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There are two or three other customers sitting in their booths, one of them drunk, and Tracy hasn’t noticed me yet.
She looks exhausted and paler than the last time I’d seen her. She also looks like she’s lost some weight although that could just be my own assessment. I approach the counter.
She lifts her eyes and for a second, there is no recognition in her gaze. Then there is a flicker of awareness and she blinks. “Oh, hello.”
Gone is the animosity from the first meeting and it’s a refreshing change, just to be honest.
“Hey.” I take a seat at the counter. “Remember me?”
She raises a brow. “Duke, right?”
“Yep. And you’re Tracy Williams.”
Her face pales for a minute before I add, “Kendall told me who you were.”
“Oh…” She swallows and repeats as if for her own reassurance, “Kendall told you. Okay. What can I get you, Duke?”
“What’s good here?” I ask, studying her form.
She hands me a menu. “The chicken burger is good but I would recommend the steak with vegetables.”
I pause before I smile. “I’ll take two.”
“Two?” She runs her eyes over me, before asking, “You sure? It’s a pretty hefty serving.”
“Oh, yeah.”
>
She shrugs before approaching the window. “Janice, two steaks with the sides.”
When she returns, Tracy asks, “Anything to drink? The coffee here is good but the milkshake is better.”
“I’ll take the coffee for here and the milkshake to go.”
She pours me one cup and then one for herself. I don’t say anything but she explains, “It keeps me awake.”
“So, how long have you been working here for?”
“Five months.” She sips the dark brew in her cup.
“Do you always work at night?”
“It pays well,” she tells me, leaning on the counter. She pauses for a few seconds, before saying honestly, “Sorry for kind of biting your head off back at the apartment. I had a bad day and suddenly, there are all these strangers in our home so…” She trails off.
The apology is so honest that I can’t help but like her for it. “It’s okay. Kendall told me you’re a little protective of her.”
She lets out a small laugh in that husky voice of hers. “What else did Kendall tell you?”
Her laugh sends tingles down my spine. “That you’re her best friend and that she loves you.”
Tracy blushes and it’s a beautiful color on her, as she mutters. “Sappy bitch.”
I have to laugh at the comment. “She talks about Max a lot. I feel like I already know the kid.”
Tracy goes still at the mention of her son and wariness appears in her eyes.
I didn’t have any ulterior motives by bringing up her kid. After listening to how Kendall talks about Tracy, I have a lot of respect for the woman. She’s not like the women I usually bring to my bed and despite this burning attraction I have for her, I’m not going to go after a single mother. Her life seems to be tough already. I don’t want to add to it.
