Chasing Shadows (complete)

Chapter 12

“Sorry, we don’t serve salad to cute librarians,” he deadpanned and she frowned.

“What?”

“Never mind, I’ll have the kitchen whip up something special.”

With a smile and a turn he was gone and Jenny sat there, nonplussed.

‘Cute librarian’. Carter felt like smacking himself upside the head. What had gotten into him? He was going for friendly banter, but he just had to go and call her cute, didn’t he? At least he didn’t call her a sexy librarian. Thank goodness for small mercies. And what was with the librarian-shtick, anyway? Mrs. Miller was the librarian, not Jenny.

“Kane, put together a chef’s platter, will you?” he said to one of his cooks. “And Trace, a sampler dessert platter for later?”

“You got it, Chef,” the two men confirmed and Carter headed back into the dining room. Tom was now sitting at Mrs. Cray’s table, looking annoyed, and he couldn’t help but feel a tiny bit satisfied with himself. From the way Tom always ribbed him about his popularity with the female guests, the sous-chef had it coming.

 Carter himself slid into the vacant seat opposite Jenny and unfolded a linen napkin.

“Hey.”

“Hi?” Jenny frowned at him. Clearly she was picking up on how odd he was acting. He needed to get a grip, and fast.

“Thanks for coming. You saved me, you know. Just in the nick of time.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, Mrs. Cray was demanding my presence, and there you were. Truly a life saver.”

“Well, I guess my job here is done, then.”

“It is, and now it’s time for your reward,” he said, looking over to see Susan bring out the Chef’s platter. “Thank you. Could you bring over some wine, too? The Pouilly-Fumé, please. It goes well with the goat cheese,” he explained to Jenny as Susan headed off. Wow, could he sound any more like a snob? Carter was once again struck with the urge to smack himself upside the head.

Dinner was delicious, as was the dessert selection, but Jenny found it hard to relax. Carter was pulling out all the stops, and while she’d come to the restaurant intending to pay for her meal, she worried she might not be able to. She lingered, sipping her coffee slower and slower with every passing minutes, waiting for the check to discreetly materialize on the table so she could grab it before Carter attempted to settle it himself, but the waitress never came. She scanned the dining room for staff, but came up empty. In fact, the whole restaurant was empty. How’d that happen?

“Do you want a refill?” Carter asked and she snapped her attention back to him. He was looking at her empty coffee cup and she pushed it away.

“No, thank you. I’m fine. Dinner was lovely. I was just… when did everyone leave?”

Carter smiled. “Probably sometime between your first and second sip of that coffee.”

“Oh.”

“Did you drive? I’d be happy to take you home if you want,” he offered.

“No, I have my car here. Any idea on where the check is?” she asked, looking around anew.

“I told you, this was my treat. A small token of gratitude.”

“Carter…”

“Please, Jenny,” he covered her hand. “I want to.”

The intimate touch made her skin heat up from the inside out and she carefully slid her hand out from under his.