goodbye, and Lexia went back to her office to finish her supply order.
Two hours later, she left her office and found a crowded café. Sam and the part-time server Lexia had hired were rushing from table to table as the chef barked out ready orders. She intercepted Sam. “What is going on?” The café closed at three and now, with an hour to go, the diner was more crowded than the lunch rush hour.
“There’s some big meeting going on at one of the companies upstairs and this was their lunch break.” Sam continued to the table carrying an armload of plates.
Lexia donned her apron and hairnet and joined the chef in the kitchen. She cooked, filled and carried plates. At two fifty-five, the last customers exited. She and Sam collapsed into the nearest booth.
“I really appreciate all the business, but my feet and arms are about to fall off,” Sam said with a groan. “And we still have to clean up.” Because they usually only had a few stragglers after two, they were able to clean up and prep for the next day, and be gone by three thirty. Today, it would take much longer.
Lexia chuckled. “Well, take five minutes. You deserve it.”
“I’m leaving now, Lexia.”
She turned to see Jayla with her backpack slung over her shoulder. “Okay. Thanks for staying a little later. You’re not going to be late for school, are you?” Nineteen-year-old Jayla Howard was a sophomore at UCLA, studying biochemistry. She had come up to Lexia after a food demonstration six months ago to tell her how much she had enjoyed the dish. The two spent several minutes talking and when Jayla mentioned needing a job to supplement her financial aid, Lexia had hired her to work four hours a day.
“Nope. Class doesn’t start until six, but I’m meeting my study group. I already texted to let them know I’d be a few minutes late. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Bye,” Lexia and Sam chorused.
A minute passed and Sam said, “That Khalil Gray is one fine man. I can’t believe you didn’t give him your number.”
She sighed and leaned her head against the seat. “Sam, you know what happened the last time I gave a fine man my number.”
“I do, but he might be worth another shot. I Googled him. Want to know what I found out?”
Yes! “No,” she answered, hoping she sounded disinterested.
Sam laughed. “Girl, you’re not fooling me.” She pushed to her feet and braced her hands on the table. “You know you want to know. And, ooh, the photos. Sexy!” She pulled out her phone, tapped a few buttons and fanned herself. She held the phone out to Lexia.
Lexia ignored the phone and stood. “We need to clean up so I can go home. I have some recipes to work on.” The angle of the screen let her see just enough to know he was shirtless and it took everything in her not to snatch the phone and get an up close and personal view. “If you’re so interested, maybe you should give him your number.”
“I would, but he didn’t ask me. Besides, I’m already dating someone.” Sam glanced down at the phone again. “Mmm, mmm, mmm!”
She rolled her eyes and strode off. The temptation to see the photo was so strong, Lexia had to stop in her office and lock her phone in the drawer before returning to the front and starting on the display case. I am not interested in that man. His smiling face floated across her mind along with her body’s reaction and she groaned inwardly. The next time he came in, she planned to stay in her office, far away from temptation.
Tuesday morning, Khalil’s head came up when a knock sounded on his open office door. He stood and extended his hand. “Thanks for coming, Alonzo. And so early.” They’d been trying to schedule the meeting for over a week, and settled on seven this morning due to both their busy workloads. He gestured to the chair across from his desk.
Alonzo Wright gripped Khalil’s hand in a firm handshake, then sat. “Sorry it took me so long to get over here. Omar said you’re having some problems with your clients being overcharged?” Alonzo Wright had come highly recommended by Khalil’s pro football player brother-in-law, Omar Drummond. The private investigator had been instrumental in solving a scheme to ruin both Omar and Khalil’s sister Morgan’s reputations orchestrated by Omar’s former agent.
“No problem. I know you’re busy. And, yes.” He took a moment to explain the double charges. “I can’t figure out for the life of me why they’re happening all of a sudden. There were four last Monday when I called you and six more since then.”
“Have you changed your billing system recently?”
“No. It’s been the same since the day I opened the doors.”
“How many people have access?”
“Three—the manager, assistant manager and me.” Felicia had been with him for four years and he’d hired Logan Smith as manager a little over a year ago after his last manager relocated to another state. Khalil relayed that information to Alonzo.
Alonzo stroked his chin. “Unless someone’s hacked into your system, it sounds to me like you have a virus of the two-legged variety.”
He stilled. “You think it’s someone who works here?” He mentally went through all five personal trainers on his staff, but dismissed them immediately. None of them would do something like this. “I haven’t had any trouble with my staff, so I can’t see it being one of them.”
“Maybe not,” Alonzo said, leaning back in the chair. “But it can’t hurt to check them out. Do you mind if I look at your computer?”
Khalil stood and relinquished his chair. “By all means. Omar didn’t say you were a computer whiz.”
He smiled. “Just a little something I picked up along the way.”
He stood off to the side while Alonzo clicked away. He rotated his head to see the wall clock. His meeting with the production manager at the home safety company wouldn’t start until ten, so he had plenty of time. Today, he planned to arrive early and stop in the café. True, he wanted the cake, but he also wanted to see Lexia. Khalil hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her all week and the sound of her low, throaty voice played over and over in his head. He briefly wondered what it would be like to hear her calling his name as he...
“Your system is tight, man.”
The sound of Alonzo’s voice snapped Khalil out of his lustful thoughts. “That’s good news, isn’t it?”
Alonzo chuckled. “Yes, and no. Yes, because it means there’s not some nutjob out there stealing your clients’ information. No, because it could mean that—”
“That there’s someone here deliberately stealing money from the members,” he finished.
“Exactly.”
Again, Khalil tried to come up with a plausible scenario of why one of his employees would do something like this. “What do you suggest?”
He tapped a finger on the desk. “I can do a couple of things.
