Chloe’s smile and nod were equally small and shy. “Hello, Silas. It’s nice to meet you.” She took off down to the far end of the bar, as far away from Dom and Silas as she could get, and began filling an order that just came off the ticket machine.
Dom finished up with the order he was fulfilling, acutely aware of the fact that although Chloe was keeping her distance from him, whenever she could, her gaze shot down his way, more often than not, landing on Silas.
Did she have a problem with Dom’s kid?
It was cramped behind the bar with the three of them, and the audible sighs from Chloe when she had to awkwardly maneuver around Dom were enough to tell him that he was no longer welcome there. That it washerbar now, and he was in the way.
That also stung.
“Well … it looks like the place is in good hands,” he said, ditching his apron and stepping out from behind the bar to help Silas clean up his art stuff.
“Sure is, man,” Logan said, tossing a cherry on a wooden sword into a lowball of golden liquid before placing it up on the bar. “Go enjoy Friday night with your kid. We’ve got it covered here.” Then he flicked his gaze to Chloe, a big, flirtatious smile on his face. “Right, Chlo?”
Chloe nodded. However, her eyes flew up to Dom’s for less than a second, before returning to Logan’s. She beamed. “That’s right. Let us do what you hired us to do. Have a good night, Dom.”
He stared at her, waiting for her to glance back at him. To meet his gaze. But she must have known he was waiting, because she deliberately avoided looking in his direction.
Silas tugged on his shirt. “Can we go, Dad?”
“Huh?” Dom glanced down at his kid.
“Can we go home now, Dad? I’m bored.”
“Oh … yeah. Sure.” But he didn’t want to. He wanted to stay with Chloe. Because even if he couldn’tbewith her, being near her was better than nothing.
A slow and painful torture, but one he’d gladly endure over the alternative of not getting to see her.
“Have a good night,” Logan repeated just as a gaggle of twenty-something women came through the front door, all of them eyeing him like a choice piece of meat.
“You guys too.” Dom ushered Silas through the kitchen door where they stopped at the walk-in freezer and grabbed a small tub of the dairy-free mango sorbet they both liked. Then they hiked up the hill, through the gate, and home.
The whole time though, his mind was on Chloe.
Unlike Aya, Talia, and Griffon—who talked non-stop, even if nobody was in the room for them to talk to—Silas was more like Emme and Jake. Quiet and introspective. You could get him chatting, but he didn’t just talk to make noise.
Their climb home was quiet.
“What are you interested in for dinner, bud?” Dom asked, stowing the sorbet in the freezer.
“Can we do pizza?”
Dom nodded, then pulled up his phone and shot off a quick text to Burke in the kitchen. “Pepperoni and mushroom sound good?”
“Can we add bacon?”
“We’d be crazy not to.” He finished placing his order and a stupid little thrill ran through him. He’d have to go back down to the pub and see Chloe to pick up the pizza. “Want to invite Uncle Jagger over for dinner?” he asked.
Si nodded, then booked it out the front door and over to Jagger’s, returning moments later with his big, bearded uncle in tow. “I was told there would be pizza,” Jagger said smoothly. “I see no pizza.”
Dom snickered and went to the fridge to grab them each a beer. “I’ll run down and grab it in a few when its ready.”
They popped their caps and tossed them to the counter, each of them taking long, slow, appreciative pulls from the crisp lagers.
“Can I have a bath in your tub?” Silas asked. “While we wait for the pizza?”
Dom had barely finished one head bob of his nod before Si was fist pumping the air and racing upstairs.
Jagger chuckled and meandered into the living room. Dom followed. “So, I hear you’re on Pickford’s blacklist.”