Collide (Collide #1)(56)

Rushing into the kitchen, she let the cooks know she needed an order of mozzarella sticks on the fly. She made her way back to the table, apologized again, and let them know that it would be another few minutes. Trying to recover any possible chance of a tip, Emily offered to pay for their dessert. With that, the missing appetizer became a thing of the past as the woman smiled and accepted.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Emily took a seat at the bar, thankful that they hadn't complained...or so she thought.

"Country," Antonio said. "What just happened? Table sixteen told me you forgot their appetizer?"

"Yes, I'm sorry. Roberto is taking care of it right now."

"Did you offer them dessert?"

"I did."

"Are you okay?" he asked, placing a caring hand on her shoulder. "You seem out of it tonight."

"I just have a lot going on right now, Antonio. I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

"If you're not feeling good, I can let you off early," he replied with concern filling his face.

"Thanks, but I'm alright."

He nodded and headed into his office.

Emily trudged through work over the next few hours. The evening passed by in a blur as she found herself still trying to grasp everything that had happened. By the time her shift was over, she felt physically and mentally drained.

With her head peering down into her purse searching for her wallet, Emily opened the door to leave, only to run smack into what felt like a brick wall. An audible "oof" broke through her lips. She snapped her head up to apologize, and then her emerald green eyes locked on to beautiful baby blues.

"Jesus, are you alright?" Gavin asked, reaching out to steady her.

Emily struggled not to gasp at the subtle contact of his warm strong fingers wrapped around her arms. Her senses were momentarily rewarded from his cologne wafting through the air around them. A flush crept over her cheeks from the spike in temperature between them, making her feel like she might burst into flames. As Gavin looked down at her, he held her gaze - a dangerous thing to do because a girl could seriously lose herself in those eyes, especially after what had happened between them. That kiss had been devastating, painful, euphoric, and everything else she had imagined it would be - all wrapped into one.

Damn that kiss.

She wondered if she would ever be able to pull herself to the surface to breathe again. Her heart fluttered frantically like a butterfly trying to escape the cage of her chest. With him standing right in front of her, it bared all sorts of things she didn't want to think about.

"Yes, I'm alright," she answered breathlessly, still in shock at the fact that he was there.

They both seemed to be in a trance, their stares never wavering from one another.

Gavin released her arms, cleared his throat, and backed out onto the sidewalk. His heart clenched at the sight of her. Looking into her eyes, he couldn't believe that only a week had gone by since he had seen her beautiful face, kissed her soft lips, and touched the warmth of her skin. For him, it had felt like an eternity had passed. He hated that his subconscious mind had chosen that night, knowing how vulnerable she was, and he knew he needed to apologize.

"I stopped..." He paused trying to collect his thoughts. "I stopped by hoping to catch you here. I wanted to know if I could talk with you."

"What's there to talk about?" she asked, trying to hide the nervousness curling through her as she stepped out of the restaurant. Her gaze traveled away from his in an attempt to keep her mind from lingering on how sexy he looked standing there in his tailored suit and tie.