Blue shook it. “Officer Blumenthal. Are you working at the diner now?”
“No, but Rocky saved my life tonight,” Jo said. “The shake machine died in the middle of the rush, and he fixed it in minutes. I’m short-staffed tonight, so he pitched in.”
She was talking too fast, and she didn’t know why. Except that Blue was staring at Rocky as if he’d just as soon arrest him for looking at her.
Or touching her. Blue must have seen Rocky twirl her around.
Still, she had nothing to feel guilty about.
Blue puffed out his chest and hooked a thumb in a belt loop. “So, he repaired your shake machine.”
“It was the drive coupling,” Rocky said cheerfully. “Happens all the time with that model.”
“You’d know, would you?”
“My uncle owns Java Beach over in Summer Beach. Maybe you’d heard of it.”
“And you work there?”
“I used to help out sometimes in the summer.”
A stool cleared, and Blue sat at the counter. He looked at Jo. “I didn’t know you were expecting company.”
“I wasn’t,” Jo said, delivering a fresh ketchup container to a customer. “He just walked in.”
“I’m waiting for friends,” Rocky said, apparently unaware of the current running beneath the conversation, or that he was being interrogated.
If he did, he was ignoring it.
Rocky refilled some water glasses on the counter. “Figured this was a good way to kill time. Jo needed help.”
“I’ll bet she did.” Blue stared hard at Rocky, then looked back at Jo. “If the coffee is fresh this time, I’ll have a cup.”
“Coming right up.” Jo turned to pour it. With her back to them, she couldn’t help a small smile.
Blue acting jealous? What was that about?
There was no reason for Blue to look like he’d just walked into a crime scene.
But when she turned and put the coffee in front of Blue, she saw his hand resting on the counter. He drummed his fingers, asking for her attention.
She didn’t stop moving.
After a few minutes of avoiding Blue, Jo saw Sailor and Maileah cutting through the crowd.
“Hey, look at the rockstar,” Sailor said. “Dude, what are you doing behind the counter? Finally land a job, you bum?”
Rocky held out his arms and grinned. “Just lending a hand where I’m needed.”
Maileah smiled and nodded at Jo. “Glad you helped out our cute single friend.”
Surprised, Rocky glanced at Jo with interest. “Is that so?”
When Jo cast her eyes toward Blue, Maileah’s smile faltered. She and Sailor hadn’t seen him.
Maileah wedged her way through the crowd to Blue. “I didn’t know you were back. How was your trip?”
“Fine,” he replied, his lips drawn into a tight line.
