What Love Looks Like Read Online Free Page A

too, but I didn’t know him well enough to share
everyone's adoration. He was in charge of all restaurant operations, and
everyone knew that he did his job well. In fact, I’d heard from several sources
that he was the highest-paid manager in the whole company.
    Even though Ryan
didn’t actually execute my events (he reserved that task for Jenna), due to his
position he had to be aware of all banquets that took place in his restaurant,
and he had to be present for the read-through each week. His service staff
spoke highly of him, but I perceived him as cold and standoffish. He had tunnel
vision about the restaurant. He’d never argued with me; in fact, he was
actually kind of a gentleman. He was the type who always got the door for a
woman (no matter her age or physical appearance), and whenever it rained he’d
walk guests to their cars with an umbrella. But good manners alone didn’t earn
him the title of Mr. Congeniality.
    Jenna went to the
kitchen and reemerged with Ryan, who walked back to the front with her, his
eyes scanning the bar area for imperfections. He wiped a microscopic speck of
dust off of a handrail, shaking his head in disapproval as he marched through
the dining room. He would have had a field day in my apartment.
    “Hello, Elle.” He
nodded and made about a tenth of a second’s worth of eye contact.
    “Hi, Ryan.” I tried
to sound in good spirits without coming across as ditzy. I had always been
convinced that I could kill him with kindness and get him to come out of his
shell, but it never worked. “Busy week next week!” I spoke a bit too
cheerfully.
    “I see
that—nice work.” He made momentary eye contact with me. He had large
wide-set brown eyes that penetrated those of everyone he spoke to. Ryan was
tall, well over six feet, and had an imposing, brawny build. His stature was
commanding. He had an almost militant air to him, as if he were the kind of guy
who would never lose a fight. But he was probably too calm and collected to
ever get into one. “Show us what you’ve got,” he said.
    I immediately began
reciting my banquet details, and Ryan and Jenna listened as I described at
length every event for the following week. The read-through usually lasted an
hour, and I always felt Ryan getting fidgety near the halfway mark, as if he
had somewhere better to be. Jenna took notes while Ryan sat across from me
tapping his finger impatiently on the bar. When I finished, he quickly got up,
thanked me, and left.
    “Friendly, isn’t he?”
I said sarcastically to Jenna.
    “You don’t see him
often enough to understand his personality. He’s a great boss; he’s just very
efficient when he’s on the clock. He’s a totally different guy outside of work.
If you ever hung out with us after our shifts you’d see. But your lame ass is
always in bed by ten.”
             “That’s
because I’m in the office by seven fifteen.” I gathered my event folders.
    Jenna rolled her eyes
again. “Brunch on Sunday, right? How about Union at eleven? I already told
Nolan I was skipping lunch with his parents so I could get my shop on.”
    “It’s a date. I need
it bad,” I said. There was nothing quite like the rush of hunting for a new
addition to my closet. But I knew I gave shopping entirely too much glory.
Sometimes after getting new clothes I felt as if everything was right in the world.
And then inevitably, I’d wear them and realize that it wasn’t.
    I headed out the back
of the restaurant and into my snow-covered car. My apartment was just one block
from East Coast Prime, which was both a good and a bad thing—bad because
I often felt as if I should walk over and check on my events even on my days
off, but good because when I did my read-through in the late afternoon, Maureen
put my calls into voice mail and I got home at five instead of my usual six
thirty or seven.
    I moved my car into
the garage below the building and rushed upstairs to the second floor. As I
turned the key