Chapter Five

Lucas

A shadow fell over my table and I looked up from contemplating the love heart in my latte to see the blond guy in a suit from the bar. Alex’s mate. He of the winkage. I regarded him coolly as he placed my shot of amaretto in front of me.

“Has everything been to your satisfaction, sir?”

“Yes, thank you. Very nice.” I didn’t tell him not to call me sir . He could.

“Alex tells me I offended you. I’m very sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. I only winked at him because he fancies you. No other motive. Certainly we weren’t laughing at you. I would never…” He trailed off, his face red. But not as red as mine. I glanced past him and watched Alex working his way around a table of eight boisterous men.

The blond man seemed to be waiting for a reply. I didn’t have one. He tried again. “Certainly we could offer you your meal on the house tonight as a…” He trailed off at my lack of attention. I had just seen one of the pricks across the room fondling Alex’s arse. I stiffened in my chair, staring.

“Sir?” The man asked, unsure.

“That won’t be necessary,” I said, clenching my fist in my lap and watching as the man got up from the table and headed towards the toilets.

“Very well, if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure. But thank you.”

He walked away and I waited a moment before I threw my serviette down and stood.

The bathrooms were located down a discreet walkway behind the kitchens. I stood for a minute outside the gents, because I didn’t want to walk in and see this pervert with his dick in his hand. Then I pushed open the door. There were four urinals in a row and three cubicles on the other side of the room. Fat, sweaty businessman stood at one urinal, just zipping up. As he turned around, he caught my eye. I marched right up to him and he lurched back, banging into the porcelain behind him.

“Why are you groping the waiters?”

His jaw fell open; he reddened and sweated, blustering a bit. “Come on, it’s a joke. He’s a pretty thing. You’ve noticed, I see.” He tried an all-boys-together grin.

I stepped closer but didn’t touch him even though I wanted to punch him in the face. “I’ll be here a lot from now on. If I ever see you touch him, or anyone, like that again, you’ll have me to answer to. And it won’t be pretty. Have you got it?”

He nodded, eyes wide with fear.

“Good. Keep your disgusting hands to yourself.” I stepped back and he scarpered around me and ran for the door without washing his hands. In the entrance, he collided with Alex.

◆◆◆

Alex

I hurried over to the bathrooms and swung the door open, only to run right into a sweating, terrified Bill. I stood back and let him brush past me. Inside, Lucas stood watching me. I looked at him.

“What are you doing?” I asked with trepidation.

“Warning him to keep his hands to himself.”

My heart warmed but I shook my head. “You don’t need to do that.”

He cocked his head. “I don’t? How long has he been coming here feeling you up?”

I looked away. “Not long.”

“Not long? Have you told your boss?”

I shook my head tight-lipped.

“Why not?”

I sighed. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Really? It’s a big deal to me. If someone came into my place of work and groped my arse, I’d be pretty upset.”

I bit my lip. “Look, it happens. It’s happened to some of the women and yeah, Max has barred the patrons for life, but, you know, I’m a bloke. It’s different.”

He frowned. “How?”

“I can look after myself. I’d be a laughing stock if I reported getting my arse fondled.”

“No, you wouldn’t. It’s not any different. It’s still sexual harassment.” He moved closer to me so we were stood face to face. I looked away rather than into his crystal blue eyes. “Hey.” He put up a hand and ghosted his fingertips down my cheek. “Are you listening to me? It’s not any different. Tell me why you should have to take that.”

I said nothing. I trembled under his touch as he traced the curve of my jaw, then lifted my chin to look at him. Oh God, we were so close. He was tall, over six feet, maybe three inches bigger than me. The look in his eyes made me squirm. Protective and fierce. He was going to kiss me. Right here in the bathroom while I was supposed to be working, and I wasn’t going to stop him.

I closed my eyes as he inclined his head and brushed his lips over mine. Soft, gentle, tender. I caught my breath in sheer bliss. Our mouths came apart, we looked at each other, and he went back in again. I opened my mouth to his and slid a hand around the back of his neck, touching the velvety stubble of his closely-cut hair. I heard his intake of breath. He cupped my head and put his other arm around me, easing me against his hard body. Our tongues touched and the kiss deepened to consume me whole. We staggered back until I had him pinned against the wall between two urinals and we kissed with the wonder of the new. I forgot everything as I drowned in him. There was only him. I was hard and he was too. His body felt wondrous pressed against mine, so firm with muscle, so exciting. His spicy cologne filled my senses and sent my arousal to boiling point. I reached to pull his shirt free from his trousers so I could slide my hands greedily up his spine. Then I managed to remember where I was and stepped back with a gasp.

He was flushed, his mouth kiss-swollen. He smiled and it was contagious. I touched my lips. “Wow,” I said. I noticed I’d manage to remove the chocolate stain from his lip.

He laughed softly. “Wow indeed. If I had known it would be that good, I wouldn’t have waited all night to do it.”

I flushed in pleasure. “I have to get back to work.”

“Can I take you out? I’ll wait for you to finish.”

I swallowed with birds taking flight in my head. “Are you sure? It might be late.”

“Oh yes, I’m sure. I’ll go home and come back. In my pyjamas.”

I laughed. “People might leave early. Their kids are going to be up at the crack of dawn.”

“Yeah,” he agreed.

We watched each other for another moment, then he pulled me back into his arms and kissed me again and I melted to a puddle of goo. I wasn’t sure anyone had ever kissed me like him before. My entire body was on fire for him. I pulled away again and hurried out.

I swooped on the first table I saw with empty dishes and started clearing like a mad thing, trying to get my mind back on the job. My hard-on had calmed down somewhat to my relief. The heat consuming my body had not. I wanted to go back into that bathroom, bundle him into a cubicle and have him up against the wall. As I carried an arm load of plates away, I saw him appear around the corner. He gave me a little smile before he made his way back to his table and I grinned to myself as I entered the kitchen.

“Here he is,” Anna said, my favourite among the waiting staff. “What exactly’s going on between you and table three?” She was a sweet thing, very pretty with red hair and a lovely smile. She told me more of her secrets than anyone else and always had a lot of gossip to spill.

“Nothing.” I scraped the plates and stacked them by the sink.

“You chased him outside and got him to come back in!”

I reddened. If she had seen, maybe everyone else had too. Including the owner. I said nothing.

“He’s fucking fit,” she said. “Really fit. He makes underwear, you know.”

“I know.”

“Do you reckon he wears it?”

“Do I reckon he wears underwear? I don’t know, maybe he goes commando.”

She glared. “No, I mean do you think he wears his own underwear?”

“Probably. I would, wouldn’t you? Free underwear for the rest of your life.”

“I suppose so. It would be funny though. To look in your underwear and see your own name. Like being at school.”

I rolled my eyes. Now if I ever got him undressed, I’d be looking in his underwear to see if his name was in there.

“Is he gay?”

If he wasn’t, he played the part pretty well. “I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do, Alex! Stop being mean.” And she linked her arm through mine and batted her eyelashes at me. Her sleeve was smeared with cheesecake and she transferred some of it to my shirt.

“He might be,” I said with a smile. “Why don’t you google him?”

“Already have. There’s not much gossip online. He’s beautiful. Please go home with him tonight.”

“All right then, because you asked me so nicely.”

She pinched my arm before kissing me on the cheek and heading out. Behind the work bench, I caught Chef looking at me over her pan. “What?”

“He appreciated the love heart strawberry then?”

I gave her a smile too because I was feeling love towards everybody at that moment. “That must be what tipped him over the edge and into my arms,” I said in a whisper for her ears only and left the kitchen.