The Captain's Dirty Little Secret

Chapter 297: Chapter 297 - The Coworker

Karen and Angela eventually finished their drinks, and by then the coffee shop had started emptying out. Most of the after school crowd was gone, several tables had already been cleared, and the noise had dropped enough that Roxie could hear the machines behind the counter and the occasional clatter of dishes being stacked near the sink.

Angela pulled her bag onto her shoulder. "You coming?"

Roxie glanced toward Zac, who was wiping down part of the counter while talking to another employee, his sleeves pushed up slightly and his apron still tied around his waist. "No. I’m waiting."

Karen followed her eyes and immediately smiled.

Roxie pointed at her. "Don’t."

"I didn’t say anything."

"You were about to."

Angela laughed and leaned down to hug Roxie before heading toward the door. Karen grabbed her bag next and told Roxie to try to behave, which earned her a middle finger before she followed Angela outside laughing.

Once they were gone, Roxie settled back into her chair and checked her phone while Zac continued closing. The jealousy from earlier had cooled enough that she could laugh at herself a little. Those girls had been flirting because they thought Zac was single, and Zac hadn’t encouraged any of them. Every chance he got, he had still found some ridiculous reason to come back to Roxie, whether it was touching her hand, bringing food she hadn’t ordered or refilling water nobody needed.

That should have made her feel completely better.

It mostly did.

For the next few minutes, Roxie scrolled through her phone while Zac moved around the shop. Every now and then she looked up and caught him looking toward her too. He would smile, Roxie would pretend she hadn’t been watching, and then he would go back to whatever he was supposed to be doing.

Eventually Zac came over and rested one hand against the back of the chair across from her.

"You really waited."

Roxie looked up. "You sound surprised."

"A little."

"Why?"

"You could’ve gone home."

"So could you if you finished working instead of standing here. Besides, you waited for me at the Grill too."

Zac smiled. "You’re spoiling me, babe. Should I expect this every day?"

Roxie looked toward the counter and remembered every girl who had spent far longer than necessary ordering coffee from him.

"Should I?"

"The waiting?" His grin widened. "Or the customers?"

Roxie gave him a look.

That only made him smile harder.

"Finish working."

"Yes, babe."

She watched him walk away, fighting her own smile, before another employee stepped beside him.

Roxie had seen the girl earlier. She had probably been there the entire time, but with Karen and Angela talking in her ear and half the girls from Briarwick apparently discovering an urgent need for coffee, Roxie hadn’t paid much attention to anyone else behind the counter.

Now she did.

The girl looked older than them, maybe nineteen or twenty. College age. Her dark hair was pulled into a loose ponytail, her makeup still looked good after an entire shift, and even wearing the same work shirt as everybody else, she somehow looked polished.

Roxie immediately became aware of herself. She was still wearing cheer clothes, her hair was tied up badly and she had come straight from practice. She sat a little straighter before realizing what she was doing and forcing herself to relax again.

Seriously?

The girl was gorgeous. Her dark, glowing skin made her feel like a pale ghost in comparison.

Fine.

Gorgeous women existed.

Roxie looked back at her phone, but then she heard the girl laugh and looked up again.

The woman was standing beside Zac while he counted something near the register, leaning against the counter as she teased him about whatever he was doing. Zac answered easily, and there was enough familiarity between them to make it obvious they had already worked several shifts together.

That bothered Roxie more than the Briarwick girls had. Zac barely gave other girls enough attention to create familiarity like that, but this woman worked with him. She was there for his shifts. She knew what he screwed up at work, knew the little things he still needed help with and apparently knew how to make him laugh.

Roxie hated that she noticed all of it.

The coworker eventually glanced toward Roxie before looking at Zac.

"You gonna introduce me?"

Zac looked up, then came over with the girl beside him.

"This is Roxie." He barely paused before adding, "My girlfriend."

Warmth rushed through Roxie immediately.

The coworker’s eyebrows lifted. "Girlfriend?"

"Yeah."

She looked between them. "You never said you had a girlfriend."

"I didn’t."

Her confusion lasted only a moment before Zac glanced toward Roxie. "We just got back together."

Roxie liked hearing that far more than she expected. There was no hesitation in his voice or awkward attempt to explain what had happened between them. He simply said it like there was nothing uncertain about what they were now.

The coworker looked Roxie over again. "Oh. That explains it. I’m Jenna."

Roxie still had no idea what apparently needed explaining, but she smiled politely. "Nice to meet you."

"You too."

The woman’s eyes moved briefly over Roxie before returning to her face. It wasn’t blatant enough for Roxie to call her rude, but the quick inspection made her aware of the difference between them again. The woman looked older and confident while Roxie looked exactly eighteen after cheer practice.

Then the coworker smiled. "God, I remember being in high school. Everything felt so serious back then."

Roxie stared at her.

There it was.

The tone was sweet enough that Roxie couldn’t technically accuse her of anything, but something about it made her feel like she had just been patted on the fucking head.

Zac glanced toward Roxie.

He knew her too well.

Roxie smiled. "When was that, ten years ago?"

The woman blinked, and Zac immediately looked down.

Roxie knew he was trying not to laugh.

"I’m twenty," the coworker said.

"Oh." Roxie kept smiling. "My bad."

Zac turned his face away completely.

The coworker gave Roxie another look, clearly deciding whether she had just been insulted.

