Kickstart My Heart (Burgers and Brew Crue #1) - Lacey Black Page 0,41

the door.

“Bye, Lizzie. Be good for Isaac, okay? I’ll be home after you go to bed, remember?”

She nods. “Otay. Wove you,” she says, giving me a tight hug and a kiss.

“Love you too.” I stand up and look at my boss. “Call me if you need anything.”

“We’ll be fine, Mal. Promise.”

I take a deep breath and step out the door, listening for the sound of the locks engaging. When I hear them, I head for the stairs and make my way down all three flights. It’s crazy I’m not more nervous about this. It wasn’t that long ago I trusted a man with my child, and I almost lost her as a result, but I don’t feel apprehensive now. I truly believe I can trust Isaac and Walker and the rest of the guys of Burgers and Brew with my daughter.

But I thought I could trust her with her own father once before too, and that bit me in the ass.

Pushing those thoughts out of my mind, I drive to work, surprised when I pull into the parking lot a few minutes later and find it completely packed. It’s barely five, and I can tell the place is busy. I jump out and use my key to slip in the back door. I toss my purse in my locker, tie on my apron, and drop my phone inside, praying I’ll have some free time tonight to call and check on them.

As I barrel through the door, I slam into a warm wall, much like I did not that long ago. His now familiar scent wraps around me, bathing me in comfort and hormones. Damn, this man smells sexy as hell.

“We have to stop meeting like this. Where’s the fire?” Walker asks, holding me against his chest.

“No fire, but I’m filling in for a server tonight. I don’t want the others to have to cover for me any longer than necessary,” I tell him, knowing I need to get going, yet completely unable to make my feet carry me in that direction.

“Well, you better get in there. It’s already a packed house,” he says, letting go of my arms and taking a step back.

“Yeah,” I reply, smoothing down my hair and taking a deep breath.

“Hey, Mal?” When I glance up, he continues. “Don’t worry about Lizzie, okay? If there’s anyone I’d trust with my child, it’d be him. He’s a stand-up guy. Plus, he loves kids. He’ll probably have a dozen of them someday,” Walker says, giving me a half-smile.

I exhale. “Thank you.” He nods in reply and turns to head in the opposite direction. I catch a good view of his attire. The well-fitting dark jeans. The black sleeveless shirt that shows off his ink and the definition of his arms. That ass. Holy shitballs, that’s one mighty fine ass.

“Hey, Mal?” Walker asks.

When I glance up, I can already tell he busted me checking him out. “Get your fine ass in the dining room and make that money.”

I give him a wide smile and take off like a bullet.

When I reach the servers’ station, I find the table assignments with Jakki’s name on them. I’m lucky because they’re almost the exact same tables I cover during my shifts. “Hey, I’m Duke. We’ve covered drinks for all your tables and took orders for tables seventeen and nineteen. The rest have menus and are all yours.”

I give him a grateful smile. “Thank you so much. I appreciate the help,” I say, taking the order tablet he started for my tables.

“No prob. We help each other around here. Sucks that Jakki just up and quit, but whatevs. You’ll earn her tips tonight, sweetheart.” He gives me a flirty smile, not seeming to care that I’m several years older than he is. I peg him for early twenties, much younger than the twenty-nine written on my driver’s license.

“I better get to it,” I tell him, stepping around the corner and hitting my tables. I stop by each one and introduce myself, taking food orders for those who still need to order and refilling drinks for the others.

The time flies by, and before I know it, an hour has passed. I’m able to slip into the hallway and fire off a quick text to Isaac.

Me: Everything good there?

He replies right away with an image, which takes only a few seconds to load up.

Isaac: Does this tiara make me look fat?

When the picture fills the screen, I can’t help but laugh. It’s taken selfie-style, with Isaac