Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 107204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107204 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Taking the initiative to make reservations. That was a win in my book.
“I’d love that.”
“Great! I’m excited. I was lucky to get a reservation at this place. They are booked out for months, it seems. My coworker had a timeslot but had to go to New York for a meeting, so she offered it to me.”
“Oh? What’s the place?”
“Isla Iberia. It’s right across from your shop on Main Street. It’s supposed to be one of the best. Did you know Alex is a Michelin star chef? I ran into him the other day, and he told me all about it. Nice guy.”
Choking.
I was choking on my tongue.
Alex? A nice guy?!
My poor British future husband was so naive. If only he knew the truth about Alex, he would’ve thought differently. I almost thought of telling him about how Alex Ramírez went around shattering water dishes, but I refrained from it. I couldn’t break his sweet, British heart.
“The reservation is there?” I asked.
“Yeah, is that okay?”
“Oh, yes. Totally fine. Not an issue at all. Cool. Cool. Very cool. Neat. Okay. Well, I better get inside and rest. I have a long day tomorrow.”
He smiled. “Perfect. I’ll meet you at Isla Iberia on Friday night at seven. Have a great evening, Yara.”
“You too.”
He hurried away, and I closed the door behind me, almost sinking to the floor as the realization settled that I’d have to step inside Alex’s restaurant. As I tried to shake off that realization, I opened the container of cookies, picked one up, and took a bite.
That bite instantly flew out of my mouth and back into the container.
“What in the dog food is this?!” I shouted, stunned, appalled, offended.
Did Josh hate me? Why in the world would he feed me something so atrocious?! There was no way he thought those cookies were good. Or, sadly, he lacked taste buds. Josh might’ve had a lot going for him in life. A great job, a dazzling smile, and a remarkably attractive accent.
But baking?
One out of five stars.
Would not recommend it.
If I could give it zero stars, I would.
CHAPTER 14
Alex
“Shame on you, Alejandro Luis Ramírez!” Tatiana scolded me after she came into work the day after my odd encounter with Yara on the sixteenth floor.
Tatiana must’ve heard about the less-than-nice exchanges I’d shared with Yara. I’d never seen Tatiana upset, but I was almost certain steam would’ve been shooting out of her ears if possible.
The restaurant wasn’t even open for a few hours. There was no reason she should’ve been barging into the front door.
I cleared my throat as I stood behind the bar. “Tatiana, can we not—”
“No, we will!” she shouted, shooting over to me. She smacked my arm with her purse. For a sweet lady, she sure had one heck of a strong swing.
“Ow!” I yipped. “You know, you can’t get away with hitting your boss. That’s completely unprofessional.”
“I don’t give a rat’s behind about being professional. Why in the world did you do that to Yara?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied.
She pointed a stern finger my way and then gestured toward a booth table. “Sit. Now.”
“Tatiana. This is ridiculous. I’m not a child, and you can’t—”
“Now!” she ordered with a shout. One that sent chills of fear down my spine. Like a little wimp, I hurried over to the booth and sat.
She walked over with her hands on her hips and narrowed her stare on me. “Out with it. Why were you rude to her?”
I grimaced. “Are you going to sit, or will you talk down to me the whole time?”
“I’m going to talk down to you the whole time because your behavior toward Yara warrants that type of reaction until I am proven differently. So speak up. You broke her water dish.”
“I had a bad day.”
“Nope. Wrong answer. Yara was being nice to you, Alex. Bringing you that water dish. Do you know how much time she spent on making that?”
“I didn’t ask for it.”
“That’s not the point!” she shouted, tossing her hands around. “The point is she was doing something nice for you. Something she didn’t have to do. You had no right to be so rude toward her.”
“I know,” I confessed in a low whisper. I hadn’t slept in over thirty hours. I hadn’t been able to do anything but think about Teresa. And when I wasn’t thinking about Teresa, I was thinking about Yara. My brain ping-ponged back and forth between the two. I didn’t even know why I felt so haunted by Yara in my thoughts. I didn’t know how to get her off my mind. I didn’t even know why she was there to begin with.
Tatiana arched an eyebrow. “You know?”
“Yeah. I know. I was triggered. The timing of it all was bad. I should’ve apologized.”
“You still need to apologize.” Her voice wasn’t dripping with anger as she looked my way. Her eyes softened, too. She frowned slightly as she slid into the boothside across from me. The scolding simmer began to settle as she looked my way. “I get it. This town has been ugly toward you, Alex. They’ve harassed you, judged you, and made you feel unwelcome as if you were an alien to this place.”