Vicious Valentine by Patti Benning (best fiction novels to read txt) 📗

“It’s lovely,” she said. “Thank you. I felt bad that you had to wait for me while we were closing, but I guess you kept busy.”

“I didn’t mind waiting,” he said as he picked up the wine bottle and raised his eyebrows. She nodded and he poured some into her glass. “Honestly, it was nice to have some downtime. The restaurant was busy tonight.”

“It was insane,” she breathed, taking a sip of her wine. “I’m glad we finally found some new hires. We really needed all hands on deck today.”

“How did everyone do?”

“Pretty well. I think there was a mix-up with one order, and Shayne got sick so he had to leave early, but overall, everyone did well. I know Brian is thankful to finally have someone to help him in the kitchen.” She winced. “It probably wasn’t a very fun day today for Tony. We sort of threw him into the deep end.”

“I’m sure he knows not every shift will be as crazy as this one was. I’m really glad the restaurant is doing so well, though. You must be so proud of it.”

“I am,” Hannah said. “It still feels like a dream come true to me. Moving here was probably one of the best decisions I ever made.”

“No arguments here.”

She grinned and took another sip of wine, feeling the stress from earlier begin to melt away. When the door to the kitchen opened, she looked around to see Brian bringing out the appetizers, for which they had put the orders in prior to the kitchen closing. The food wouldn’t be quite as freshly made, but at least this way no one would have to stay up late to shut the kitchen down after their date.

He put a platter of softshell crab and a second one of pita chips and spinach dip down on the table in front of them. They both thanked him before he walked away. The scent of the food reminded her just how hungry she was.

“This is nice,” Ben said. “Us having the restaurant to ourselves, I mean.”

“It is. I’m so used to seeing this place filled with people, having a chance to just sit and talk by ourselves –” she broke off as a buzzing sound came from her phone, which was still in her pocket. She took it out and glanced at the screen, then put the phone back down after rejecting the call. She silenced her phone for good measure, not wanting her date to be interrupted by anything else.

“Go ahead and answer it if you need to,” Ben said, gesturing at the phone. “I really don’t mind.”

“No, it’s just Vanessa,” Hannah said. “She’s probably calling to tell me about her date. Or talk about something that happened earlier today. I’ll get back to her tomorrow.”

“Oh, yeah, one of the new employees – Nadia, I think? – she told me that Vanessa had a run-in with some other woman earlier.”

“It happened probably about an hour before you arrived,” Hannah said. “The other woman was Vanessa’s coworker. Vanessa was supposed to have the day off today, but Helena called in sick. Then she showed up at the restaurant…”

She told him the story of Vanessa and Helena, including the added complication of the fact that Helena was seeing Vanessa’s ex. After that, they chatted about other things – Ben’s work, Hannah’s progress on decorating her house, and their mutual desire for spring to finally arrive. Even with how tired she had been earlier, she felt happy. She wasn’t just waiting for the date to end so she could go home and collapse in her bed as she had been worried she would be. Somehow, being with Ben, talking to him, it energized her instead of exhausting her.

Brian stayed late despite Hannah’s urging for him to go home. He brought out the dishes they had ordered before closing and even surprised them with a small, heart-shaped chocolate cake with raspberry filling.

At long last, she and Ben both agreed that they couldn’t eat another bite. She was beginning to feel truly tired now, with her full stomach and the dim lighting, and was glad that her drive home wouldn’t take very long. With no bill to pay, she and Ben carried their dishes back into the kitchen, where they spent a few minutes washing them – she had finally succeeded in sending Brian home after he brought out the cake– and did a once over of the restaurant before walking outside with Ben and locking the doors. As they turned toward the parking lot, she slipped a hand into the crook of his arm. He walked with her to her car.

“I had a wonderful time,” he said, looking into her eyes as she leaned against the vehicle.

“I’m sorry I had to work and that we couldn’t go out somewhere else.”

“This was perfect,” he said. “I couldn’t have come up with a better evening if I’d spent all month planning.”

“I had a nice time, too,” she said, relaxing into a smile at last. He held her gaze, and took another step forward and lowered his lips to hers. She wasn’t sure how long the kiss lasted, but when it broke, she felt flushed.

“Do you want to get dinner again sometime next week?” he asked.

She nodded, fighting back a grin, and said, “Definitely. I’ll have to double check my schedule, but I think I’ve got a few evenings free.”

“Good. I’m looking forward to it.”

They said their goodbyes and she got into her vehicle, watching as he started his. He paused, waving at her, before pulling out of the parking lot. Letting her own car warm up, she leaned back in her seat with a sigh and a happy smile. Caroline’s advice from all those months ago was right – she really had needed to build a life that didn’t revolve around work. Dating Ben made her happy, and even if she sometimes felt