~*~
Wait for it…Wait for it…
“What the hell was that about, Sal?”
And there it was. “What do you mean?”
Alex closed the door. “You know what I’m talking about. You pissed her off. What did you say to her?”
Sal turned around. Just a few weeks into it and Alex was already turning into the protective big brother. This was so like him. Sal shrugged. “Two different guys picked her up last week. I just asked her about them. She didn’t seem mad to me.”
“Are you kidding me? She looked ready to spit nails. What did you ask her?” Alex crossed his arms and stared at him.
Sal couldn’t help frowning. Truth was she had been a little too defensive. “All I asked, is if they knew about each other.”
“What?” Alex looked even more disgusted. “Since when do you get all involved?”
“I don’t. I was just curious.”
“Bullshit, that’s straight out nosey. No wonder she was so pissed.”
“So I’ll apologize.” It wouldn’t be the first time. “I didn’t think she’d be so bothered by it.”
“What’s going on Sal? What is it with you and this girl? You still ticked off that I hired her even after you said she’d struck out?”
Sal stood up. He was done having this conversation. “Nope, I just asked her something that apparently rubbed her the wrong way. I’ll go apologize, then I’m out of here.”
He walked to the door aware that Alex was still staring at him. He opened the door and glanced back at him. Alex continued to stare at him but the scowl softened. Then suddenly he smirked. “You’re into her.”
“What?” Sal did his best to appear incredulous.
“You’re into Grace.”
Sal shoved the door closed. “No, I’m not.”
“Yeah, you are.” Alex laughed. “Why else would you ask her about the guys picking her up? You jealous, Sal?”
“I’m not you, you idiot.”
Alex laughed even more now. “Oh this is great. Sal’s got the hots for the new hire.”
“Will you shut up?” Sal peeked through the door to make sure no one was within hearing range. “She’s attractive. I’ll give her that. But you know I can’t get involved with anyone that works here.”
“Why not? Sarah worked here before she and Angel got married.”
“That’s different.” He couldn’t believe he was even discussing this. “They were already involved when she came to work here.”
“Man, you must really be into her to ask her something so ballsy. So what did she say? Is she really seeing two guys?”
“No!” Sal was letting Alex get the best for him. He needed to regain his composure here. “She said they’re just friends.”
Alex laughed again. “I see. So that’s when you asked her if they knew about each other. Good one. I would’ve asked the same thing.”
Sal wasn’t sure if his brother and him sharing the same mentality when it came to reacting to women was a good thing. It was never in his nature to just react. That was Alex and Angel—not him. But the question had just slipped out before he even knew it. Just like his comment about Alex being married, her first day on the job. Now he was going to have to apologize again.
“I was out of line, Alex.”
“Not really, Sofie said the guy picked her up and spun her around last night.”
Sal worked his jaw. As much as that annoyed him, it still came down to one thing. “Friend or not, it’s none of my business.”
“Technically, I’m the boss here, Sal. I think she’s pretty damn adorable. You wanna make it your business? Have at it. I don’t have a problem with it.”
Sal opened the door. That was impossible. There was no way it would work. Not only did she have guy friends who were a little too friendly for his liking, he’d managed to come across as a total ass**le more than once now.
“Hey,” Alex added.
Sal turned around.
“Just don’t mess with her, man. That I’ll have a problem with. I like her. She’s a sweet girl and a damn good bartender. I don’t want you giving her any reason to leave.”
He almost walked out without responding then stopped and turned around. “Not a word about this to anyone, you hear me?”
Alex smirked.
“I’m serious, ass.”
Alex nodded in agreement but not before getting in a few more laughs.
Grace was already busy in the kitchen when he got there, and she looked as comfortable as she did behind the bar. “You got breakfast orders?”
Grace shook her head without even looking up. Obviously, she was still mad. One of the other cooks addressed him. “She’s helping out with the brunch, Chief.”
Sal nodded, watching her for a moment. She was a natural. Julian, the other cook he’d hired, was still fumbling around after more than a week of being here. Grace had been in the kitchen less than a half hour and she seemed in complete control.
He walked toward her until he was just a few feet away. She still didn’t look at him. “I wanna apologize,” he said softly. “…again, I was out of line. What you do outside of the restaurant is your business. I have no place questioning you about it.”
Finally, she looked at him. “Why did you?”
He was hoping she wouldn’t ask that. “I dunno—curious, they both seemed a little too friendly to be just friends.”