Page 43 of All Mine (The All Mine #1)

Isabella

Etienne : Are you free to meet tonight? I’d like to buy you a drink to say thank you for your help with the boys.

Isabella : I’d love to. . . but I can’t. Cocktail and mocktail team training tonight at Tutto Mio.

Etienne : Shame, I was looking forward to thanking you. Personally.

Isabella : You could come and join us. The girl gang will be here. Bring the boys.

Etienne : Sounds crowded.

Isabella : Stay late.

Etienne : Sounds better.

Isabella : I want to see how good you are at saying thank you.

Isabella dressed to impress. Her hair tumbled down her back and she left the third button undone on her silky blouse, tucked into her jeans.

She exuded almost as much nervous energy as the team did, buzzing around behind the new wooden bar setting out bottles and glasses.

Amber pulled a collection of stools and chairs together around a temporary card table in the middle of the restaurant floor.

Naomi followed her and placed a handwritten drinks menu in front of each place.

Isabella waited for Amber to give her the nod and then opened the restaurant door to the others for the first time.

Wren and Rosie were first. Rosie wore milkmaid plaits and Wren’s red hair was in her usual sleek topknot.

They scanned the room, admiring the new paintwork and vintage wooden floorboards.

Walker acknowledged the new sprinkler system and fire alarm with an approving nod, Fox came in talking to the babysitter on the phone and Etienne strolled in last looking completely edible.

Although they’d been sexting, she hadn’t seen him since the babysitting night and now her desire hit her full force.

He looked fresh from the shower, his hair still damp where it curled at his neck, and his black jeans emphasised long, muscular thighs.

Definitely time for another serving, surely?

Isabella shook her hair back and felt her lower stomach tighten as she watched him survey her restaurant.

Tutto Mio was so different to The Bistro, more whitewashed and stripped-back aesthetic than soft lighting and cosy corners.

Although she wouldn’t mind getting him into one of those cosy corners right now.

Rosie grasped her arm and brought her back into the moment.

‘You’ve done so much in here! I wouldn’t recognise it.’

‘Yes, it looks so much better,’ Fox said, laughing, a take met with a general murmur of assent.

‘Grab yourself a seat,’ Amber said, ‘and let me talk you through the drinks menu.’ Isabella aimed for the seat next to Etienne but was surprised when he scooted into the gap between Fox and Walker.

Amber ran through the list of cocktails and mocktails, encouraging everyone to order something different to give the team as much practice as possible.

‘So, what’s first then?’

Fox ordered a Black Russian and Etienne asked for an Old-Fashioned. Walker asked for a gin and tonic and everyone did a fancy ‘oooooh’.

Rosie and Wren turned to the mocktails, choosing an Orange Sunrise and a Berry Burst.

Isabella ordered a Kir Royale. Gazing across the table at Etienne, what she wanted was sex on the beach.

Or bar. Or floor. And nothing to do with the drink.

Etienne was unaware of her gaze now, though, as he listened to Walker next to him, rubbing the short stubble of his facial hair in concentration.

‘We’ve not had a run like it ever before,’ Walker said. ‘I wonder if the next shift will have a quieter time.’

‘What’s happened?’ Rosie asked him, leaning in.

‘We’ve had a few house fires recently– more than normal,’ Walker said. ‘Over the past four days we’ve had two, and last shift we had another one. It’s a lot for this area. If we were in a busy city, I could understand it.’

The first round of drinks arrived, the team placing them gently in front of the right person and stepping back to watch the first reactions.

‘To Tutto Mio,’ Isabella said, lifting her Kir Royale and admiring the blackberry sitting on the side of the glass. Nice touch.

‘Tutto Mio,’ everyone repeated before sipping. The team held its collective breath until various appreciative noises and nods ensued. Isabella glanced Etienne’s way, but he was studiously appreciating his drink.

‘So how many house fires would you normally deal with each week?’ Rosie asked, turning back to Walker.

‘Sometimes none at all.’ Walker shrugged. ‘Normally we are busy with road traffic accidents, or cats in trees. But we seem to be having a spate of them. The weird thing is that the neighbouring county is experiencing the same thing.’

‘That’s quite a coincidence,’ Etienne said.

‘Is it arson? Or accident?’ Wren asked, sipping her Orange Sunrise through a straw.

‘That’s what we’re trying to ascertain. We’re sending in the investigative team.’

‘That’s worrying.’ Fox frowned. ‘I need to check my smoke alarms.’

