VAIN - Part Three (The VAIN Series Book 3) (3 page)

"I'm Jessica." One of the sous chefs reaches out her hand to grab mine. "It's great to meet you, Alexa."

I smile warmly at her. After arriving an hour ago to Axel NY with Hunter in tow, I'd been given the red carpet treatment. I'd joked with him that he was going to make my life a living hell by broadcasting to the entire staff that I was a personal friend. The quick, friendly hug he gave me in response was welcome. I'd been in New York a week now and everything still felt completely alien to me.

"It's nice to meet you too." I shake her hand carefully, studying her face. She's beautiful. Her blue eyes a slightly deeper shade than mine, her blond hair pulled back tightly into a bun. Her features are sculpted. She could have been a model if she wanted, save for the fact that she's slightly shorter than me.

"You'll love it here." Her smile beams past me towards where Hunter is standing next to us. "Hunter's management team is the best."

I wish I could join in her enthusiasm for the job, but truth be told, I haven't waitressed since high school. My job at Star Bistro back in Boston may have included waiting on people, but it's a much different experience being a barista. This job was going to mean long nights on my feet, lots of rich, spoiled customers and no special treatment. Hunter made it clear to me, before I left for Boston, that he expected a lot out of me. He also confided in me, that tips, on the nights he scheduled me for, were the absolute best. Maybe he was a good of a guy as Sadie made him out to be.

"Alexa is a very old friend of my wife's," Hunter says as he reaches to rest his hand on my shoulder. "She needs to go through the same process as everyone else though. Don't hold back."

Jessica laughs before she pulls her hand over her mouth. "I'll do my best to help her get the groove of the place."

"Thank you," I mouth under my breath.

"Alexa." Hunter's hand glides to my elbow. "Let's talk about your schedule over here."

"How's Sadie feeling?" I look down at the floor. "I'm sorry I haven't called her yet."

"Sadie's fine." His voice is deep and smooth. "Noah Foster called Axel looking for you."

My stomach knots as I feel a flash of hope race through me. "Axel Boston?" It's an obvious question that is biding me time. I've waited three months to hear that Noah wanted to talk to me. Now that it's a reality I need time to process it.

"Two nights ago," he offers. "He called twice. Bernie ended up delivering the sandwich."

My eyes dart up. I want to ask for Bernie's number so I can drill him with questions. "Did he ask about me?"

"Yes." I see the concern in his face. "I spoke to him the second time he called. I told him you'd moved."

"Did you tell him where?" The rush of giddiness that is sweeping through me is intoxicating. This is what I've waited months for. A sign from Noah that we might still have a future.

"Alexa." Hunter leans forward grabbing both my shoulders in his hands. "I'm only telling you this because you have a right to know."

"Tell me exactly what he said." I want every detail. I want him to repeat every single syllable that Noah uttered to him. I want to know it all.

"He asked if you could bring him a sandwich. The hostess who initially took his call said Bernie would deliver it."

I nod heavily. So far, so good. Noah called looking for me. That has to mean something.

"He called back and I answered." He exhales audibly, his brow furrowing. "I told him you were unavailable."

My heart sinks at that confession but why wouldn't Hunter tell him that? I've moved to another state. It wasn't as if I could jump on a train and rush back to deliver his food for him. "What did he say?"

"He asked me when you'd be available." He looks past my shoulder towards someone who has called his name. I watch him nod slowly.

"Did you tell him I was here?" I point to the floor. "Did you tell him I was in New York?"

"I told him you moved."

"To New York?" I push. I'm getting impatient. I want Hunter to tell me that he gave Noah directions to my apartment here. I want him to be waiting on my stoop when I walk home tonight.

"He asked if you moved to Paris."

"Paris?" The question comes out with as much surprise in the word as I feel inside. "What did you tell him?"

"I said it wasn't Paris and…" he stops to take in a heavy breath.

"And what, Hunter?" I look right into his eyes. "Did you tell him I was here?"

"He hung up before I could tell him anything." He closes his eyes briefly as if he's warding off the pain he knows I'm feeling.

"What about Bernie?" I scrub my hands over my face. "Did he talk to Bernie about me?"

"Alexa." His voice is low and soft. "You need to forget about him."

"Tell me, Hunter." I hear the unmistakable crack of approaching tears in my voice. I've held everything in since Noah pushed me out of his apartment twice in one night. Holding it together now was quickly becoming impossible. "What did he say to Bernie?"

His eyes reach into mine and I see compassion there. It's misplaced. Hunter and I aren't friends. He's an extension of my relationship with Sadie. That's it. I don't want him to feel pity for me. I don't want him to offer me anything but the truth. "Bernie didn't see Noah."

