Deal Makers (Dealing with Love 3)

“He hit you? What an asshole!”

I start to laugh but the ache in my jaw stops me. “Charlee, just give him time. I’m going to call Rainey after I hang up with you. I have a feeling she’s the only one who can calm him down right now.”

“I’m not afraid of B,” Charlee scoffs. “I’ll go toe-to-toe with him any day.”

This time I do laugh despite the pain. “I have no doubt, Scrappy, but he’s not being very reasonable at the moment. He’s in the mood to do a lot more yelling than talking. Let Rainey work her magic then you can reach out to him.”

She sighs. “Fine. Just tell her to let me know when he stops being such a baby.”

“Will do. I’m going to let you go now, so I can call her.”

“Drew, wait!”

“Yeah?”

“Is your face okay? He didn’t mess up the pretty, did he?”

My lips twitch. “There’s probably going to be a nice bruise but I’ll be good as new in no time.”

“Okay,” she says. “I’ll reserve the swift kick to his nuts for later, then.”

“I’ll talk to you soon, honey.”

“You’d better.”

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

DREW

My stomach growls, reminding me that I haven’t eaten in a while. I check the time on my phone and sure enough, it’s well past my normal dinner time. I don’t feel like cooking so I hop in my truck and drive around aimlessly, trying to decide what to eat. It really shouldn’t have surprised me that I ended up in the parking garage closest to Charlee’s work. Fuck it, I’m hungry and it’s a damn good restaurant. If I don’t get a chance to see her because she’s too busy, at least I’ll get some delicious food.

With that decided, I park my truck and head up to the street level. Pistorio’s is less than two blocks away so it’s only a matter of minutes before I’m walking through the door. There’s a little old lady at the hostess station standing next to a blonde who couldn’t be more than twenty, tops. They both look up when I approach.

“Welcome to Pistorio’s,” the younger woman says. “How many are in your party?”

>

“Uh...just me.”

The blonde smiles. “If you don’t mind a table in the back, I can seat you now.”

“Sure, that’s fine.” I look around. As many times as I’ve eaten takeout at Brody’s place, I’ve never actually been here before. The place is small, maybe only about twenty tables or so, but it’s pretty packed, even for eight o’clock on a Sunday night. I feel a little underdressed in my jeans but at least I’m wearing a collared shirt. “Is uh...Charlee back in the kitchen?”

The older woman tilts her head, looking at me thoughtfully. “You’re Drew?”

My eyes jerk to hers in surprise. Charlee talks about me at work? “Uh...yes, I’m Drew.”

The older woman reaches down and grabs a menu. “Maddie, I’ll take him back to a table. Will you please ask Ricardo to grab a place setting for one?”

Maddie nods dumbly. “Uh, sure Mrs. P.”

Ah, so this is the owner Charlee talks about. I follow her to a table all the way in the back, next to a set of doors that I’m assuming leads to the kitchen.

She waits for me to sit then smiles as she hands me a menu. “Would you like a drink while you look over the menu?”

“Uh...sure. Any kind of red wine is fine.”

I could really go for a beer but for some reason, I feel like this lady might whack me over the head for trying to order one with Italian cuisine.