‘I did it last week when you were in the garden with George. Replaced the batteries in the downstairs one,’ Walker said and Fox fist bumped him across the table.

‘Lifesaver.’

The Kir Royale was the first alcohol Isabella had drunk since the beer at Fox’s on babysitting duty.

She’d hardly eaten for the last two days and was only now starting to feel back to normal.

She sipped and let the alcohol ease out her tensions.

Although it only seemed to add to the sexual tension she felt, rather than relieve it.

She flicked her eyes at him but he was seemingly deep in study of the menu.

‘Next orders,’ Amber called and choices were made. Rosie and Wren again ordered from the mocktail side of the menu.

‘You two got an early start?’ Fox asked.

‘Not particularly.’ Wren shrugged.

‘Simply being helpful and trying the menu,’ Rosie chipped in.

The next round came and this time, the team member announced the name of their drink before they set it down.

Another nice touch. Amber was doing a great job in training them.

The only problem was Australian Angie’s pronunciation of the word Caipirinha sounded more like ‘cup of piranha’ but apart from that, all went well.

Conversation was flowing now, two cocktails in.

Isabella reached for the water jug as Etienne did the same and her hand brushed his, the tiniest touch, and their eyes met across the table.

She drew her hand back as though she’d been burned and felt the touch all the way inside her as Etienne told everyone how and why Isabella and he each had one of Fox’s shirts in their laundry bins at home.

‘Thank God I was on shift,’ Walker said and everyone laughed.

Fox admitted his one-night stand to the group, and blushed when Rosie moved around the table to give him a hug.

‘Oh Fox,’ she said softly, ‘I bet that’s brought up a whole heap of emotions.

’ He nodded and moved around so she could take the seat next to him, still holding his hand.

Etienne slid, at last, into the seat next to Isabella.

She let her elbow press against his on the table, wanting the contact, needing it.

He jerked away. She threw a confused glance in his direction but he was intent on the one-night stand conversation.

‘Was she nice, though?’ Wren asked.

Fox thought for a second. ‘She was great,’ he said.

‘Start thinking about your next orders!’ Amber instructed, poking the page.

‘I’ll get some snacks to soak up the alcohol,’ Isabella said, pushing herself to standing and staring at Etienne directly.

‘I’ll help you,’ said Etienne, which drew a quick side-eye from Rosie and a raised eyebrow from Wren, but luckily nothing was said as he followed her to the kitchen.

He let the door swing shut behind him. She pulled open the new shiny fridge and began rummaging, transferring bowls to the worktop and moving jars and sauces.

‘You could always be my snack?’ he said quietly, and she laughed in relief, catching the glint in his eyes.

‘Not yet,’ she said. ‘But I can be dessert.’ Nodding her head towards their friends in the restaurant, she continued, ‘Thought you were avoiding me out there.’

‘Only because I don’t trust myself to keep my hands off you.’

She looked at him under her eyelashes, feeling exactly the same.

‘Patience is a virtue, Etienne,’ she said teasingly and passed him a bowl. ‘Can you sort the olives?’

‘Hmmmm.’ He laughed and gave in, washing his hands before he began decanting different types of olives and arranging breadsticks.

She grabbed the other snacks she’d prepared earlier.

Strawberries, plump and red, with a smooth chocolate sauce for dipping.

Homemade ice cream in individual portions, gleaming white with purple marbling. She turned to find him watching her.

‘Ready?’ she asked.

‘Always,’ he said.

‘Only fair to give you a taste,’ Isabella said. ‘A little something to keep you going.’

His eyes glinted with interest.

She swiped one of the strawberries from the top of the display and dipped it in the smooth sauce.

She twirled it in her fingers and then lifted it to his mouth, first letting just the tip enter so he could taste the chocolate.

Then, pushing the whole fruit into his mouth for him to bite into.

He closed his eyes to swallow his mouthful and made a noise in his throat which was so sexual she missed a breath.

‘Come on,’ she said, suddenly aware of the hum of conversation next door. ‘The rest is for later.’

The third round was ordered and Rosie and Wren again chose from the non-alcoholic page.

‘I can try a mocktail next time if you fancy a drink?’ said Fox. ‘I’ve got to be up early anyway.’

Rosie glanced sideways at Wren, who grinned and bit her lip.

‘What’s going on?’ Isabella asked.

The two women looked at each other, hesitant smiles lighting their faces. Isabella saw Wren reach for Rosie’s hand under the table.

‘We thought we might try for another baby,’ Rosie blurted with an excited wiggle.

Amber whooped from the bar, obviously listening in.