"What do you mean?"

"A woman answered the door and took the sandwich from him."

"It's just guilt." Kayla runs her finger along the menu of the small diner she chose for our Wednesday afternoon late lunch. "All guys have it after they dump you."

"What?" I raise a brow over my menu to stare at her. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm having a bowl of soup. It's so cold today." She pulls the knitted grey sweater she's wearing around her shoulders. "What do you want?"

"The same," I say without thinking. I haven't had any appetite at all since Hunter told me about Noah two days ago. I'd kept that information to myself. Kayla was too quick to offer her opinion on why men do the things they do. I'd held onto the knowledge that Noah had been looking for me because I wanted the hope that it offered. I'd conveniently tried to ignore the fact that a woman had answered the door. It didn't matter if it was Camilla, Ari or a call girl at this point. Noah had someone else with him.

"When a man dumps a woman guilt starts to set in at about the two month mark," she says it so matter-of-factly. "You two split up months ago so it makes sense that he's checking up on you. He wants that guilt to go away. He's just making sure you're happy."

This is exactly why I didn't want to tell her about Noah. I didn't want her to deflate the emotional balloon I've been carrying around since Monday. "I don't think that's the reason every guy wants to talk to his ex."

"Did you try calling him after Hunter told you?"

I had. Twice. Both times it went straight to voicemail. I didn't know what to say, so I'd hung up without leaving a message. "Yes," I confess. Lying to Kayla isn't going to help me in the least. If anything, being truthful with her will slap me back into reality. Holding out false hope for a bittersweet reunion with Noah isn't doing my heart an ounce of good.

"What?" She drops the menu into the middle of the table, almost knocking my water glass over. "What did he say?"

"Nothing," I spit back. "He didn’t answer."

"There's your answer right there." She motions over my head towards the waiter. "If he wanted you back, he'd have answered, or at the very least, he would have called back when he noticed your number."

I'd told myself that for a hot second before I latched onto every other conceivable reason for why Noah hadn't answered or called me. "He doesn't want me back, does it?"

"Lex." She leans over the table, cupping her hand over mine. "It's guilt. That's it. You've got to forget about him."

She's right. As much as I don't want to admit that she's got it all figured out, she does. Noah Foster would have called my number if he wanted to talk to me. That says more than a request for a sandwich ever could.

***

"You should go out to dinner with me." A deep, melodic voice caresses my ear from behind. I almost drop the plates I'm carrying over to the middle-aged couple who can't seem to keep their hands off each other. Hopefully, in all of their teenage like bliss, they at least leave me a decent tip. They haven't stopped staring lovingly into each other's eyes since they arrived.

I spin around on my heel. My breath catches at the sight of a dark haired man with striking green eyes. His tall frame is covered in a tailored grey suit. His eyes course over my body and I instantly wish I wasn't wearing the required white button up blouse and black skirt that every waitress here is dressed in. Maybe New York isn't so bad after all. "Excuse me?" I may have misheard him in all the hustle and bustle of the jam packed space. It's Friday night, which means that the reservation list is full and people's wallets are easily emptied. I can effortlessly make a few hundred dollars tonight in tips if I keep my eye on the prize. That means I can't chitchat with the suit too long.

"Do you want to have dinner with me?" The corner of his mouth perks up revealing a set of perfect white teeth.

"I can stop by occasionally while you eat dinner," I tease, motioning to one empty table in the corner. "I'm sorry but I'm very busy."

"I'm Alec." He holds out his hand with a nod of his head. "You're Alexa."

I smile at the knowledge that he's asked someone for my name. This isn't like Star Bistro where any guy who wanted to flirt could start by reading my name off my nametag. "You've asked about me." It's a statement, not a question. I'll play his little game for twenty seconds more.

"How could I not?" His hand hangs in the air between us. I nod towards the two still warm plates in my hands.

"I'm sorry, Alec," I say softly. "I need to get back to work."

"I'll wait." He motions towards the empty table. "I'm over there."

I raise a brow before turning on my heel.  My plan to get over Noah Foster may just be seated at table twenty-eight.

"He's not Noah," I whisper under my breath as I brush my long hair.

"That's a good thing, Lex," Kayla holds up a black sleeveless dress she's pulled from her closet. "This one would be killer."

I shake my head. "It's too short. I'm a grade school substitute teacher now. I can't have everything hanging out for the entire world to see."

She laughs a little too hard. "It's not that short. I wear it all the time."