She had.

Roxie was behaving.

Nobody said she had to become a fucking saint.

The woman laughed lightly and turned back toward Zac. "Anyway, you finally figured out the machine without me?"

"Barely."

"I explained it like five times."

"More like twelve."

"Because you kept doing it wrong."

She laughed and touched his arm.

Roxie’s amusement disappeared immediately. Her eyes dropped to the woman’s hand before she could stop herself.

The fucking audacity of touching Zac right in front of her after finding out he had a girlfriend.

Before the introduction, Roxie could excuse it. The woman might have thought Zac was single and flirted with a guy she believed was available.

Now she knew.

And her hand was still on him.

Roxie picked up her nearly empty cup and took a drink instead of saying anything. She stayed in her chair while the woman continued talking about work, answering normally whenever the conversation included her and even smiling once when Zac complained about being blamed for something another employee had apparently done.

Apparently being mature was fucking exhausting.

Inside, Roxie wanted to know why this woman was still staring at her boyfriend like she wanted to climb him after Zac had literally introduced Roxie as his girlfriend two minutes ago.

The coworker laughed at something Zac said before looking between them. "Guess that explains why you’ve been in such a good mood today."

Zac looked toward Roxie. "Probably."

That helped more than Roxie wanted it to.

The coworker followed his gaze and smiled. "Cute. God, young love."

Roxie stared at her again.

Zac saw it.

His lips pressed together.

The woman continued, apparently unaware that she was getting dangerously close to Roxie’s last nerve. "I remember being that obsessed with someone when I was your age."

Roxie slowly put her cup down. "When you were seventeen?"

"Eighteen."

"So two years ago."

The coworker laughed awkwardly. "I guess."

"Crazy how fast time goes."

Zac made a coughing sound.

Roxie looked at him.

He immediately straightened his face.

The coworker finally seemed to realize Roxie was making fun of her, but instead of leaving, she looked toward Zac again.

"Well." Her smile returned. "Lucky girl."

She was looking directly at him when she said it.

That irritated Roxie more than everything else.

"Yeah."

The woman finally turned toward Roxie.

Roxie smiled pleasantly. "I know."

Something in the coworker’s expression shifted.

The woman stayed another couple of minutes before checking the time and heading toward the back to get her things. When she returned, she had a jacket on and a purse over one shoulder.

"See you next shift," she told Zac.

"Yeah."

Then she looked at Roxie. "Nice meeting you."

"You too."

Roxie smiled until the door closed behind her.

Then she looked at Zac and mimicked sweetly, "Nice meeting you."

Zac laughed. "Be nice, babe."

"I was fucking nice."

He started moving something on the next table that absolutely did not need moving.

Roxie watched him. "She started it."

Zac looked back at her. "Ten years ago?"

"She was acting like high school happened during another lifetime."

"She’s twenty."

"Exactly."

He laughed again.

Roxie crossed her arms. "And then she kept flirting with you after you told her I was your girlfriend."

The laughter softened.

Zac leaned against the edge of the table. "You jealous?"

Roxie gave him a look.

He waited.

The automatic answer almost came.0

No.

She swallowed it.

"She’s gorgeous."

Zac stayed quiet.

"She’s older than me, she works with you, she obviously knows you, and she was looking at you like she wanted to eat you." Roxie sighed and moved her empty cup between her hands. "So yeah. I was jealous."

The teasing disappeared from his expression.

"I know you didn’t do anything," Roxie continued. "I’m not mad at you. I just hated that she kept doing it after she knew."

Zac watched her for a moment. "I noticed you."

Roxie looked up.

"That’s it," he said. "You were sitting right there."

The answer was almost annoyingly simple, but it worked.

Zac had introduced her immediately as his girlfriend. He hadn’t hidden her. He hadn’t encouraged anything.

Roxie nodded. "Okay."

His mouth pulled into a small smile. "Okay?"

"Don’t push it."

"Yes, babe."

Roxie rolled her eyes.

Zac started to move away, then stopped. "For the record, the ten years thing was mean."

Roxie stared at him.

He grinned. "She deserved eight."

Roxie laughed. "Fuck off."

Zac headed back toward the counter before she could throw something at him.

By the time he finished the rest of his closing work, Roxie had packed her things and was waiting near the door. Zac disappeared into the back, returned without his apron and slung his bag over one shoulder.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

They stepped outside together, and Roxie had barely made it past the shop before Zac reached for her hand and laced their fingers together.

For a while they walked without saying much. The irritation she had been carrying inside the shop was already settling, although Roxie knew damn well she would remember exactly how that woman had looked at Zac the next time she saw her.

Zac squeezed her hand.

"For the record, you’re the only one for me."

Roxie looked at him. "I better be."

His mouth curved.

"Because I’ve got a surprise for you tonight."

Zac’s steps slowed.

Roxie immediately smiled.

"What surprise?"

"You’ll see."

"Babe."

"What?"

"You can’t say that and then make me walk all the way home without telling me."

"That sounds like your problem."

Zac stared at her.

Roxie’s smile widened as she kept walking, forcing him to move again if he wanted to stay beside her.

"What kind of surprise?"

"I said you’ll see."

"Damn."

Roxie squeezed his hand and looked straight ahead.

"Guess we better hurry home."

Zac groaned.

Roxie laughed and kept walking.

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