Any time her gazehappenedto stray Noah’s way, his eyes would lock on to hers like a damn tractor beam, so she bit her lip—hard—anytime the temptation to glance that way overtook her. Either she wouldn’t look at Noah the rest of the night or she’d wind up with a bloody lip.
Chin in her hand, she pretended to listen as Cliff blathered away. Being stuck with a narcissist had one advantage: he was so in love with the sound of his own voice that she didn’t need to participate in the conversation.
She snapped back to the present when he said, “Uh, Hailey? Maybe you didn’t hear me.” Her wolfish dinner companion chuckled. “People tell me I look like Tom Brady all the time.”
Oh, I heard you all right.
She sipped her tequila. “Really? Oh, that’s too bad.”
Cliff’s half-smile told her he wasn’t sure if she was joking. That expression transformed into a frown. “You don’t like him?”
“He was a great football player. But his looks? Completely overrated. They don’t do a thing for me.”I’m into dark-haired, bearded bartenders with green eyes.She flashed Cliff her brightest smile. “Maybe this is a good time to talk about tomorrow’s schedule?”
“Yeah, okay, except I don’t have the whole thing put together yet.” He took in the mostly full bar while continually ducking his head, as though he didn’t want anyone to notice him looking around. “What do you think of this place?”
“I think it’s charming. Pub food is what it is, but it looks like it’s a cut above, with generous portions, and the presentation is appealing. The bartender’s a little OCD about keeping his area tidy, but that’s a good thing in our line of work, right?” Hailey itched to tell Cliff the kitchenwas equally clean, but then she’d have to explain how she had come to learn that particular factoid—and possibly get herself fired.
His eyebrow dipped. “Have you eaten here? The waitress called you some weird name.”
Hailey let out a hyena laugh. “What? No.” God, and now she was lying! She dropped her voice. “The waitress looks a little eccentric. She probably has all kinds of names for her patrons.”
Cliff made a hmphing sort of noise and pulled out a pocket-sized notebook. “Still waiting on confirmation for tomorrow’s inspections, but unlike today, I won’t be talking to any of them ahead of schedule, so I won’t have to allocate those extra minutes. Gives us more time to play.”
Her brain blared alarms, but it wasn’t the leer at the end of his comment that set them off. “Are you saying you had a conversation with Dell’spriorto today’s walk-through? Were they alerted we were coming?”
He looked up from the booklet. “What? No.” She wasn’t the only one at this table who was lying. He must have read her skepticism because he continued with, “Did IsayI gave them a heads-up?”
“Not specifically, but—”
“I’d like to remind you that I have the discretion whether or not to give notice.”
Not if you’re violating department protocol.
“I simply don’t understand why we’d warn one restaurant and not another.”Why alert the one in the first place?
“Don’t overthink, Hailey. Just stick to the job you’re good at,” he cautioned with an edge to his voice.
She straightened and crossed her arms over her chest.
Cliff leaned forward and flashed his politician’s smile. “You’re cute when you get riled up.”
And he’s crossed the inappropriate dividing lineagain!Fuming, she ground her back molars. “I. Am. Not. Riled. Up.”
A shadow loomed beside their table. “Everything okay here?” Noah wore a casual expression he turned first on Cliff, then on her. “Anything I can get you?” A million messages seemed to stream behind his eyes, but she couldn’t read any of them.
Yeah, outta here, she wanted to say, but she kept that to herself and ordered a burger instead. The sooner she could eat, the sooner she could leave.
Cliff gave her a bewildered look. “I haven’t even looked at the menu. I was also thinking of ordering another glass of wine first. You know, take our time?”
Oh God, he was going to drag this meal out. Hailey faked a yawn. “I need to make this an early night.” Snatching up her bag, she stood. “Why don’t you figure out your order while I head to the ladies’ room?” She scurried toward the restroom, where she spied a familiar form rounding out of sight into the kitchen.
“Dixie?” she hissed.
The woman turned, her blue eyeshadow sparkling in the dim light. Her fuchsia lips curved into a generous smile. “Why, hello, china doll. So nice of you to patronize our establishment.”
Hailey extracted a plastic bundle from her bag and thrust it at her.
“What’s this?”
