Read Online At Your Service (Silhouette Desire) by Amy Jo Cousins - Free Book Online

by accident long before I figured out that it’s what I love.” He sipped champagne out of the plastic cup and seemed to think for a while before looking at her. “Are you and your dad close?”
    “No.” Quiet memories, so fuzzy with time as to contain almost nothing more than a feeling of warmth and a crisp smell she thought might have been her father’s cologne. “He died when I was very young.”
    “I didn’t know that.” She was glad that he didn’t apologize or say any of the stupid things most people came up with in an effort to comfort her for a twenty-some-year-old loss. His next words made it clear why. “Mine, too.” He was gazing at his hands now as he spoke. “He was a jazz musician. Saxophone, mostly. My mom has a couple of recordings he worked on, background stuff. Not much. When I was about seventeen, I looked old for my age and I started sneaking into clubs. Blues and jazz clubs.” He laughed a little and shook his head, eyes distant. “I told myself it was because I could drink beer, feel tough, get in a little trouble. But I think I was mostly just trying to remember what it felt like to hear my dad play.”
    He shook his head again. “After a few years I ended up working at a couple of my regular hangouts. Started out bussing tables and worked my way up. Eventually, even my boss pointed out to me that I should be running my own place. I think I was just working up the nerve.”
    “And now you’re here,” she said, pleased with the neatness of his story, but also feeling a vague jealousy that his business had such a personal meaning to him. She’d felt that way herself, before, although everyone left in her family seemed to think she was crazy for doing so.
    “Well, almost here.” He sank back into his chair and closed his eyes again. “If everything goes according to plan, in a year or two I’ll punch out the side and add on a second room so I can have live music on the weekends.”
    And you can feel your dad here all the time. But she didn’t say the words out loud. Just cleared her throat and asked him, “And you never wanted a partner? You know, someone to share the workload?”
    “I had one, once.”
    She knew she was prying, but couldn’t resist asking him, “What happened?”
    His eyes were still shut, but she saw him grimace briefly. “It turned out that while I thought we were planning a business to run together for the rest of our lives, she was looking to open a trendy hotspot that we could sell off to some restaurant conglomerate six months later. Needless to say, she wasn’t thrilled with my plan, or with me, so she dissolved the partnership, you might say.”
    “Ouch. Sorry.”
    “Hey, she returned the ring. That was nice.” He tilted his head toward her and opened his eyes long enough to wink at her. “Besides, it reminded me to focus on what’s important. Making a success out of this place.”
    “There’s not a doubt in my mind that’ll happen. How could it not, the way you kill yourself working around here?”
    His next words made her jump.
    “I haven’t been working so hard that I didn’t notice you taking charge a number of times, little Miss I’m Just A Waitress.”
    Where his voice was clear, hers squeaked. “What do you mean?”
    He glanced at her, eyes dull with tiredness. “Wasn’t it you I saw sending Sarah off to the kitchen on day one and bringing Maxie out to bus tables and fill water glasses?”
    “Sarah was so scared she kept on dropping drinks on her customers,” she answered defensively. “And Maxie was going stir-crazy in the kitchen.”
    “And was it you I heard that night, comp’ing the entrees for the couple at table ten?”
    “That was directly related to Sarah’s problem with the drinks.” She bit her lip. “Although I probably should have run it by you first.”
    “And the two new dishes added to the daily specials board?” By now, Tyler had sat up and his eyes glinted at her.
    “I just suggested to your mother