Don't Forget Me by Meg Benjamin Read Free Book Online

still mostly men. Kit fielded the usual speculative glances when she walked in around eight, but she knew how to ignore them by now. She wasn’t in the mood to fend off potential pick-up lines. She took a seat at the bar, midway between the two bartenders.
    The one nearest the door looked like he’d been tending a bar all his life—thinning hair, rounded shoulders, an economy of motion that meant he could pour five drafts in quick succession.
    The guy at the other end was, well, yummy. Kit took a longer, appreciative look. Short blond hair, broad shoulders, killer grin.
    He was currently grinning at Deirdre. Kit did a quick mental headslap. Tom Ames. Had to be. Oh well.
    Deirdre caught sight of her and put her tray back on the bar. “Hey, Kit. I was just talking about you a minute ago.” She slid onto a stool beside her.
    Tom Ames looked her way with a slightly guarded smile. Kit wondered what she’d done to earn “guarded” so quickly. She turned back to Deirdre. “I just wanted to let you know I won’t be taking the barista job. I found something full-time. I’m sorry—I really like your shop.”
    “Where did you end up?” Deirdre pulled a bowl of peanuts between them. “You want a beer? I’ve got an in with the bartender.” She gave Tom Ames one of those dazzling smiles that probably turned his knees to rubber.
    Kit shrugged. “A beer sounds good. I found something at the Woodrose Inn. I’ll be managing the restaurant. Sort of.”
    “Oh.” Deirdre frowned. “I heard something about them not long ago. I’m not sure what, though.”
    “New chef.” Tom put beers in front of them both. “Friend of Clem’s.”
    “Oh, right.” Deirdre nodded. “They just hired a new guy. Clem knew him from somewhere she worked before. She says he’s really, really good.”
    “I’m not surprised. The Rose is a four-star restaurant. Or it used to be, anyway. Aunt Allie said they’ve had a few problems recently.” Kit took a sip of her beer and tasted something mellow and hoppy, a long way from the thin stuff taverns around here usually had on draft. “This is really good! What is it?”
    Tom shrugged. “Microbrew out of San Antonio. Texas still isn’t as far along with artisan brewing as places like Colorado, but they’re trying.”
    “What were the problems at the Rose, Tom?” Deirdre frowned. “Do you remember?”
    “Chef was a drunk. Plus cocaine. Asshole ran the place into the ground.”
    Kit turned toward the sound of the voice and saw a huge man standing behind her. His long black hair was pulled back by a bandana wrapped around his forehead. A thin moustache angled down on either side of his mouth, and he had a soul patch in the middle of his lower lip. He was the size of a small landslide. She fought the impulse to duck.
    Deirdre nodded at him. “Kit, do you know Chico Burnside?”
    Kit licked her lips. The man mountain looked vaguely familiar now that she got a good look at him. “I think we met once a while ago.”
    Chico Burnside frowned slightly. “Kit Maldonado?”
    “Right.”
    He narrowed his eyes as if he were trying to remember her, then his mouth spread in a flat grin. “Yeah. You know my cousin.”
    “I do? Who’s that?”
    Chico pointed across the room and Kit turned just as the crowd parted slightly. Enough for her to see the one man she’d really hoped not to see again so soon, at least not until she was ready.
    Golden skin, black hair, dancing eyes. A body with slim hips and broad shoulders. If memory served, he also had a light dusting of dark hair across the chest and just the right proportion of muscle to bone, along with a light touch that set her entire body on fire.
    Why couldn’t fate have given him a beer belly and thinning hair by now? Why did he still look like sin on a stick?
    “Nando Avrogado.” Kit sighed. “The cherry on the cake of my day.”
     
     
    Nando leaned back in his chair, watching Clayton Delaney shoot pool. The kid was good, a lot better than he