Scratch the Surface

Having Drake near me, touching me, was of no consequence. Only Jeremiah mattered.

“I—” he began and stopped, and then looked back at Mr. Bowen. “So you’re having a meeting back here?”

“Yes,” Mr. Bowen told him, and as I sat there at the table, I wished he was standing between me and Mrs. Bowen instead of between her and her husband.

The black T-shirt he was wearing fit like a second skin, hugging the shoulders I’d clung to, encasing the chest that had been pressed to mine and the rippled abs I had run my tongue over. And yes, the idea of being under him was paramount in my mind, but even bigger, surprisingly, was the desire to spend time with him.

“These men represent Axton, who wanted to buy the place and turn it into a Country Porch.”

His gaze met mine, and on top of the irritation I saw over Drake’s closeness to me came the betrayal. Like he’d slept with the enemy. It made perfect sense. If the Bowens sold, he might still have a job, more than might from what the owners were saying. Clearly he was in his element, but nothing was certain with a corporation coming in. I’d seen it happen in my own company. Whenever Berg and Stein acquired a new firm, lots of people were let go or brought in to lower positions. Jeremiah was probably thinking I was the devil incarnate.

“We explained that we don’t just own the building and the land it sits on but five miles up this road as well, so any offer would have to be quite substantial for us to even consider it with this much real estate.”

He nodded, those honey-brown eyes of his flicking to me and then away.

“And this fella here—I’m sorry, what was your name again?”

“Cameron Gallagher.” I made sure Jeremiah heard me and took that moment to stand up and offer him my hand. “And you’re Jeremiah?”

His gaze locked with mine as he took my hand. “Jeremiah Wolfe,” he told me, and there was a glimmer of a smile when I squeezed tight.

“It’s a pleasure,” I assured him sincerely. “As I explained to my colleagues, and I will reiterate it to the CEO of the Rauch Group tomorrow, acquiring Kingman’s is not in the best interest of their partner.”

“It makes no sense,” Mrs. Bowen told him. “And even less so now that Mr. Gallagher––”

“Please, call me Cameron.” I glanced at her, still holding on to Jeremiah, then returned my focus to him.

“Cameron explained that breaking up the land would not be in our best interest,” she told Jeremiah. “So nothing to worry about, honey. This won’t be a Country Porch; it’ll stay a Kingman’s.”

“Good,” he said, his heated gaze meeting mine. “That’s a nice save there, Cameron.”

“Just the facts,” I assured him, letting go of his hand. “It’s important to have those.”

“Well, we should let you go so you can make sure this place keeps running smoothly,” Drake commented as I moved away from Jeremiah with difficulty and returned to my chair. “I have no doubt running a restaurant like this is terribly taxing.”

It was snide and cutting, and I felt my face warm even as I was terrified Jeremiah would think I was anything like Drake.

“It’ll keep you on your toes,” he told him before smiling and leaving the table to return to the kitchen.

“He wasn’t here the last time we came,” Ellen told Mrs. Bowen, smiling at her. “I would have remembered.”

“He only works part-time now that he’s got an internship as a counselor, and he’s in school at Sac State as well. I worried he was going to quit us altogether, but thankfully he’s not there yet. It took both Charlie and I together to do his job—” She chuckled. “—and even then we weren’t as successful. He’s so good with people. I tell you, that boy could charm the birds from the trees.”

“He had a rough time, with his mama taking off when he was just a boy, only fourteen or fifteen or so, all alone, but we took a chance and hired him. By the time he was eighteen, he was already a manager,” Mr. Bowen added, and I could hear how proud he was of his employee. “He started school when he was twenty and got a bachelor’s in social work, of all things. I keep hoping he’ll change his mind and stay here with us, but he’s headstrong as hell.”

“That’s impressive,” Ellen agreed, smiling at the older man. “And his mother just walked out? I don’t mean to pry, but fourteen is young.”

Mrs. Bowen nodded. “That woman was no good. Best thing that ever happened to Jeremiah was her leaving, but it was really hard for him without anyone stepping in.”

The Bowens shared a look, and I was dying to know what it meant. Jeremiah had gone to the hotel looking to sell himself for money, so clearly things were not as good for him as these nice people thought. It was killing me to sit there and not get up and find him and demand answers.