Page 10 of The Last Bachelor Dragon

“Are you kidding? I’d love to work here,” she said. “I had so much fun today. This is nothing like the last place I worked, everyone is so nice.”

“Then it’s settled,” Carla said, smiling at her. “Why don’t you finish the rest of your tables? Then come find me so we can talk about the details.”

“That’s a deal,” she said, lifting the tray expertly onto her shoulder like she’d been doing it all her life. “I’d better get these out before they get cold.”

An hour later, she found Carla in her office doing paper work. “Hey, sorry that took so long,” she said, hovering in the open door. “I couldn’t just go off and leave everyone else to clean up.”

Carla looked up at her and smiled. “I knew you had potential,” she said, then gestured to a chair. “Come in and sit down. Make yourself comfortable.”

She settled herself across from Carla, suddenly nervous. “Thanks for giving me a chance today, I really did enjoy it,” she said. “It was interesting being on the other side of things.”

After studying her for a few seconds, Carla sat back in her chair. “I’m dying to ask you a bunch of questions, but I’m not going to do that to you,” she finally said. “I’m going to respectyour privacy, but if you ever want to talk, I’ll be here to listen. Everyone needs a little help now and then.”

“Stella said that same thing to me yesterday,” she said. “Thank you for the offer, but what you can teach me here is going to be a huge help when I finally get off the island. I’m a little short on marketable skills; a degree in art history doesn’t lead to very many job opportunities.”

“Art history, that’s a worthless degree,” Carla said. “Let me guess, it was your father’s idea.”

“How did you know?” she asked, suddenly a bit nervous that Carla might have figured out who she was.

“My father tried to pull the same thing on me,” Carla said, shrugging her shoulders. “He tried to run my life, make me get a degree I didn’t want, and marry a man he chose. I put a stop to it as soon as I turned eighteen. I walked away and never looked back. I’ve been on my own since then, but I’ve done okay.”

“You’ve done better than okay,” she said, a flicker of hope suddenly coming to life. “If you can do it, so can I.”

“You can do anything you put your mind to,” Carla said. “And you certainly don’t need a man telling you what to do.”

“I just want to live my life my way; that shouldn’t be too much to ask,” she said, relieved to find someone who understood how she felt. “But if he finds me, he’ll drag me back home and never let me leave again. I can’t let that happen.”

“We won’t let that happen,” Carla said. “We girls have to stick together.”

“I’ve never really had anyone on my side,” she said. “My sister is perfectly happy to play along, she could never understand why I fought it so much.”

“Because you’re a strong, intelligent, independent woman,” Carla said, smiling at her. “I think you’re going to be just fine, Nora, and I’ll do everything I can to help while you’re here.”

“Thank you, I really appreciate it,” she said, then hesitated. “Max is going to be angry when he finds out. He’s been trying to make me miserable, so I’ll tell him who I am, but I’m afraid that as soon as I do, he’ll be on the phone with my family. I’ve asked him to take me to Bermuda, but he refuses, then gets mad when someone tries to help me. I just don’t understand what’s wrong with him. Just because he saved me, he seems to think I’m his responsibility.”

A look of surprise appeared on Carla’s face, then a little smile turned up the corners of her mouth. “How interesting. I’m glad you told me,” she said, then shook her head. “I’ve got bad news for you, when Max makes his mind up about something, he rarely changes it. You might be here for a while.”

“I was afraid of that,” she said, letting out a sigh. “I don’t know why he can’t just let me go, we barely know each other.”

“I can’t answer that, but I will say this, you aren’t the only one who has secrets. Max has a few of his own,” Carla said. “Now, let’s talk about your schedule.”

CHAPTER 7

***MAX***

Asense of anticipation settled over Max as he walked out of the community center and took the path over to the restaurant. He told himself he was looking forward to finally seeing Nora fail at something, but deep down he knew that he was just excited to see her. Harassing her had become something he looked forward to, and just the thought of the way her blue eyes flashed when she was angry made a wave of desire flood his system. With a sigh, he pushed the feeling away, knowing that his attraction to her was unhealthy. He was supposed to be waiting for his soul mate, not messing around with a woman who didn’t even trust him enough to tell him her name.

Strengthening his resolve to get her off the island, he walked around the kitchen entrance, already rehearsing the rude things he’d say to her, but when he came around the corner, the dish pit was empty. Looking around the kitchen, annoyed that Nora was nowhere to be seen, he spotted Carla sitting at the little booth tucked into one corner of the huge room and marched over to her. She was working on a menu when he walked up and didn’t stop. She just raised a finger athim and then went back to jotting down notes on a scrap of paper.

He knew better than to interrupt her when she was in the zone, as she called it, but that didn’t stop the frustration from mounting as he waited. “Where the hell is Nora?” he demanded when Carla finally looked up at him. “She’s supposed to be washing dishes.”

“She already did her share. I think she’s in the dining room setting up for dinner,” Carla said, with a shrug of her shoulders that made him want to hit something. “She’s got a lot to learn if she’s going to be ready for special occasions.”

“Special occasions, you’ve got to be kidding, that’s one of the best jobs here,” he sputtered. “She’s supposed to be washing dishes, not living the good life. This is not what I wanted, I thought I made myself clear.”

“Oh, you did, but here’s the thing, this isn’t your restaurant, it’s mine,” Carla said, her voice very calm. “I make the decisions about the staff around here, and let’s clear something else up right now. We don’t have a dishwasher, we all do our share.”

“You could have told me that,” he said, realizing that he’d made a mistake. “You can’t be serious about putting Nora on special occasions, she can’t possibly have enough experience. It’s ridiculous.”

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