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“Give me ten,” he says. “I’ll have someone bring it out to you.”
I nod, giving him a thumbs up as I turn and head around to the small, semi-enclosed outdoor seating area that’s reserved for staff. A couple of the waitresses are out here, obviously having a late lunch after the rush has died down.
I tip my head in their direction before taking a seat at one of the empty tables to wait for my lunch.
I’m surfing through the internet on my phone, killing time as I wait for Leo to appear when I hear voices approaching, the unmistakable sound of Jack’s accent as he chats about something. I’m only half listening and it’s not until a plate of food is placed in front of me that I finally look up to see Jack standing over me, a huge grin on his face because of course Tessa is here, standing right beside him.
“Thought you two might want to have lunch together,” he says, gesturing to the huge plate of food in the middle of the table between us.
I open my mouth to say something, anything, even though I have no fucking clue what that might be. But before I have a chance to, Jack continues, either completely oblivious or giving no fucks about how awkward this is.
“Tessa, I think you’ve met Dylan, right? He’s one of our maintenance guys, a really great worker, totally reliable and always ready to pitch in.”
My eyes close in a slow blink, not just at Jack’s bullshit, but because I have no desire to see her reaction to his obvious attempt to make me look good or her back as she turns and walks away.
“Yes, I’ve met him,” she says, her slightly husky voice just as sexy as I remember.
“Cool,” Jack says. “Alright, I’ll leave you two to it, enjoy the pork belly, it’s awesome,” he says, clapping his hands once before turning and walking away.
I fully expect her to turn and walk away too, especially considering we’ve barely spoken to each other. But then she surprises me by sitting down in the chair across from me, placing her clipboard on the table as she pulls the plate of food closer.
She’s staring down at it, not looking at me and of course I take the opportunity to check her out, remind myself of what I walked away from or lost or whatever the fuck it was that happened. She’s still as gorgeous and sexy as I remember, her long dark hair pulled back into a messy ponytail, a pencil shoved through it as though she’s forgotten she stuck it there.
She’s wearing glasses today, which I’ve never seen her in before. But they are these cute, black framed things that make her look like a sexy little librarian. Someone I could totally see myself bending over this table and fucking.
Jesus, what the hell is wrong with me?
Tessa suddenly looks up, our eyes meeting and for a second, I wonder if I just said the words out loud.
“So, I figure seeing as I’m going to be working here for a while, we should probably clear the air. At least make things less awkward.”
I say nothing, my brain is either completely fried by the fact that she’s this close to me or it’s somehow unable to figure out the right thing to say.
“I really want this job, Dylan, and I don’t want anything to—”
“You said you were going to San Francisco?” I blurt out. “That you were leaving, that you…”
Tessa sucks in a breath, her elbows resting on the table, her fingers pressed to her lips as she stares across at me. “Yeah, um, so about that.”
“Yeah,” I say. “What the hell was that? I thought we were having fun?”
She blinks, lifting one shoulder. “Yeah, I mean we were, but then…”
“What, you wanted more? You weren’t interested? What?”
I watch as Tessa swallows, lowering her arms so they’re now crossed in front of her. She lowers her gaze to the food, as if she can no longer look at me. “Something like that,” she eventually says, her words quiet.
“Something like what?”
Her eyes flick to the sky, as though she’s searching for some kind of explanation or the right words to say. When she finally lowers them, her intense blue gaze meeting mine, I feel a sudden jolt of electricity shoot down my spine, surprising me.
“I guess it stopped being fun when it was clear you didn’t want more,” she says.
And just like that, the spark or whatever the hell it was is gone, replaced with confusion and maybe just a little bit of anger too. “I thought we were…I mean, I thought I was clear about what was going on?”
Tessa exhales, picking up her cutlery as she starts to cut into our lunch. “Yeah, you were,” she says, forking some of the pork belly and apple slices. “I guess I changed my mind,” she adds, before slipping the fork into her mouth.
Her words, her explanation, if that’s what you can even call it, are immediately forgotten the second she starts to eat, the second she lets out this low, sexy as fuck groan because clearly the food is delicious. And it’s with that one sound, that I feel my dick stir in my jeans, my blood surging through my veins as my heart starts to tap out a hard rhythm in my chest.
Fuck me, what is it with this woman?
Just as I open my mouth to speak, to apologize or beg or do whatever it takes to make her forgive me and give me another chance to make her moan like that, my phone chimes out with a text.
Glancing down, I see Jack’s name on my screen and the text he’s sent me.
Jack: Fuck me, I’m good. Didn’t even need 3 hours. You’re welcome btw ;)
