Chapter 44
“Jesus fuckingChrist!” Scooter yelled.
Andy clambered to his feet, wincing. “Fuck,” he growled. “Damn it.” Andy grabbed Scooter’s wrist and pulled him toward the door. “Come on, come on.” 18
Holy fuck, but his tailbone hurt. Andy really hadn’t expected to be dropped, right in the middle of the most intense kiss he’d had for—maybe ever, Christ.
His head was reeling, and he didn’t think it was entirely from the horrific, spine-rattling sound of the fire alarm.
Though the fire alarm certainly wasn’t helping
Andy sprinted down the stairs. He could just hear the wedding party as they streamed out the front door, alarmed voices and angry snapping between the strident blats of the alarm. He reached for the door to the kitchen, but Scooter grabbed his shirt and yanked him back.
“Don’t,” he said, half-yelling over the noise. “Check if it’s hot first!” He leaned past Andy to gingerly touch his fingertips to the door, once, twice, cautious. Probably Andy shouldn’t be thinking about how it mimicked the way he’d kissed Andy, right? Yeah, probably not.
His brains were obviously scrambled.
Scooter finally nodded and yanked the door open. Both of them fell through into the kitchen, which was filled with foul black smoke. Coughing, Jason was standing by the grill, fire extinguisher in his hands. “What happened?” Scooter yelled.
“Grease fire,” Jason rasped, and started coughing again. “Out now, but the—” More coughing. “—crabcakes are ruined.”
“Shit,” Scooter cursed. He stomped into his office, and a few seconds later, the alarm cut out. The silence was deafening. Scooter came back into the kitchen. “Everyone okay?”
“Yeah. Kat herded them outside to be safe.”
“There’s that, at least,” Scooter sighed. He shoved his hands through his hair and took in the mess of fire extinguisher goo all over the grill and the floor around it. He squared his shoulders. “Okay. Let’s go see what the damage is then.”
Jason glanced at Scooter. “You can’t go out there like that, Scooter. Send Andy to placate them for a bit, but you’re…um…” He waved a hand at Scooter, barefoot and no shirt on.
Scooter flushed, dark, angry red. “Fuck me running,” he muttered. “Go on, Andy. Tell them I’ll be right out, so sorry, just an accident, blah blah. You know the drill. Please.”
“I can do that,” Andy promised. He was pretty good at placating and apologizing. He shot Scooter a wry half-smile. “Go get dressed.”
He tried not to feel Jason’s curious eyes on his back as he made his way around the mess and out to the dining room, toward the front door. A lot of them were just milling around on the beach, but there was a tight cluster of people around Kat, angry and loud.
Andy took a breath and shoved a hand through his hair, then stepped out onto the porch. “Hi there, sorry about the interruption,” he called, pasting on an apologetic grin. “Nothing to worry about, just a little kitchen incident, all taken care of. Is everyone out here all right?”
The woman who was leaning deep into Kat’s personal space whirled on him. “You’re not the manager, I’ve met the manager. My daughter’s husband-to-be knows the manager.”
“No, ma’am,” Andy agreed, keeping the smile plastered on. “I’m Mr. Stahl’s assistant.” Well, that’s what Scooter had introduced him to Sharpe as, anyway. Sounded more authoritative than dishwasher and busboy. “He’s making sure there aren’t any safety issues left inside, and he’ll be right out as soon as he’s talked to the fire department. He asked me to come make sure you were all okay.”
“Okay? What’s okay about it? The evening is ruined, ruined, I tell you.” She puffed up like a toad wearing a sequined dress and pearls. “My daughter is in tears right before her big day. We can’t get another reservation for tonight. I want to know what the manager intends to do about that!” She wasn’t quite taller than Andy, but the way she used her rather impressive bosom made him want to take a step back.
“Mom.” That was the daughter in question, probably. She did not actually seem to be in tears. “It’s fine, Mom. Accidents happen. No one’s tryingto screw things up.” She directed a quick glance at Andy. “Are the staff all right?”
“Sophia,” the mom snapped, “let me handle this. Go find Timothy and sit down before you get anxious.”
Sophia rolled her eyes. Whatever, her expression clearly said.
Before the bride could get out of hearing, Andy said, “I’m terribly sorry about the inconvenience, but I’m delighted to know that there weren’t any injuries, of course.” He shot Kat a look. The last thing Scooter needed on top of this was to be sued for medical damages. Andy had watched Nick throw enough tantrums to know he needed to get the important details stated and witnessed as quickly as possible. Kat met his eyes and she nodded ever so slightly. Andy turned back at the bride. “Can I get you some water?”
“Yeah, that’d be nice,” Sophia said. She lowered her voice, not quite drawing her mother’s attention, who had gone back to berating Kat. “If you’ve got anything in the back, bring Mom a glass of wine or something? I don’t want to listen to her shrieking all night. I amgetting married tomorrow.”
This one, Andy liked. He gave her a slightly more genuine smile. “So I understand. Felicitations,” he said. “I’ll see what I can do.”
He went back into the Dockside and ducked behind the bar, pulling out a half-dozen chilled bottles of water and a few wine glasses. The party had already gone through several bottles of wine; Andy found one already open and poured the remainder into the glasses. He arranged everything on a serving tray, and eyed it cautiously before hoisting it onto his shoulder. He’d carried a couple of trays before, helping to get large parties served quickly, but he certainly didn’t have Kat’s easy grace.