Read Online Caught Up in You by Sophie Swift - Free Book Online Page B

spent an hour selecting from the restaurant’s wine cellar is sitting unopened in the center. I snatch it up, shaking my head adamantly. “No, the wine is all wrong. I’m going to look for something else.”
    Blake catches my wrist as I turn to go, carefully easing the bottle out of my iron fist. “Lia, the wine is fine. The confetti looks great. Relax.”
    Reluctantly I allow him to remove the bottle from my hand and return it to the table.
    “I don’t understand,” he says, “why are you making such a big deal about this?”
    I sigh and collapse into one of the chairs, taking a long, satisfying pull from my glass. “My sister hasn’t been back here for over a year. Since before my mom left. I just want her to see how well the place is doing.”
    Blake glances around the twenty-table restaurant. It’s nearly empty apart from one lone couple who appear to be on a particularly bad date. They’ve barely said more than a sentence to each other since sitting down, and the woman is pushing uneaten ravioli around on her plate as though she were attempting to spell out an SOS distress call.
    “Um,” Blake begins cautiously, “I hate to be the one to break this to you, but we’re not exactly booming . We could easily have sex on the bar and no one would notice.” He turns to me and cocks an eyebrow. “Actually, that’s the best idea I’ve had all day.”
    I groan and stand up, giving him a mock shove with my elbow as I walk by. “What did I tell you about sexually harassing the boss’s daughter?”
    He shrugs. “I thought it was part of the job description. You know, tend the bar, pour the drinks, make unwanted advances on the woman who signs my paycheck. Besides you haven’t been the ‘boss’s daughter’ in a while.”
    I know he’s right. It’s been almost a year since my mom split town without warning, leaving her precious little Italian bistro—her pride and joy—to nearly be sold off piecemeal by my grieving father. If I hadn’t dropped out of the University of Connecticut and offered to run the place myself, it would probably be a seedy nightclub by now.  
    But I refused to let that happen. I couldn’t bear to stand by while my mom’s dream got auctioned off to the highest bidder. She spent years building this place up, creating all the recipes, hand-selecting every bottle of wine and framed photograph on the wall. I couldn’t watch it all fall apart.
    The problem is, a year later, that’s exactly what’s happening.
    It’s falling apart.
    Our Yelp rating has dropped from a 4.5 to a 2.5 in a matter of months, and we rarely serve more than two tables at a time. I remember when we were so busy, people left because the wait was too long. Now, I’m this close to pulling random people off the streets and paying them to sit down. If only just to fill chairs so it won’t look so fucking depressing in here.
    I scurry over to the bar and pour myself another glass of wine.
    “You’re going to drink away all our profits,” Blake remarks, squeezing behind me, and pinching my waist as he passes. 
     “Good one.” I laugh and check the clock on my phone.
    “What time is the famous Alex supposed to arrive?”
    I roll my eyes. “ Infamous is more like it. And fifteen minutes ago. But Alex is always late. She likes making people wait for her. It’s one of her many talents. I told my dad I’d text when she got here, so he doesn’t have to wait, too.”
    I swallow half the wine in one gulp.   
    “Sit down then.” Blake ushers me to one of the bar stools. “Chillax for a second. I’ve never seen you so stressed out.”
    I sink into the seat and exhale out half a lung as Blake begins massaging my shoulders.  “Sorry. Alex just does that to me. She’s…” I wheel my hand around, trying to capture my sister in one word, but all I can come up with is, “Well, she’s Alex. ”
    “Is she as hot as everyone in this town says she is?”
    “Hotter.”
    “Not hotter than you, though.