Nauti Intentions by Lora Leigh

tables, preparing for the dinner crowd, knowing exactly why she was getting inferior produce from the local vendors. Maybe she
    should talk to Natches about it, but he had made it clear he wanted nothing to do with the restaurant. He’d just as soon see it burn to the ground.
    Besides, she had promised herself she would fight her own battles; Natches had fought enough of them when she was younger, and he had the scars
    to prove it.
    â€œI’m here, Miss Mackay.†Tabitha rushed in the door and moved quickly to the waitresses’ station for her apron and to assess where she
    was needed the most.
    From there, the restaurant was so busy, jumping from minute to minute as each of them fought to keep up with the crowd, that there was little time to
    think, or to consider the mess she had gotten herself into with Alex.
    He’d worked her, her brother, and her cousins. She’d realized that over the past several nights, as he worked at his laptop at the table or
    disappeared into the room she had given him. He was stil working her. Those dark, heated glances, the promise in his eyes that he was merely biding his
    time, that she hadn’t quite escaped him yet.
    â€œJaney, table fifteen has been overbooked.†Hoyt rushed up to her, a frown on his face, several hours later. “The customers are lingering over
    desserts and the next reservation has arrived.â€
    â€œCharge the table a fifteen-dol ar overstay fee,†she told him in frustration. “They know the rules. The reservation is for an hour and a half only
    unless they reserve for more. Have Tabitha prepare the extra table in section two and seat the others there.â€
    She hated being forced to set up the extra tables. It added to the hostessing and waitressing duties, and once the table was there, they had to continue
    to fil it, otherwise word would get around that they turned away customers when there was an extra table.
    She glanced to table fifteen and sighed at the couple there. They invariably kept their table longer and then protested the fee loudly. Tabitha would likely
    get shortchanged on her tip as wel .
    Shaking her head, she gathered menus for the additional table and approached the older couple, Charlene and Don Finmore. Don was on the city
    council and had once been a friend of Dayle Mackay’s. At least, he had thought he was. He’d had no idea how Dayle had used him until it was
    over and the news of Dayle’s arrest had come out.
    â€œCharlene. Don.†She smiled back at them as they rose from the upholstered, padded bench in the waiting area. “You’re table’s
    ready if you’l fol ow me.â€
    Don was older, in his sixties. Charlene was close to his age, and Janey knew this was their anniversary dinner.
    â€œHappy anniversary.†She smiled over shoulder. “Forty years, isn’t it?â€
    Charlene’s pleased smile came and went quickly. “How did you know?†She asked suspiciously as Janey seated them and Tabitha moved
    forward.
    â€œCharlene, I’ve known you two since I was a little girl,†she reminded them. “Of course I remembered your anniversary. I was al owed to
    attend one of the parties you gave when I was a teenager, remember?â€
    Charlene’s face softened for a moment. “You were fourteen,†she recal ed. “Your parents weren’t going to bring you, until we
    insisted.â€
    And Janey had paid for it later in a dark, cramped closet.
    â€œI remember the cake,†Janey told her, closing her eyes as though the memory were a good one. “It was delicious.â€
    Don smiled then. “I had it ordered from Louisvil e, just for Charlie.â€
    â€œAnd the icing was a family picture.†Janey smiled. “I thought it was the most gorgeous cake in the world. Congratulations again, and
    pleaseâ€â€”she leaned close to the couple—“dinner is on me