Free Making You Mine by Elizabeth Reyes Page A

he comes. Back to work.”
    She grabbed the tray and walked away. Melanie had walked over to the other side of the bar to take someone’s order, leaving Grace alone. The discomfort she normally felt around Sal had spiked to a new height.
    He was still a few feet away and she could already smell him. He wore the most alluring cologne she’d ever smelled and she closed her eyes for a second, taking it in.
    “Hey, Grace. Has it been busy?”
    Unwilling to take him in, in this close proximity, she pretended to be engrossed in the drink she was preparing, even bent over to grab something out of the refrigerator just to avoid looking at him. “Off and on.” She indulged herself with a quick glance, regretting it almost instantly. As good looking as he’d been even on her first day when he arrived suited up from his meeting, today just wasn’t fair. Something about the all black suit brought out his amazing eyes out and those heavy lashes taunted her. “You know,” she cleared her throat annoyed that her stupid voice that nearly gave out on her, “…how it is. They come in herds.”
    “Let me go tell Alex I’m here so he can take off. I’ll be back, I have something for you.”
    He finally had her full attention. Not that he hadn’t from the moment he walked in but she allowed herself now to really look at him. He smiled that beautiful smile of his and began to walk away. “I’ll be back.”
    Panicked and not having a clue what he might have for her, she rushed over to the bowl with the peppermint candies. She stuck one in her mouth then glanced at herself in the mirror behind the bar. Of course, she had one strand of hair sticking straight up like a cockatoo. Damn it . Why hadn’t anybody told her?
    Grace was still fixing her hair when she heard Alex’s voice coming from the hallway to the back. Sal was with him when they turned the corner and walked toward her. She grabbed a towel and began cleaning off the bar area diligently. “I’m outta here, Gracie. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
    Alex waved at Melanie and said his goodbyes to a few of the other servers before walking out. Sal walked over to her, holding a baseball cap. He handed it to her as soon as he was close enough. “This is yours.”
    She took it, examining it. It had the restaurant’s logo embroidered on it and the phrase, Slam-dunking for over 30 years, around the back. She glanced up at him confused.
    “March Madness is going on right now. We get a lot of people in here, watching the games. So on game days all the bartenders wear these. I’m ordering jerseys with the logos as well.” He flashed that killer smile. “Team Moreno’s.”
    Something about being part of a team, his team, even if it was just metaphorically, excited her and she smiled—probably a little too much.
    “This is just a temp,” he added. “I’m having your name embroidered on one. Is Gracie okay?”
    As silly and as trite as that was, that excited her even further. “Yeah, Gracie is fine.” She turned to the mirror and tried it on, pulling her ponytail out of the back opening. She turned back to Sal with a giddy smile. “How’s that?”
    He stared at her for a moment before saying, “Looks good.”
    Just like that, the moment they were having was lost. She’d finally felt at ease with him, even if it was on for a instant over a silly cap, when that hardened look she was so familiar with now washed over him.
    He glanced over her shoulder. “Melanie, you still have your cap from last year?”
    “I think so. It’s somewhere at home.”
    “Let me know if I have to order you another one.”
    Sal’s eyes met hers one last time as she removed the cap before he excused himself saying he had to make some calls. Grace sighed. She’d never figure him out.
    She slipped the cap under the bar, but after spilling something that almost dripped down there, she decided to take it back and put it in her cabinet. She slowed as she reached the open office door. Sal was on the