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"It's okay, Jake. We're not doing anything wrong."
His shoulders sagged. "Yeah, I know. I guess it's just... weird."
I lowered my voice, practically whispering in his ear. "What, dating a colleague or pretend dating?"
"Both. Both are weird," he said, turning his neck to face me. Our lips were so close. I cleared my throat, trying to gather my wits.
I couldn't disagree. I was feeling a little out of my depth. "Come on, let's finish shopping."
We walked silently, stopping to get more meat and cheese. When we came to the bakery section, Jake grabbed a loaf of fresh bread and I decided to give him a break from my antics.
"Where should we go for lunch?"
"How about the diner down the street? That way I can get breakfast." My stomach grumbled.
"That sounds good."
We checked out and put the bags into the car. He even opened the door for me—a true gentleman.
When we pulled up to the diner, my mouth watered, and my stomach rumbled again. Spoon’s Dinner was a cute little place, the outside a deep burgundy color. There were only a few places to eat in town and this was a local favorite. I opened the door, and we were greeted by a Marlene, one of the waitresses that could have been copy-pasted from a hundred other small-town diners with a waitress with curly dyed red hair, gray at the roots, a wide smile, and bright eyes.
"Good morning," she said, her voice raspy and deep, the effect of being a lifelong chain smoker. "How are you guys today?"
"Good, and yourself?" Jake asked.
"I can't complain," she said, fiddling with menus on the counter. "Take a seat anywhere you like."
"Thank you," I replied and scanned the diner for a good place to sit, halting in my tracks when I saw Becca and Laney sitting in a corner booth, their eyes on us. Jake pressed his hand to the small of my back ushering me to a booth, their eyes never leaving us.
The sound of their whispers could be heard through the other conversations and noises bouncing around the place, but I couldn't make out what they were saying.
"Aren't those your friends over there?" Jake asked, breaking into my panic and for the first time I wondered if he'd pressed his hand to my back because they were here, and he was trying to get me back. The flicker of mischief in his eye and half repressed smirk said yes.
I groaned.
Marlene set down our menus and flipped over the mugs waiting on the table. Pouring coffee without asking if we wanted any. "I'll give you two a minute," she said and set to making refill rounds with the coffee.
"Should we join them?" he said, his voice teasing.
"No, I haven't mentioned you to them yet. I bailed on them at lunch yesterday and now they'll be like WTF is she up to."
"Well, they're hanging out today without you. Does that mean they're mad at you?"
"No, they know I refuse to leave home before noon on Saturdays like a normal person."
"Right," he said, his mouth twitching in amusement.
"They'll interrogate me as soon as they can. For now they will just have to wait."
"Sounds fun."
"Hey, it's not like your friends will be any better. I bet they'll give you crap."
"Probably," he agreed, looking nonplussed.
"Who are your friends anyway? I never see you with any," I said, looking through the menu even though I already knew what I wanted. I just needed something to do with my hands.
"Well, Amy and I are really close. She's probably my best friend. I like her husband, Pat. He's a great guy. Then there's Dan Pischer and Mark Berhandt. We played football together in high school and college. Dan runs his own contracting business and Mark works over at the county clerk’s office."
