“Very funny.” Hunter grabbed the check and stood. “Time to get back to work.”
“My, aren’t we dedicated.”
Emily approached the table next to the window, her pad in hand. Her breath caught when she recognized her next customer as the man who had walked her home three nights ago. Mr. Henderson. The man with the smile that did funny things to her stomach, and hazel eyes that seemed to see more than she would like to reveal.
“Hello, Mr. Henderson. What can I get for you tonight?” She used her much practiced Harvey Girl smile. If she acted like he was just another customer perhaps her heartbeat would return to normal.
There it was. That lazy smile. “You know I realized after you left me the other night that you never even told me your name.”
She shifted from one foot to the other. “Um, Emily.” She could have bitten her tongue. The fewer people who knew her, the better her chances of Louis not popping up. She jolted at the thought that perhaps Mr. Henderson could be someone hired to track her down. She broke into a cold sweat and had to tamp down the desire to flee the dining room. Nausea rose in the back of her throat and for a moment she thought she would disgrace herself once more in front of this man.
“Emily.” He nodded. “I like that name. It suits you.” His warm smile was either genuine or a way to disarm her into thinking he was just a nice man.
Be careful. You know men can’t be trusted.
“Thank you. I guess.”
She fumbled with her pencil and pad. The man made her very nervous. Not the kind of abject fear Louis caused her. But, nevertheless, something about him left her edgy, flushed, and hot. “Have you decided what you want?”
“Yes. Do you recommend the fried chicken?”
She took a deep breath to calm herself. One of the other waitresses had told her she knew Mr. Henderson’s family, and was friends with his sister-in-law. The entire family was upstanding citizens. She was letting her imagination run away with her. Surely he would not be hired by Louis to find her.
Feeling more in control of herself, she said, “Actually I do. I’ve had it for dinner myself.”
“Then fried chicken it is.” He handed the menu back to her, brushing her fingers with his own as he did. Shivers covered her arm, all the way to her neck. She looked at him and he seemed as disconcerted as she did.
“I’ll get that right away for you, Mr. Henderson.”
Her hands trembled as she took the plate of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and green beans from the cook and set it on her tray. She closed her eyes and attempted to quell her heartbeat. There was absolutely no reason for her to be so rattled by the man. He was only another customer. That was all.
Galveston, Texas
“I don’t care what you have to do, where you have to go, or who you have to step on. Find that bitch!” Louis Smith pounded his fist on the desk hard enough to knock a cup of pencils to the floor.
“Yes, sir.” The giant lug of a man scurried out as if his coat were on fire. Louis shook his head in disgust at the excuses the man had given him. The nitwit, whatever his name was, represented the third man he’d hired to find Emily.
Louis collapsed into his seat and ground his teeth together until his jaw ached. Almost four months since his slut of a wife had disappeared. Up and vanished like she’d been planning it for weeks. Oh, he would find her, all right. Someone had to know something. She was too weak and too stupid to pull this off on her own. By God, if he found her with another man, he would cut the bastard’s balls off and stuff them down his throat. And then beat Emily so she never tried anything like this again.
His friends at the club had been watching him under lowered eyelids despite the rumor he’d put out about her visiting a sick relative. He’d seen the smirks on their faces. She would pay for that, too. No one laughed at Louis Smith. No one made a fool of him. Especially a woman. And definitely not one who belonged to him.
“What?” he growled at Miss Blake, his secretary, as she entered his office.
“Mr. Smith, Mrs. Fenster is here to see you. Again.”
Louis waved his hand at the woman. “Tell her I’m not in.”
“But, sir, this is the fourth time she’s come to see you.”
“Have my partner deal with her.”
“Mr. Sanders is out for the afternoon.”
God damn. What was the point of having a partner if he couldn’t take on this annoying client? Another reason to punish Emily once he dragged her back. She was supposed to be getting the juicy gossip from the Fenster bitch so he could hold her off from questioning him about her money.
“I don’t care how many times she’s been here. Tell Mrs. Fenster that I am out for the afternoon and she can make an appointment with Sanders tomorrow.”
When the woman didn’t move fast enough, Louis slammed his hand on the desk. “Get rid of her!”