and started to walk toward me. “I could use some too. I’ll put on a pot.” I watched Ali pass me and walk down a short vestibule before she disappeared out a door that led to the front restaurant.
Okay, I could do this. I could be pleasant and chat with Ali and show her the kind of guy I was, and maybe learn how things were going with Blake. Shit! Did I want to know if they were going well? No. The last thing I wanted to hear was about how she was so happy with her choice and that they were doing hunky-dory.
I didn’t have a choice, though. Suck it up, buttercup. You got this. If you want to know anything about this woman, you need to listen to what she has to say.
She came back a few moments later, and I was on the ladder, finishing the installation that Alex had been working on. Ali paused as she came back into the room, and I glanced down to see her running her eyes down my body. I slammed my gaze back to the ceiling.
“Coffee is on,” she stated a bit huskily and then cleared her throat. “What can I do?”
“Nothing right now, but after I get this up, you can help. Why don’t you tell me about the kitchen? How long have you been a chef?” Her job was a safe thing to discuss.
Ali started telling me how she got into cooking as a child, and I listened intently, asking questions every once in a while and laughing at some of things she said. She went to get our coffee, and I came down off the ladder and began to dig through a box to get the next system out. When I opened the box, I jerked back. Taped to the inside of the Styrofoam was a condom.
What. The. Fuck.
I stared at it for a second and heard Ali coming up behind me. Those shits just set me the hell up.
I turned to Ali; she held the coffee mug out to me. “Here you go, just cream as you requested.”
It took everything in me to take the coffee mug and put it to my mouth. My entire body screamed for me to take Ali in my arms and put her against my lips, not the damn ceramic mug.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ali
“I seriously can’t believe you didn’t tell me he was your brother, or that you were calling him to help!”
“I didn’t call him; I called Alice to ask if she knew anyone. I had nothing to do with Harv showing up here.”
I glared at her over the table. Holly had come to the restaurant to do a final film blurb about the ending of the romance between Blake and me. It gave me a chance to provide a quick meal as a thank you.
“You knew very well that once you spoke with Alice, that she’d make sure that your brother came here.”
“Hey, at least he came. What did you think when you saw him again?”
I peered at the camera crew one table over. They weren’t paying us any attention. “I was kind of scattered when I saw him because I wasn’t expecting it.”
“What did you think of him?”
I stared at her. “I think he was pissed off that he had been kept in the dark too, and that he would have rather been anyplace else.”
“Ah.” She waved a hand at me. “He was doing the same thing as you. He was surprised to see you and unsure of what to do.”
“Well, he sure knew what to do in the end, because he told me that he wished me well and walked out without a look back.”
“Did you tell him that you made the wrong choice?”
“No, he didn’t give me a chance. When I tried to apologize, he shut me down and left.”
“Maybe you will get the chance to tell him when they put the cameras in.”
“Oh, I doubt he will come to do it himself. I’m pretty sure he will keep his distance.”
Holly grinned at me after a moment. “You never know.”
Friday, the restaurant was open—thankfully—and as hard as I tried to keep my head in the game and focused on the cooking, I couldn’t. I kept wondering if he would show up tonight once the kitchen was closed, or if he would keep his promise and avoid me.
I was torn on what I wanted. I did want to see Harvey—probably more than I cared to admit—but I also wanted