Page 3 of Admiring the Mountain Man
Would he describe his cabin if I asked?
“The best I can. In fact—”
Before he can continue, I hear Tony’s panicked calling of my name before he pops his head out of the entrance of the kitchen.
So close to hearing his answer, I fight between pretending the whole bar didn’t hear my name and going to see what the issue is.
For a hint of a second, I swear the frown on Hayes’ lips disappears. Hardly long enough to see what he looks like when he’s amused, but I see the small curve before it can disappear.
It’s a sight for sore eyes, and I swear I swoon. Every time I catch a glimpse of the impossible sight, my knees feel like they’re going to buckle.
“I’ll let you know if I need anything. I’ll be here for a while, Kelsie. We can chat another time.” Picking up his glass, he sips tenderly at it. “We can talk about the weather later, amongst other things.”
As heat forms on my cheeks, I’m stepping back with a nod.
With the mindset of fixing the issue so I can hurry along and figure out whatother thingsmean, I’m stepping back into myrole of kitchen manager to solve the issue so I can get back to what we started with.
* * *
Broken fryer aside and a rapid call to our repairman, I’m happy to get back to the main floor.
It’s my luck that Emmett needs my help catching up on the food orders. He’s flooded with tickets thanks to being down a fryer. I’m happy to assist, even if my eyes flicker toward the kitchen entrance.
Hayes always stays late on Mondays. Lingers until the last baseball game flickers out on the TVs, nursing his drink in that quiet, watchful way of his. He won’t leave for hours yet.
Still, every time the door swings open, my pulse jumps—just in case I get the chance to see a hint of him sitting at the edge of the bar. A part of me expects he won’t be there, gone because of something coming his way.
He’swhat makes me love Mondays. I don’t want anything getting in the way of properly talking to him.
Once the pile of tickets is penetrated on a metal spike, I’m washing my hands and sniffing at my shirt. I’ve got a scatter of grease stains on it now from flipping burgers on the flat top.
“I don’t smell like oil, do I?”
While Emmett moves around me to get paper towels, he sniffs the air near me and shrugs a shoulder. “A little.”
Making it seem like it doesn’t make a difference, I guess it wouldn’t to one of the cooks who is used to getting splattered with the stuff.
“If you’re worried about scaring someone away, don’t.” A rare smile tugs at his lips as he nods toward the entrance. “Edensays I smell like a damn five-course meal whenever I’m near here. Says I make her mouth water.”
His words make me sputter with a laugh as he says it so straightforwardly.
The sheer matter-of-factness of his confession makes me choke on a laugh. Should I tell him that’s textbook Eden-flirting? Or let him keep interpreting it his way—like some backhanded compliment about grill smoke and bacon grease?
But then my traitorous brain conjures something worse: Hayes leaning in close, inhaling my scent like I’m something to savor. Somethinghewouldn’t mind getting a taste of.
That’s all it takes before heat is flooding my cheeks, and I’m ready to splash water on my face to cool down.
“I’ll, uh, keep that in mind.” Muttering the words, I will admit that I’m feeling a little more confident about going out to see Hayes now. While I’m not sure if I’ll be able to look him in the eye or not with the current thoughts spiraling in my mind, it’ll keep me from hiding out in the back.
When I return to the bar, Hayes’ glass sits empty, condensation pooling around the base. He’s angled toward the game, but his attention isn’t on the screen—it’s on the ice cubes melting in his drink, swirling the remnants with absent strokes of his thumb.
Then he feels me watching.
His gaze lifts—that slow, deliberate lift of his chin—and something in his expression shifts. The usual guarded edge softens all over again, making me believe that maybe all this isn’t in my head.
My throat goes dry.
I grab a clean towel, if only to give my hands something to do as I swipe at the ring of water beneath his drink before I fetch him a new one.
