The ice machine sat behind the line, flanked by the buckets they used to transport ice and the bin where they stored said ice. Two sinks sat against the back wall with dirty rags hanging from their lips. Beside it was the neon yellow janitor bucket and mop. He grabbed some gloves and the cleaning solution and got to work running the machine through its cleaning cycle.

Once that was going, he started filling the bucket and tossed in the mop. The cheese and patty disaster was worse than he’d initially thought; people had tracked it all over the place, gotten it stuck between the tiles. He got most of it in a bin before taking the mop to the floor.

“Ah, shit!” Manny hissed as a bit of dirty water got in his eye. He pressed it against the sleeve of his shirt until the burning passed. As he pulled his hand back, he got a glimpse of his watch 3:45. Damn it. Asarr had probably gotten sick of waiting and left the coffee shop by now. There went his Idris Elba pay days.

“Hey, Manny?” Amie’s voice came around the corner before she did. She looked back towards dining room before fixing him with a look. “There’s someone out there looking for you.”

A chill climbed on his shoulders. No way. Had Asarr found him? Nah, it couldn’t be her; she didn’t know where he worked. Or did she? He tried to recall a time it ever came up in conversation, and his mind drew a blank. They had only ever talked about the accounts up until last night.

But if she was at the restaurant, this was great; they could still meet. Or this was fucking awful. What if she was angry? She could yell at him, fire him in front of his coworkers and the patrons. God knows he couldn’t take any more embarrassment.

“Who is it, exactly?” he asked Amie.

“I don’t know. Some woman. She looks… serious. And really hot.” Amie grimaced. “Are you in trouble with the law?”

“No, Amie. That’s just my client.” He scrubbed the mop harder over the floor to get the last of the caked-up cheese and switched off the ice machine.

“Oh.” Her lips formed a small O that soon melted into a devilish grin. “Ooooh, Manny. Is this like… a date?”

“It’s not like that,” he said quickly. A little too quickly. “She’s a client.” He put extra emphasis on the last word. “This is a business arrangement.”

“Right. Right. I get it.” But by the way she’d said it, Manny knew the opposite was true.

He sighed. “Can you tell her I’ll be out in a moment? I need to grab my stuff.”

“Sure, I’ll be your wing lady.” And she winked at him.

Manny suppressed a groan and tossed the mop in the bucket. There were still some bits of cheese stuck here and there that he’d get reamed for on his next shift, but he was out of fucks. He went back to the break room to grab his bag from the lockers and made a break for the dining room at a brisk walk. Amie was out there clearing tables, and when she caught sight of him, she eye-pointed towards the front of the dining room.

A woman sat alone in a booth, one elbow on the table and her chin in her hand. The slivers of sunlight slanting through the window lay across her dark skin and coaxed out the golden tones hiding underneath. It trailed over her full cheeks and along the lines of her neck. She wore a crisp cream suit with just a yellow shirt underneath, and her braids sat atop her head in a bun. From his vantage point, it was harder to pick out her finer features, especially with her head turned away.

Amie was right. She looked serious. And fucking gorgeous, holy shit.

Her eyes cut to him—and through him—and he realized he’d been staring like a creep. Manny squared his shoulders and slapped on a smile before walking over. All the while she kept her eyes on him, attentive but not seeming angry like he’d expected. Maybe she would be gracious and fire him outside in front of strangers.

“Ms. Asarr?” he asked, his voice soft, yet still audible amidst the chatter.

“It’s just Ms. Sarr.” She gave him a smile that lit up her eyes and lit the fireworks in his stomach. She had nice lips, plump as a ripe peach and probably just as sweet. “You must be Mr. Delgado.”

Manny gave a nervous laugh. “Yeah. That’s, uh… that’s my name. My last name, actually.” He clamped his mouth shut before more stupidity leaked out.

“Well, then.” She stood and almost matched his height, shouldering her bag. “Shall we?”

“Of course.” He opened the door for her and followed her out, but not before catching the sly looks from his coworkers. Most gawked while others gave him thumbs ups and suggestive smiles.

If only they knew disaster waited for him and not the naughty things on their minds.