CHAPTER TWENTY

Liam

 

I woke up the next morning in my car, still parked in Elena’s lot. I had a raging hangover, my mouth was full of cotton, and a sinking realization settled in my gut. I had a thing for Maggie.

There was no other explanation. My lack of screwing around, my reaction to making out with Krissy, the tenderness I’d felt towards Maggie when she shared her childhood with me, and of course, that feeling of utter despair when I saw her dancing with that fuckhead.

I sat up, hitting my head on the roof of the car. Shit. I was going to pay for that later when full sensation returned to my body. I looked around, but the parking lot was empty. Small mercies. I pulled the seat up into driving position and strapped myself in.

I stopped at the gas station for coffee before hitting the highway. I’d never driven so slowly in my life. By the time I was halfway back to Mountain Valley, I could barely see through the pounding behind my temples. Thankfully, I wasn’t due at the restaurant until eleven, so I had time to get home, shower, and pop some aspirin. I knew it would be another crazy day ahead. At least it would give me a reprieve from my thoughts. Fucking Maggie.

 

*

I made it to work on time, but I looked even worse than I felt, and I felt pretty crappy. Bree eyed me as I walked past the bar.

“Don’t even ask,” I said and kept walking.

I washed up in the kitchen and tied on my apron, pulling down a copy of the day’s dinner menu to get started on prep while Toni took care of the lunch crowd. We did not have a traditional arrangement in the kitchen, but it worked for us, and everything had been running smoothly since her arrival. She was a godsend. Or rather, a Justin send, as I was so keenly aware these days.

We stayed out of each other’s way until the lunch rush was over, and then Toni came over to give me a hand.

“You look like a piece of shit,” she said.

“Thanks.”

“That my dog stepped in and then dragged across my floor,” she continued.

“Okay. I get the point.”

“Rough night?”

“Not in the way you think. Drank too much and passed out in my car in the parking lot of Elena’s,” I confessed.

“Shit. What’s up, Liam? Talk to me.”

I put down my knife, carefully wrapped the cuts of beef I’d been slicing, and put them away in the walk-in before answering her.

“I think I’m in trouble,” I began.

“Oh crap. What did you do? Did you hit someone? We’ll figure it out, don’t worry.”

“Toni, shit, I didn’t drive drunk. But I think I might…fuck, I can’t believe I’m about to say this…I think I might like a woman.”

“Maggie?” she asked, without any trace of a real question.

“Yeah. Shit. That obvious?” I asked.

“Chef, you have not been the same person since that woman walked into your life. First, you came alive like we’d never seen you, then you shut down, then you just went nuts. The three of us feel like we’ve been watching a tornado blow through here for the past month. What happened with you two?”

I told her. I told her the absolute truth. That I’d done this favour for Justin that turned into this super hot research project that just fucking ended. And that somewhere along the way, I’d fallen for the girl.

“And that’s it?” she asked.

“Yeah. We were both pretty clear about the terms of the agreement.”

She rolled her eyes.

“But she enjoyed the sex?”

“Fuck, yeah.”

“So what makes you think she’s not interested?”

“Well, I’m not exactly her type. Plus, I tried texting her and she never responded. And then last night—”

“What the hell happened last night?”

I took her through the gory details. After she finished laughing, she gave me crap for not having gone over to talk to Maggie at the bar.

“It really wasn’t appropriate. She was dancing pretty close with the dude. It would’ve been more than awkward.”

“Okay,” she conceded. “Point taken. So? Call her. Ask her out.”

I shook my head.

“She wants nothing to do with me. Transaction complete.”

“Hmm. Normally I’d say to leave it alone then, but I saw the two of you together. There was definitely something there. You just need to find an in.”

“And where do you suppose I do that? Got any suggestions?”

“Let me think on it,” she said. “Right now, I’m outta here. Have fun with the dinner crowd.”

 

*

We were closed for Canada Day on July 1, and I took the opportunity to sleep until noon. I’d stayed late at the restaurant the night before, nursing a scotch while Adam, Toni, and Bree amused themselves by trying to find solutions to my situation.

“I just can’t believe someone finally got to you,” Adam said. “I was starting to think you were going to carry on like that forever.”

“Hey, boss, I’m in my thirties, not my fifties. And I’m not talking about getting married here. I just want to get to know the woman.”

“Uh, huh,” he said, smiling.

“Listen, just because you’re all cozy with Tess doesn’t mean we all want a long-term commitment. I’ve got a thing for this girl. I just want to see where it goes. If I can ever figure out a way to get near her.”

“You gotta make her think it’s her idea,” he said. “Tess’s friend Jax told me that when I was trying to figure out how to convince her to date me. Worked for us.”

I thought about that as I rolled over in bed and stared at the ceiling. I had zero plans for the day, figuring I’d laze about, whip up some dinner, then head to the square to see the fireworks. Bree and I had made a plan to meet there. She was still relatively new to the area and hadn’t hooked up with anyone yet. She told me she’d split with her last boyfriend shortly before moving. In fact, it had been the impetus for her move.

My buzzer rang and I glanced at the phone on my night table to check the time. Almost one. Who the hell was popping by at one o’clock on a day off? I rolled out of bed and walked to the front door, pulling on a pair of sweats on the way. I hit the buzzer to let them in, then opened the door and looked out into the hall.

I saw Toni coming up the staircase with two large shopping bags, one in each hand. They looked heavy as fuck so I dashed out into the hall to take them from her, peeking inside in the process.

“May I ask—”

“You may, as soon as we get inside,” Toni said, cutting me off.

I followed her into the apartment and shut the door. She kicked off her shoes and walked into the kitchen, searching the fridge for a drink. She was right at home, having roomed with me for a few weeks while she looked for a place of her own. She had no desire to drive the thirty minutes to work every morning if she’d stayed where she was, so as soon as she took the job with us, she’d moved to Mountain Valley.

The first thing she said when she walked into my place that first time was, “I’m never going to sleep with you.” She’d been true to her word. She’s the first female friend I’d ever had. I never looked at her in a sexual way, though she was smoking hot. I was grateful for her every fucking day, though. Especially today.

“Okay, tell me,” I said.

She pulled herself up onto a stool and popped open seltzer. She took a long drink and set the can down.

“So, you got yourself a romance writer who doesn’t believe in the glory of sex. And you’re a sex machine who doesn’t believe in romance. But you were able to change her mind about sex. Maybe we just need to change your mind about romance.”

“What the fuck are you getting at?” I asked.

She walked over to the shopping bags and dumped them out on the living room floor.

“Romance novels,” she declared. “My entire collection. Okay, fine, half my collection.”

I looked at her, incredulous.

“FINE. A quarter of my collection. But enough to suit your purposes. I pulled out the tropes I thought would be appropriate—friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, fake relationships—”

“Wait. That’s a thing? The fake relationship? That’s a plot device?”

“Oh yes,” Toni said dreamily. “One of the best, too.”

“Jesus Christ, I’m living in a romance novel.”

“At least yours has great sex.”

“Had.”

“Which brings me back to my point. You’ve got the day off? Start reading. See what you can pick up. She’s not interested because she thinks you’re a certain type of guy. Show her you’re not that guy. Show her you’re exactly the guy she’s looking for.”

I turned one of the books over in my hand, glancing at the blurb on the back but mildly distracted by the side boob on the cover.

“Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt,” I said.

“Fantastic,” she said, flopping down on the couch beside me. “Order some pizza before you get started. I brought the weed.”