in and work it with me since he can't stay. After the amount of money we made last week, he didn't question me.

"Hey, sweetheart, how's your day going?" Paul asks as I sit down.

"Just like any other day," I respond, taking a hit off my cigarette and blowing out the smoke.

"You know you should really quit." He motions toward my smoke. "It's horrible for you, and men don't like it."

"Paul, you of all people should know that I don't give a shit what men think of me. If they don't like it, they can kiss my ass."

Paul raises his brows in question at my outburst before turning his head and taking a sip from his beer. I drop my chin attempting to reign in my emotions.

"You really should quit. It is horrible for you."

I stiffen on the bar stool with my cigarette halfway to my mouth knowing he heard every word that was said. Turning my body, I see Cash standing behind me and wonder how in the hell he snuck up on me. He sits on the stool next to me, propping his elbows on the bar. It's times like these I wish I could control my mouth. I watch him as I put my cigarette between my lips and his eyes drop to my mouth. Taking one last drag, I stub it out in the ashtray as I blow the smoke away from him.

"You want a beer?" I ask, getting ready to rise from the stool.

"I want your phone number," he whispers close to my ear causing me to suck in my breath in surprise.

My face turns to his and I notice how much closer he's moved toward me. Our bodies nearly touching has my heart pounding in my chest working its way into my throat. His eyes are like swirling pools of melted chocolate and I know deep down that's what they look like when he's having sex. It makes me squeeze my legs together. As if he knows my next move, his eyes drop to my mouth again as my tongue wets my dry lips.

"When's your next day off?" His gravelly voice isn't helping out my situation any as I wiggle on the bar stool trying to alleviate my sudden need to have some friction between my legs. His lip twitches as he watches me squirm.

I clear my throat and try to clear my mind, speaking with a stronger voice than I feel. "Monday, if Roger doesn't make me come in on my day off."

"Perfect," he says as he pulls his cell phone out of his pocket and holds it out to me. "Call your phone."

The command in his voice has my defenses rising as I melt in my panties. I don't know this man. He could be far worse than Phil, but is better at hiding it. I look at the phone resting in his hand as I think every thought under the sun, and I'm not sure which will win out, fear or desire.

"Hazel." The softness of his voice pulls my eyes to his. "Call your phone."

"You gonna work anytime today lady, or just sit there and stare at Mr. Hotty all night?"