Free Worst Week Ever (A Long Road to Love) by Liza O'Connor Page A

consuming the calamari, she
sobered and pulled her hand to her lap. Her face flushed. “No, I meant…I mean…”
She took a deep breath. “He appreciated you letting him go away and review the
dinner list.”
    Damn it! He’d
moved too fast and alarmed her. Deciding to ignore the moment, he nodded in
agreement and fed himself another calamari.
    Two uniquely
identifiable people entered the restaurant, causing everyone to stop and stare.
Not even the über rich could resist gawking at two well-dressed gentlemen, one
almost twice the size of the other.
    Tall had
pulled his long black hair into a ponytail, while Tiny had gelled his frizzy
orange hair enough to look respectable.
    Tiny spotted Carrie
and said something to Tall. The giant looked over and smiled. He spoke to the maître
d’, who frowned then left them at the front while he approached Trent.
    “Excuse me,
sir, but those two gentlemen wish to join your table. Shall I tell them it is
not possible?”
    “Oh, we’d love
to have them!” Carrie replied.
    Knowing all
too well which of them would pay the bill, the man waited for Trent to answer.
    His seduction
efforts had just crashed and burned, so company sounded like an excellent
distraction. “Bring them over.” He nodded at Tall and Tiny. Needing no further
prompting, Tiny burrowed his way between the tables. Tall stared up at the
ceiling and waited like a gentleman for the waiter.
    Naturally,
Tiny climbed into the chair beside Carrie and kissed her hand. “I have missed
you greatly, my dearest,” he declared in a refined British accent.
    Tall arrived,
sat in the remaining chair and smiled at Trent. “Sorry for the invasion, but we
grow weary of talking to each other.” He stared longingly at the calamari.
    Trent scooted
the plate across the table between the two of them. “Please have the rest.”
     “Are you
sure?”
    Carrie nodded.
“If we eat anymore, we’ll have no room for dinner.”
    Tiny and Tall
devoured the food like starving refugees. By the time the young waiter returned
to tell them the menus, no calamari remained.
    “Just tell
them the entrees,” Trent suggested.
    The waiter
frowned.
    Realizing the fellow
couldn’t start in the middle of his memorized list, Trent sighed. “Go ahead and
tell them the appetizers. They might still wish to order one.”
    Tall and Tiny
ordered two calamari appetizers, the quail and a tofu vegetarian dish.
    After the
waiter left, Tall spoke. “We’ve been in make-up since eight this morning,
shooting a commercial.”
    Tiny added,
“We can’t eat in makeup. Thus, we’re starved.”
    “Given all the
energy you expend on stage, I’m surprised you’re still walking,” Trent stated.
“However, I should warn you, your appetizer will probably be smaller.”
    Tiny ceased
his silent admiration of Carrie to focus on Trent. “Why? Does your waiter not
like magicians?”
    God only knows
what Tiny might do to the poor waiter if he felt mistreated. “No. Our dish was
enlarged because I came to his rescue when he had a brain freeze.”
    Sure enough,
when the waiter returned a few minutes later with the calamari, five lonely
pieces sat upon the dish. Tall sighed. “Could you bring me a big platter of
calamari and charge me for however many appetizers it takes?”
    The waiter
smiled and hurried off. Trent waited until he’d left to speak. “You should be
aware the calamari appetizer costs about twenty dollars.”
    Carrie choked.
“That’s four dollars a calamari ring.”
    Tiny patted
her hand. “Don’t worry, we won’t disappear and stick you with the bill.”
    Trent smiled.
“I hadn’t considered the possibility, but you two could actually pull it off.”
He sighed as he recalled their show. “I know you guys are probably sick of
hearing this, but you have mastered not just one art, but several. I felt
honored to have seen your show.”
    Tiny shook his
head. “Nope, we never get tired of hearing that.” He smiled at Carrie. “Any
chance you would