He waited until she was in the office before closing the door behind her. "Have a seat."

She sat on the edge of the seat by the door as he sat back on the office chair. "I understand my brother was so impressed he hired you on the spot."

Her posture was as perfectly erect and tense as he remembered the day of the interview, so unlike how she'd been behind the bar when he first walked in. "Yes, and I explained to him about my age. I only wanted to get a chance to prove myself, and I was going to tell you the truth after."

"Yeah, well whatever the reason, lying on your application is pretty bad." He crossed his arms in front of him and leaned back. "First impressions go a long way. Not the smartest thing to do is start off lying."

With a slight lift of her chin she began, "I've already apologized to Alex, and now I'll apologize to you. I'm sorry. I was only trying to make a point. But you're right. A liar is not how I'd like to be perceived. I'm only grateful that Alex was kind enough to give me the opportunity to prove myself."

He stared at her for a moment, and she didn't look away. Instead stared right back. She didn't seem at all intimidated by him. In fact, he'd bet she added that last remark as a jab.

"There are still a few things we need to get taken care of." He sat up and spun the chair around so he faced the computer. "We'll need to run a background check on you and do a drug screening." He turned to face her. The dry expression hadn't changed. In fact it seemed even more severe. "I'll also need to verify your past employment. You know, the bartending experience."

"You don't believe I have experience—"

Sal held up his hand. "This is standard procedure, Grace. It has nothing to do with believing you, but to be fair, you did already lie about one thing, and—"

"First of all." She stood up. "It's Graciela. And second, I just apologized for that. Alex didn't seem to mind. If you'd just give me a chance, I can—"

"Have a seat, Graciela. Please."

"I'd rather stand."

What the hell happened to the smiley Graciela at the bar? The one that didn't have a problem with Alex referring to her as Gracie. Here, Sal wasn't even allowed to call her Grace?

He turned back to the computer, trying to shake off the annoyance he felt. "You do realize my brother is married, right?"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

He lifted his shoulder. "Just thought I'd mention. That's all."

He felt like an ass now for even saying it. It was unprofessional and completely out of line. But it just came out. The fact that she didn't say more about his comment did not go unnoticed. Maybe it had come as an unpleasant surprise—one that rendered her speechless. He was suddenly grinding his teeth.

"Are we done here, Mr. Moreno?"

Sal turned around. "No, we're not, and I thought I asked you to call me Sal."

For the life of him, he couldn't understand why his words came out so harsh. The expression on her face was that of obvious aversion—aversion to him. And he couldn't say he blamed her. He was being a total dick. This was so out of character for him.

In a tone completely opposite to his, she asked, "What else do you need from me, Sal?" It was almost condescending.

"I'll need references." No he didn't. What the hell was he doing? They'd never once asked for references from any of the other employees.

"References? Like from past employers?"

"Yeah." Sal glanced at her. She chewed the corner of her lip. The disdainful expression was now replaced with a look of concern.

"If you can get them," he added, feeling guilty. "It's not a big a deal."

"The restaurant I worked at last went out of business, and the manager there moved back to Mexico. My other jobs were all in El Paso, but—"

"That's fine, don't worry about it."

Sal gave her all the information on where to go to get the drug screening, and she went back to work. Even after sitting in the back mulling over why the hell he'd behaved as he did, he still couldn't figure it out. He finally chalked it up to his already dire mood from the meeting with the investors and then the surprise of finding out Alex had gone ahead and hired her, even though he knew Sal's apprehension about her—hired her on the spot no less.

He sulked in the back for hours, getting the inventory sheets ready for that weekend. By closing time, he couldn't stand it anymore; he needed to talk to Graciela. The more he thought about it, the worse he felt about his behavior. His comment about Alex had been completely uncalled for.

The restaurant was closed now, and everyone was cleaning up when he walked out into the bar area. Melanie and Graciela were laughing about something as Melanie wiped down the bar and Graciela filled the dishwasher.

"That time again, ladies. We're almost out of here." Both girls turned to look at him. Melanie smiled while Graciela's lips flat lined.

Graciela continued to put glasses in the dishwasher. Melanie's attention was taken by Oscar, who brought her more receipts to put in the closing drawer. Sal took advantage of Melanie's distraction and walked past her, coming to a stop next to the dishwasher. Graciela glanced at him but said nothing.

"Look, I wanted to apologize for how I acted earlier. That's not me."

She stopped what she was doing but only for a moment and nodded her head. "No need to apologize. I know lying on my application was wrong, and I get it. You don't trust me. But I'm okay with it. I know I can prove myself to you and Alex, and I will."

"You don't need to prove anything Grace—uh, Graciela,"

Her perpetual glare finally eased up a bit. "You can call me Grace."

Feeling he'd made a small but significant bit of progress, he smiled. "Thank you, Grace. You don't need to prove anything; just show up and do your job. That's good enough for me."

She chewed the corner of her lip as she had earlier in his office. This time he noticed how perfect her lips were, like the kind you see in drawings—the top one perfectly arched, the bottom soft and round. Not wanting her to notice him staring at her lips, he brought his eyes back to hers. Just like the day of the interview, she wore no makeup, and now that she was finally not glaring or crossing her eyes at him, he could appreciate how pretty they were.

"Alex said he'd give me a shot in the kitchen." She glanced away.

"I said that too. Remember?"

She looked back at him, the corners of her lips lifting. It wasn't the same as the smile he'd seen on her face earlier when she'd actually laughed at whatever Alex said to her, but it was a start.

Something behind him suddenly got her attention and talk about a smile. Her eyes brightened in an instant. She almost seemed excited. Sal turned to see what it was. A guy with his hands against the window of the locked front door peered in. He smiled also when he saw her, and he waved a hand holding keys.

"I'm all done here. Can I go now?"

Sal turned back to Grace who was already undoing her apron. "Sure."

She rushed to the back room. Within minutes she walked out, purse in hand. Sal followed her to the door to unlock it. The second Sal opened the door, she was in the guy's arms. "Thank you so much for coming, Joey."

Joey squeezed her tight. "Of course, sweetie. Anything for my Gracie."

The guy was clean cut and bit too generous with the cologne. It wasn't until he let go of Grace and she turned to say goodnight that Sal noticed how tight he was gripping the door handle. His knuckles had nearly gone white.

The guy glanced at him and smiled. Sal managed a smile before closing the door and locking it. He walked back to the office, trying desperately to shake off the ridiculous unsettling tension he suddenly felt.

This entire day had been a roller coaster of emotions. From his frustration about the less than qualified applicants that morning, to the meeting gone wrong, to finding out Alex had gone against his wishes and hired Grace, everything he felt when he saw Grace again was understandable. But what he felt now was infuriating because it made no sense—no sense at all.