Page 51 of More Than Nothing
The first ninety-five percent of their fake date in the Barrel might well have ruined her for every real date to come in the future. Roman Martinez was an impossible act to follow. Elenie shivered at the memory of his midnight-dark irises focused on her face, spearing her with heat. She would sell her soul for someone to look at her like that when they weren’t pretending.
“I swear to God, if you don’t pull your finger out and start moving, Elenie Dax, you won’t make it to the end of your shift!” Delia’s threat brought her straight down to earth.
An apology fell from Elenie’s lips. Daydreaming was for other people. Not her. She would still be here long after Roman had headed back to his life in the city.
Otto’s smile was kind. He patted her wrist when she poured his coffee. “Ignore her, Elenie. She wouldn’t know how to manage without you, and that’s the truth. That woman is so jealous of you, she doesn’t know how to control it.”
“Jealous? Of me?” The idea was comical.
“Of you.” Otto nodded. “You’re clever, you’re young, and you’re beautiful. Your whole life is lying ahead of you, filled with endless possibilities. It makes perfect sense that she’d be jealous.”
New customers filled another booth and he waved her away with good humor, spreading his newspaper out on the table. She stared hard at Delia when she collected the next order, trying to process and evaluate Otto’s words. He must be wrong. People loathed or mistrusted the Daxes. They were wary, often angry, sometimes fearful. Never jealous.
Elenie skipped her break, choosing to ignore how exhausted she felt from a stressful evening and too few hours in bed. The morning flew by and the flow of diners was steady.
A familiar, dark-haired woman called in for pastries. As she laid a book on the countertop to dig in her purse for the right money, Elenie realized she recognized her from the library.
“I’ve read that one,” Elenie said, unable to resist. “I love E.V. Huxley. I recommended it to a friend, too.” She pointed at Otto.
The customer gave her a blinding smile and tugged her glasses free of a tangled curl. “That’s amazing! I work with the author. This is one of her early titles. I reread them constantly.”
“E.V. Huxley’s a woman?” Elenie grinned. “I wouldn’t have guessed.”
“Her name’s Esther. I’m Leah.”
“Nice to meet you. You have a cool job.”
“It’s the best.” Leah’s smile flashed again, freckles dotting her pale cheekbones like cinnamon on steamed milk. She handed over the payment for the pastries, said a cheery goodbye, and headed for the door. It burst open as she reached it. Leah made a quick and fluent side-step, eyeing Dean warily as he barreled past her.
Shit.
Elenie approached him quickly before he could make a scene. Face flushed, mouth twisted, he grabbed her arm. “You stole my fucking drugs!” he hissed in her ear.
With no other option open to her, Elenie stuck with outright denial and thanked God Dean wasn’t very smart. “No, I didn’t.”
“Bullshit! I know what I had in my pocket. Then abra-fucking-cadabra, I’m told it was in yours last night.” He pushed his face toward hers. It wasn’t his best angle. “I’m glad he dumped your sorry ass for it! I’m glad you looked like a skank in front of a whole bar full of people!” Dean twisted her wrist. “You’re no better than the rest of us, Elenie.”
“Actually, she’s worse.”
Like two choreographed dancers, they both spun around. Elenie’s mouth opened in a surprised “O.”
Caitlyn stood in the doorway, hands on hips and side by side with Summer. “We heard all about it, too.” Pushing Dean out of the way without sparing him a second glance, she jabbed her finger into Elenie’s chest. “In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m about to have a baby and drugs are a hard no for me. Look what they did to Millie Westlake! Does that mean nothing to you?”
Elenie had a moment to secretly admire the way Caitlyn pitched her voice just low enough to keep the conversation between the four of them, before Summer stepped forward and took the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. A perfect tear shimmered on her lower eyelashes.
“Oh, Elenie.” Her bottom lip quivered. “I’m so disappointed in you.”
Elenie let out a forced laugh. Dean took it all in, slack-jawed. “Join the line, babe. I’ve been letting people down since I was born.” She took a quick glance over her shoulder to check Delia wasn’t listening. “Can I get any of you a table or would you like to fuck off now?”
Surprisingly, none of them stayed.
Either Delia’s bat ears hadn’t picked up on the ruckus or she pretended not to hear in order to keep the diner operational. Either way, Elenie finished her shift with a job to return to and a ridiculous amount of adrenalin coursing through her body at the thought of going home after last night’s drama.
Her fingers tingled with it, her heart pounded. There was a genuine possibility she might be sick. Suddenly, it all seemed very real.
A text from Roman came silently through on her cell phone as she reached the top of the hill.
Thea (Roman):
