“What makes you think people are afraid of me?”

I knew there was truth in that but wanted to see what she’d say.

“Well, everyone seems to walk on eggshells around you. That was something I noticed tonight.”

“It’s because they know I don’t take any bullshit. They’ve seen me fire people for goofing off or fraternizing with customers on the job. They know I don’t play around. You should take a lesson from them.”

“And what’s with the permanent scowl? When I served you at the bar earlier, you looked like you were ready to kill someone.”

“I was…I was ready to kill you. I was pissed at the girl chasing away my customers.”

“Yeah, well, it all worked out in the end…didn’t it?”

“The verdict is still out.”

She smiled in a way that showed me she knew I was bullshitting her. She sensed that she was safe with me, that there was no way I was going to fire her even if she burned The Heights down. That was the truth. The realization of that was fucked-up.”

“Why don’t you have a car, Gia?”

“I do.” She pointed to a parked hump of metal in the driveway. “It’s just out of commission at the moment with a flat and in dire need of new brakes.”

“Out of commission? It looks like it’s disintegrating into the ground.”

“Don’t remind me.” She suddenly opened the door halfway. “Well…thanks for the ride.”

A feeling of disappointment was brewing in my chest. That was when I realized how badly I didn’t want her to leave. It was also when I realized how long it had been since I’d opened up even a little to anyone. It was unsettling how much I liked being near this girl.

She turned around before leaving, still halfway in the car. “I got the impression that you enjoyed it when I mouthed off to you earlier…”

Fuck yes, I did.

“What makes you say that?”

“Just a feeling.” She leaned in, “Fuck you very much for the ride, Rush. Have a good fucking night.”

There it was again. She said the work fuck—twice, mind you—and it travelled straight to my cock, which was now twitching.

She was almost to her door when she turned around and shouted, “And for the record, you don’t intimidate me at all anymore.”

“Why is that?” I yelled out the window.

“Because anyone who has a little angel hanging from their car mirror can’t possibly be that bad.” She laughed before running the rest of the way to the entrance.

Once she was out of sight, I allowed the smile I’d been fighting to spread across my face as I leaned my head back on the neck rest.

The angel hanging from my rearview mirror used to belong to my grandmother before she died. She used to have it hanging in her Buick for protection until she became too old to drive. My grandmother was the kindest person I’d ever known and held me in much higher esteem than I ever deserved. I could do no wrong in her eyes. The angel was a reminder to try to live up to that, despite the fact that in reality my personality likened me more to the devil.The next evening while Gia was at work, I drove to her place and spent three hours fixing her piece of shit Maxima. It took three trips to the auto parts store, but I was finally able to fix her car. She’d said she needed brakes and a new tire. She failed to mention that she rode the brakes for so long that she also needed rotors and new calipers. Turned out to be a bigger task than I’d originally planned, but I knew if she didn’t have a car, I’d end up driving her home again most nights, and that would have been dangerous.

This way I could ensure she could get home safely, and my dick could stay safely in my pants.

After fixing her car, I ran some overdue errands and planned to work on the restaurant’s books at home for a few hours. But by eleven, I grew antsy and couldn’t sit around anymore, so I headed to The Heights. Gia needed a ride home anyway.

On weeknights, the kitchen closed at eleven. By then, hostess duties were pretty much done, even if the waitresses had tables to finish up. I found Gia sitting at the bar talking to her friend Riley who was on the other side. It was the first time that I’d seen Riley since I almost fired her ass, but wound up hiring her friend instead.

Her eyes grew wide as I approached. Gia mustn’t have noticed, since she didn’t turn around. I sidled up next to her, leaning my forearms on the bar.

“Anyone fucking working around here?”

Riley jumped and started to dry a glass that looked like it was already dry. She definitely seemed nervous. “It just quieted down. We were busy most of the night.”