Alani was the manager on duty tonight. And while she was pretty cool, she had a thing about the servers chatting up friends and family who came into the restaurant. Kenna couldn’t blame her. They were usually always busy and work was work. Which was why it had been the worst idea ever to invite Marshall to come to Duke’s tonight. It wasn’t as if she could hang out and get to know him.
“Tell Vera to put him here at the bar,” Paulo said with a gleam in his eye.
“Yeah, we’ll vet him for you,” Kaleen agreed.
“No way,” Kenna said with a laugh. “You guys’ll scare him away for sure.”
Everyone chuckled.
“Fine. But maybe if I’m lucky, he’ll bring his SEAL buddies with him,” Paulo said. “We could use some eye candy around here.” He placed a mai tai and a lava flow cocktail on Carly’s tray.
“I hope he does bring his friends. And that they’re single,” Charlotte replied with a wink.
“Not me,” Carly said as she balanced her tray. “I’m done with men.”
“Just because Shawn didn’t turn out to be the one doesn’t mean you should give up dating altogether,” Kaleen told her.
“Men are dogs,” Carly retorted before turning and heading for the table with the couple who’d ordered the drinks.
Kenna watched her friend walk away with a frown on her face.
“What did her ex do to her, anyway?” Paulo asked.
“Treated her like shit. Made her feel guilty for coming to work or hanging out with her friends. Talked down to her. And when Carly had enough and told Shawn she was done with the relationship, he pouted, begged, cried, and did everything he could think of to get her to stay. Then, when she didn’t fall for it…he got mean,” Kenna explained.
She and Carly were pretty close, even though the other woman was five years younger than her thirty years. They’d talked a lot about Shawn, and Kenna had never been so happy as when Carly had finally broken up with him. Or tried to.
“That sucks,” Paulo muttered as he wiped down the bar.
“Definitely,” Kenna agreed.
“Holy mother of God. Please tell me one of those perfect specimens is your Marshall,” Charlotte muttered under her breath.
Turning, Kenna saw a group of men, and a couple of women, being led into the restaurant by Vera. It seemed as if everyone they walked past did a double take. It wasn’t just that they were good-looking, it was more the air of confidence that seemed to ooze out of their every pore as they followed the hostess to their table. It might be fanciful, but they even looked like men who could absolutely be counted on if shit hit the fan.
“Woo-wee,” Paulo said, fanning himself with his hand.
“So? Is one of those guys him?” Kaleen asked.
“Yup. And I’m gonna go tell Alani that I quit,” Kenna quipped. “I’m too embarrassed to talk to him. I’m moving to a deserted island.”
Charlotte laughed. “You are not. You love this place too much.”
She was right…but damn.
Kenna normally had pretty high self-esteem. She wasn’t a beach bunny, but she worked out and did her best to keep snacks to a minimum. She loved her long hair, which was light brown, but she frequently experimented with fun colors. Sometimes a streak, sometimes just the tips. She was five-eight, so fairly tall, had toned arms and legs, and people always told her that her smile lit up her face.
All in all, Kenna was satisfied with her looks…but at the moment, she couldn’t help the pang of insecurity that hit upon seeing Marshall again.
He wasn’t wearing a scuba suit this time, and it was more than obvious the man was in shape. His age was hard to guess, but she supposed he was probably around the same age as her. He was taller by a few inches, and the five o’clock shadow on his face was sexy rather than scruffy. He had on a black T-shirt that showed off his huge biceps and wide shoulders.
Yup, it was official. Kenna was intimidated.
“I’m guessing your Marshall isn’t either of the men holding those women’s hands,” Kaleen observed wryly.
“No. He’s the last guy,” Kenna said. He was looking around the restaurant as if taking in the ambiance…or perhaps looking for someone.
Her.
“Well? Go say hello!” Charlotte said as she nudged Kenna.
“Nope. I think I’m gonna pretend I have no idea who he is.”
“Um…but he knows who you are,” Paulo said in confusion.
“Shit,” Kenna mumbled.
Kaleen laughed. “The unflappable Kenna Madigan is flapped.”
“What does that even mean?” Paulo asked. “That makes no sense.”
“Yes, it does,” Kaleen insisted.
“It looks like Vera put them in Carly’s section,” Charlotte said, interrupting the bartenders’ banter. “You need to go say hello.”
Taking a deep breath, Kenna nodded. She’d been the one to invite Marshall to come here tonight after almost landing on his head in the water during her morning run. It would be rude to ignore him. And Kaleen was right, even if she wanted to pretend she didn’t know him, he knew her.
“I’m going,” she told her friends.
“If he orders any of our frou-frou drinks, he’s a big fat no,” Paulo said under his breath. “Although…he might be worth it anyway.”
Paulo had a bad habit of judging people based on the kind of alcohol they ordered. Kenna supposed it was a job hazard—and she didn’t think it would help the poor man find a boyfriend.
Taking a deep breath, Kenna headed toward the table of six men and two women. Vera had sat them in the huge circular booth the servers called “the stage.” It was on a slightly raised platform at the back of the room, facing the beach. It gave the people sitting there a good view of both the entire dining area and the sunset. Normally, ten or so people could easily fit around the expansive table, but with Marshall and his friends’ sizes, there wasn’t much free space.
“Come on, you can help me with the table,” Carly said, materializing out of nowhere.
Kenna chuckled. “The day you need help with a table of eight is the day I quit to become a hula dancer.”
Carly winked. “You can’t dance worth shit, so that wouldn’t work. But don’t worry, I’ll report on anything I overhear that would indicate your Marshall’s a douche.”
“He’s not my anything. And he’s not a douche.”
Carly merely smiled.
Kenna shook her head in exasperation.
“Come on,” Carly said. “He’s totally looking for you and you need to explain what’s going on.”
She did. Kenna knew it. But she dreaded seeing the irritation that he’d likely feel when he realized she couldn’t hang out with him. That she was working.
But then again, he’d shown up with seven other people. He couldn’t really have been expecting any kind of intimate date, could he?
Marshall continued to surprise her. In a good way. He hadn’t gotten pissed when she’d interrupted his training that morning. Or bitched that she could’ve really hurt him if she’d landed on his back or something. He’d brought his friends along tonight, which was…unusual. Kenna didn’t know what his reasoning was, but she was relieved he hadn’t arrived with flowers and dressed to impress.