Page 14 of DadBod
His voice goes up again. “I really like your earrings, ma’am. They’re special.”
And that’s when I can’t help myself. I laugh. And laugh. It takes over my entire body. Reaching out to keep myself from falling over from the giggles, my hand finds purchase on Rome’s arm. He doesn’t yank it away from me. As shocking as it seems, he joins in. He laughs. Okay. He chuckles, but only for a minute.
“Jesus, Elizabeth.” His voice is soft. “What am I going to do with you?”
I stop laughing, but the smile is still on my face. I should be self-conscious about my teeth, but I’m too tired and he’s seen them before. Who cares? “Stop serving baby animals, and we won’t need to have this conversation ever again.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that, Elizabeth. Something tells me you’d find some other way to annoy me.”
My smile vanishes. I annoy him? Why does that comment hurt so much? Answer? Because nobody likes to hear that. “Sorry, Rome.”
“Get back to work.” He steps around me on his way to the bar. “Sell the goddamn special, Elizabeth.”
I want to laugh because he seems to be playing with me, but I’m smart enough to know that Rome James doesn’t play. Heading back to my tables, I hear the low timbre of Rome’s voice again, but this time, he’s ten feet away. “My mother’s bringing my kids in for dinner. Calvin asked to be in your section.”
I blush because that was sweet of Calvin. “Okay.” With a closed-mouthed smile, I give him a thumbs up. “Cool.” Aw, Calvin. Poor little guy. I get why he asked for me. Whenever he stops in, he and I like to mess around. I make him laugh, I guess. The kid has been through a lot in the last couple of weeks. If he asked for me, Rome isn’t about to deny the kid what he wants. Still. A little shiver of nerves runs down my back, thinking about waiting on Bianca James. Don’t get me wrong, she’s super nice, but lordy, I don’t want to screw up their order. Rome will have my head on a platter. And I know, for certain, I’ll have to tell them about the special.
“Ugh.”
“Aw, honey bun. What’s wrong?” Jeriann’s arm comes around my neck and flops down onto my shoulder. “Bad night?”
“I’ve got to wait on Bianca and the kids tonight.”
“Why are you worried? You’ve waited on them before.”
“I know.” I shrug. “I guess it’s because of the circumstances.”
“I get it.” She pats my shoulder. “Just be your sweet, awesome self. It’ll be okay.”
“Sure.” I nod. Sweet and awesome? “Right.”
* * *
Steppingup to the table Rome reserved for his family, I’m holding three glasses of water, one for each of them. Looking at Bianca James, I ask, “No Mr. James tonight?”
He’s almost always with her.
“No. He had some thing—” She rolls her eyes. “—with his partners. He may pop in if he gets done early.”
Mr. James is a doctor. I’m not sure what kind, but I know he’s got his own practice here in the city.
Mrs. James smiles as I place the ice water in front of her. Setting a glass at Ryann’s next, I lean down and nudge Calvin. “Hey, slugger.”
“Hey.” My goodness, only one word? And it sounds sad. Of course, it does.
“How have you been, sweetheart?”
I turn back to Mrs. James. She’s nice. “Good.” I shrug because I’m not sure what else to say. “Same old, same old.”
“Have you given more thought to going back to school?”
And by that she means college. I mentioned it to her, one day a long time ago, when she was here with Phee, I’d always wanted to be a teacher. Ever since, she brings it up whenever she’s here. Sometimes I wish I hadn’t said a thing about it, but she forced the answers out of me. She’s good at that, prying, I guess. Because of that skill, Mrs. James knows the lowdown on all of us who work at When in Rome. I firmly believe it’s because she cares about us. She’s that kind of person.
“No. Not really. I’ve been busy here. I am looking for something full-time, though. Something during the day.” Oh, lordy. Why’d I tell her that?
The fact is, I am looking, but I haven’t applied anywhere because who would want to hire me? The truth is, I need a full-time job if I ever hope to make enough money to survive in this town. Sure, I’ve done okay, but it’s only because my apartment is cheap. I’d like to do more to help my dad out. Sending him a hundred dollars a month isn’t really cutting it. He needs more than that. I put fifty in my brother’s account at the prison each month too. Plus, I need money if I ever hope to go home for a visit.
“Well, good luck with that, honey.”