I cock a brow in response. Kayla has been out every night this week when I'd gotten home from the restaurant. She is definitely enjoying the party life of a single woman in Manhattan. I, on the other hand, am waiting with baited breath for Noah to call Hunter back to ask for another sandwich. Every single day when I speak with Sadie it's the first question out of my mouth. Every single day I get the same answer and that is that there have been no orders from Noah since that one night.

"This one then?" She holds up a navy blue shift dress that is cut just above the knee. "You'd look like a bombshell in this one."

I nod. Agreeing to have dinner tomorrow night with Alec was a decision I'd been questioning since I sat down at his table during my break. He was charming, seductive and gorgeous. He was also the owner of a successful start-up, twenty-nine and single. He was everything any woman would want. The problem is that I need to get my mind wrapped around the fact that this is how I'm going to move forward and leave Noah Foster behind me.

"It's been almost four months now, Lex." Kayla lays the dress carefully in my lap. "You've been apart longer than you were together. Get over it."

I stop to consider the words. She's absolutely right. Noah and I dated inside his apartment for a short time. If he wanted me back, he would have come looking for me by now. "I never thought about it that way," I say honestly. "You're right."

"Of course I am." She laughs. "You have the night off tomorrow. You're going to wear that dress, knock Alec off his socks and hopefully you'll land right in his bed."

I run my hands over the dress, look up into her eyes and wink. "Alexa Jackson is back. Alec has no idea what's headed his way."

***

"A teacher?" His jaw tenses. "I thought you were a waitress."

Who would have thought that any man would be put off by the thought of dating a teacher? Doesn't that rank somewhere in the top ten of what men fantasize about? "I'm both."

"So you work here at night and at school during the day?"

Is that a hint of interest in his voice? "I'm a substitute teacher so I'm there when they need me and I work four nights a week here."

"Have you ever dined here before?" He tips his glass of wine in my direction.

"Several times." I look past his head to smile at one of my co-workers. "The owners are close friends of mine."

"You know Hunter?" His face lights up. "Hunter and I go way back."

"Way back where?" I question. "Hunter's pretty tight lipped about his glory days before he met his wife."

"Sadie." Her name flows across his lips with such ease. Who knew that Alec would know my best friend?

"Sadie and I have been best friends since grade school." I run my tongue over my lower lip, suddenly feeling parched. I haven't had a conversation with any attractive man beyond taking his order, since I arrived in New York. Now, I'm in the company of one who not only knows Hunter, but he's met Sadie too.

"Shut the hell up." He blurts the words out and they feel misplaced coming from someone so smooth and cultured. "I can't believe you know them."

"I knew them first," I tease. "I win."

"I've known Hunter just as long." He cocks a brow. "You haven't won anything yet."

"What's the prize?" I lean forward just a touch.

"Something you'll never forget."

I close my eyes briefly as his hand reaches across the table to touch my chin. It's strong, warm, and beneath his touch is an unmistakable sensual grace.  "You win," I whisper.

"Alexa?" A woman's voice pulls me from my thoughts and my eyes dart to the side. It's Jane, the front of the house manager. "I'm sorry to bother you on your night off, but there's something…" she stalls as her eyes lock on Alec. "There's just an issue that we need to talk about. I need your help with something."

What the fuck? I'm a waitress. I have absolutely no say in anything that goes on in this restaurant. What the hell does she need from me and why now? Why does this have to happen when I've got a massively attractive man with a ready, willing and probably impressive dick just waiting to take me home to fuck me senseless?

"What?" I blurt the word out with all the unmitigated annoyance I feel inside. "What is it?"

"Can I borrow you for a brief moment?" She gestures towards a corner to the side.

"I guess." I shrug my shoulders at Alec, hoping that he's not going to change a thing about what he wants while I'm in the corner talking about whatever the hell Jane thinks can't wait. If this is about my schedule, I'm going to pull the Hunter Reynolds card out of my pocket and scare her shitless. Her timing couldn't have been any worse if she planned it on cue.

"I'll be right here." He offers while he gestures for the waiter. "I'll have another drink."

I pick up my clutch, remembering the mantra my mother drilled into my head before I went out on my first date. "
Never leave your purse alone, Lexie. You never know when a hoodlum will steal it."

"What is it, Jane?" I say with frustration. "I'm on a date."

"A man keeps calling." She shuffles back and forth on her feet. "It sounds like a prank but he knows your name."

My stomach flips before it flops. "A man?"

"He wants a smoked brisket on rye." She shakes her head. "We don't serve those sandwiches here. They do at the location in Boston. I tried to get him to order something else, but he said he wants that and he wants you to bring it to him."

I can't breathe. My heart is pounding so loud I can't hear anything else in the room. "Give me the address. Give it to me."