Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 69371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 347(@200wpm)___ 277(@250wpm)___ 231(@300wpm)
"Dad's back," Carson says, looking at me. "Playtime is over."
"Mom was mean to us," Kyle replies to us while Mikaela gives him the finger. I wash my hands and look at her.
"Where do you want me?" I ask, and she points at the table on the side.
"I want you at that table doing the taste testing for tonight." I grab an apron and walk over to the table with a white paper with Mikaela's writing.
"It's a whole page,” I say, looking back down at it. "Like a full page. Who tastes this much food at a tasting?"
"It's an important client," she tells me. "So you better be on your A game."
"When am I not on my A game?" With a smirk, I look down at the list to get things going. "What time is this client coming?"
"Eight!” she shouts, and for the next three hours, I get lost in my cooking. I'm plating the last plate when I look over to see that it's almost eight.
"I'm done," I say, wiping my hands.
"I thought you being in New York would make you rusty," Mikaela states at the same time as the kitchen door opens and one of the hostesses comes in.
"The eight o'clock couple is here." She looks at Mikaela. "I will seat them at the booth."
"Sounds good," I say to her, and she turns and smiles at me before walking to the front. She doesn't even know who I am, I laugh to myself. She will have a rude awakening when we have the staff meeting tonight.
"You want me to come and introduce you?" Mikaela asks, and I just shake my head.
"I think I'll be good," I say, walking out of the kitchen and taking a look at how jam-packed the place is. There isn't an open seat, and I see the bartenders going nuts. I make a mental note to see if we can hire two more to help out. I walk over to the hostess stand where two girls are chatting together, and one is on her phone.
"Do me a favor," I tell the one on the phone. "Put the phone away. There isn't anything happening on Instagram that is going to change your life in the next hour," I suggest, and she just gives me a fuck-off look. "I'm Luke," I say. "You know, the owner." Her mouth opens in shock as I look at the other one. "Where are the guests?" She points her hand toward the back.
"Last booth on the left," she says, and I nod at her and make my way over to the last booth.
I approach the table, seeing the guy on the outside of the seat and both of them on the same bench. "Hi," I greet once I get there and finally look at the couple. I look at the guy dressed in a suit with his hair perfectly combed over. My eyes go to the woman sitting next to him.
Everything in me stops as she looks up at me in slow motion. Her eyes are even more blue than I remembered, her face even more beautiful. The smile on her face fades when she sees it's me, and the only thing that comes out of my mouth is her name. "Clarabella."
Chapter 3
Clarabella
One minute, I'm looking at Edward as he tells me about his day, and the next, I hear his voice. "Hi." At first, I think it's all in my head. I mean, it has to be because I know he's left town. I had no idea where he went, and I wasn’t ever going to ask.
I close my eyes for a second, thinking I must have misheard before lifting my head. The clinking plates and laughing people sound far, far away. My eyes spot his hand as my head slowly lifts, or maybe it lifts fast. The only thing I know is I'm staring into his blue eyes. The smile on my face fades when he says my name. “Clarabella."
My heart speeds up in my chest, and I look over at Edward to see if he can hear it. I swallow hard, but my mouth is so dry nothing goes down. Edward smiles at me, so I put on my game face and look back up at Luke. "Luke." I say his name as if it's nothing. As if I'm not surprised he's here, and I'm not slowly freaking out on the inside. Okay, it's not slow. It's a full-blown freak-out. "I didn't know you were back." I want to kick myself the minute the words come out of my mouth. The last thing I want him to think is that I care he was gone or that I know he even left.
"Got back today," he replies. "So you're getting married." His face doesn’t show anything as he looks at me and then at Edward. "We go way back." He smirks, and my mouth goes dry.