Page 50 of Time Served in New York
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BERNADETTE
“Damn, woman, I can’t wait to get you back to our room so I can peel that dress off of you,” Valentine said as pulled me so close, we were touching from chest to knees. “How soon can we leave?”
“We should stay for a while longer,” I suggested, even though the idea of rushing up to our room sounded like the best idea I’d ever heard. “Have you danced with Paula and Frankie yet?”
“Yes, Mistress of Ceremonies, I’ve danced with both of them. We did our part while you were dancing with Paula’s nephew and Frankie’s brother.”
“I should have made a spreadsheet like Blue suggested,” I mumbled, wondering if there’d been photo opportunities to get each of them dancing with one from each of the other families.
“You’ve really embraced this event planning, haven’t you?”
“I’ve enjoyed the hell out of it,” I admitted.
Valentine spun me and then maneuvered around Rodeo and August who were dancing almost as close as we were before he said, “I guess that’s good since you’re gonna be opening a multi-location business that’s a partial front for some nefarious mafia shit, huh?” I felt my eyes widen as Valentine grinned. “Are you shocked that I already know, or did you not realize that’s what you’d be doing?”
“I’m shocked you already know, but I’d rather believe I’m opening a branch here so Matteo’s crush has a place to work.”
“Hmm,” Valentine said as he looked into my eyes. “If you’re not comfortable with . . .”
“If I don't want to do something, then I won’t do it. Period.”
“That’s my girl.”
The song came to an end, and I took Valentine’s hand and let him lead me back to our table. No one was there, so I looked around the room to find everyone.
“Did they already go upstairs?” I asked in outrage.
“No,” Valentine assured me. “They would have taken their suit coats, and isn’t that August’s shawl?”
“Where the hell are they then?”
“What’s wrong?” Frankie asked as she walked up on the opposite side of the table.
“Where did everyone go?” Frankie pointed behind us, and Valentine and I turned just in time to see August and Rodeo walk through the same door all of the servers had been going in and out of all night. “What the hell?”
“It took longer than I imagined it would, but I think they found somewhere they could be a little more comfortable,” Frankie said with a grin.
As we watched, Captain and Matalie came back through the doors and stopped at the edge of the dance floor where he spun her before he pulled her into his arms. He said something that amused her, and Matalie threw her head back and laughed. Captain took that opportunity to lean forward and nibble on her neck, and Matalie’s laugh stopped as her eyes closed and a look of longing came over her face.
“Fuck this,” Valentine said as he started walking, pulling me along behind him. “I bet they’ve got real food in there. I’m fucking starving.”
Once we got across the ballroom, Valentine pushed through the door into the brightly-lit prep area of the industrial kitchen, and we found all of our friends, relaxed and happier than I’d seen them all evening.
“It’s about time you got here, brother,” Boss said as he lifted his bottle of beer and tipped it toward us. Jenn was perched on Boss’s lap and raised one hand in greeting as she lifted a burger to her mouth with the other. “The beer is cold, and the company is a lot better than it is out there.”
Chef agreed with a nod before he took a bite of his own burger. “They were hiding the actual food back here this whole time.”
Brea breezed over to the table with a beer in each hand and set one down in front of Chef and the other in front of Boss. “They’re taking orders right now. You better get back there and talk to Iris if you want something.”
“Iris?” I asked.
“She’s the really nice lady who found that creamer I wanted,” Blue said as she sat down on the other side of Brea.
I heard laughter from the other room and decided to investigate. When I walked through the doorway, I found August perched on Rodeo’s lap, and Sis sitting on Soda’s. They were sitting at a table with several servers that I recognized from earlier in the evening, and they all had cards in their hands. Preacher was at another table with Bug, Kitty, Captain, and a few more members of the kitchen staff, and they also had a game going, although this one seemed much more serious.
I walked even farther into the room and saw a door with a small window. Through that, I could see Paula and Pandora perched on a counter across from the one where Maylee was sitting, and they were chatting with some women that were assembling burgers. I pushed through the door and Matalie cheered, “Welcome to the party, friend!”
