glass of wine and taking a hefty sip, allowing it to warm my body from the inside out. Jonah watched me like a hawk. So much so that I turned my head and taunted, “Oh yeah, you gonna give it to me?”
He smirked. “Only if you’re good.”
Damn.
Check. Mate. He won.
Just as I was reaching for another hunk of supremely amazing garlic bread to sop up the rest of the sauce on my plate, lest it go to waste, someone rang the doorbell.
His father growled low in his throat clearly annoyed by being disturbed during dinner. I got that. It was annoying. Like when you’d just sat down to eat and the phone rang and it was a freakin’ telemarketer and not someone you could easily just tell, “Hey, I’ll call you right back when I’m done with dinner,” and they let you. No, you were stuck on the phone with someone who wanted to sell you a new warranty on your stove that you didn’t even know had a warranty in the first place.
Jonah stood and set his napkin on the table. “I’ll get it.”
“So, Simone, what do you do?” his mother asked.
“That’s a rather loaded question. It would be easier to ask what I don’t do.” I smiled. “Most of the time I bartend at Tracks downtown. I also work in my mom’s best friend’s flower shop a couple days a week, and I just recently as of two days quit my waitressing job.”
“That’s a lot of jobs. A hard worker. I like it,” his father complimented.
“Thanks. It’s not hard work except for the fact that it’s tiring and physical a lot of the time, but I’m almost done with school. I have one more class in order to get my associate degree in business. Then I hope that will help me get into an office management type position where I can make higher pay, secure healthcare benefits, and one day toss my old hand-me-down junker my sister gave me. Well, if I ever get it back.”
His dad, who I later found out was named Marco, pointed at me. “You work for what you get. This is admirable. It will mean more. When you get that degree, you come see me at our offices. We’re not a huge construction business, but me and my other son Luca run the jobs. We have about thirty men under us. Our office manager is leaving us in six months to have a baby. She wants to be an at-home mother raising her children. We’ll have an opening…”
“You just met me and you’re offering me the possibility of a job?” I pressed my hands to the table so they wouldn’t see them shaking with excitement.
“I like people who are hard working and driven. Willing to work three jobs in order to make something of themselves. That’s all I need to know about you. The rest being you came here with my son who wouldn’t bring a woman to his mother’s home if she didn’t mean something to him. And he’s a good judge of character, being a junior profiler in the FBI hunting down madmen. Doesn’t hurt you’re beautiful. Part of the job is dealing with people so that helps. You’re social and outgoing. We’ll have you meet Luca, do a walk around, learn about the job, get details from Lisa who’s leaving us, and see if you’d make a good fit.”
“Wow, this is so unexpected, and I…well, I don’t know what to say.” I covered my pounding heart with my hand.
“Say you’ll come check out the offices. Meet my men. Meet my other son.”
“Definitely. I’d love it. Um, we might have to wait a little bit but let me go ask Jonah.” I hopped up and out of my chair excitedly sprinting into the living room.
“Jonah, you’re never gonna guess what your dad just offered me!” I called out to his back. He flicked his gaze my way and held up a hand to ward me off.
He’d have to do a lot more than hold up a hand if he was going to get me to listen. I had news and he needed to be the first to hear it.
“You didn’t hear me!”
“Simone. Not now,” he grated through his teeth and then faced the doorway again. His entire body was stiff and wired to the point I thought he might jump at whoever was opposite him.
“Jonah, come on, this is ridiculous. Take the check!” I heard a high-pitched woman’s irritated voice screech.