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Jericho walks toward the table at the back and sits. His eyes are riveted to me, and he has that same look of curiosity wrapped in desire I noticed last night.
“Oh my God,” Kelly mutters, coming up to me. “Is that seriously Jericho Grayson? In my café?”
I glance at her and take in the star-struck expression on her face. It shouldn’t be surprising that she recognizes him. It would be more surprising if she didn’t.
In a city like New York where he walks among the Wall Street titans, people like him are treated like celebs.
I gather myself and my scrambled, very tired brain to give her a curt smile.
“Yes. It seems so.”
She gives me a wide-eyed stare and a matching smile. “He’s looking right atyou. Go. Serve him before Talia does.”
She lifts her chin toward Talia, the other waitress, who is serving the elderly couple who come in here every day. Talia is taking their order, but her eyes are on Jericho. She’s definitely Jericho’s type. She’s the same age as me with long raven hair and a barbie-doll figure men love, and she knows it.
From the moment Kelly found out I was single, she’s been trying to set me up with every half decent guy who walks in here. She’s in her late fifties so has that motherly presence about her that makes her treat us like daughters. On this occasion, I wish she wouldn’t try.
“I think we better let Talia serve him. She’s closer to his table.” I nod, hoping my suggestion will help me avoid him.
Judging from the deadpan stare Kelly gives me, I already know she’s not going to allow me to worm my way out of this.
“River. Don’t let me march you over there.” She slides a pencil into the messy brown bun sitting on top of her head that looks like a cute bird’s nest. “This is exactly why you’re single. You have to seize opportunities the way I did with my Ed.”
Her eyes become dreamy, and I resist the urge to groan.
This situation here is nothing like her and Ed, her husband of thirty-five years. She’s told me the story of how they met a million times during my time here, so I’m well versed in it. The two met at a carnival at the kissing booth Kelly arranged to work in just so she could kiss him.
It’s a sweet story, and Ed is amazing, but Jericho is not like Ed.At all.
Men like Jericho make me want to stay single for the rest of my days. So, I won’t tell Kelly that I’ve been there and done the relationship thing with this guy, and I have no desire to test those waters ever again.
“Don’t keep the man waiting. He’s our customer.” She uses her I’m-your-boss voice.
“Okay, fine, I’ll go serve him.”
Ugh.This is just what I need to start an already hard day.
Feeling like I’d rather jump into a black hole and hide until the world ends, I grab my notepad and pen, then proceed to take the arduous walk toward my ex.
I run through all the possible things I could say to him, but my mind slows the closer I get, then I’m torn between wanting to scream at him and running away.
If I didn’t need this job, I’d do both.
Jericho straightens, drawing attention to his football-player muscular shoulders.
He levels me a curious stare, then gives me that sexy half-smile that hooked me from the first night we met. That smile always got me in trouble. It did that night when my stupid heart decided it wanted one of the most popular boys in school. Someone who seemed unobtainable to me.
Our meeting wasn’t sweet like Kelly and Ed’s, but there were parts of it that were.
I met Jericho Grayson when I was fleeing from a party I shouldn’t have gone to. I was the new girl, only a few weeks in at Aster Academy, an uppity school I didn’t belong in either. I got accepted because Dad worked for Jaeger Tech and had a prestigious job as one of their senior software engineers. He’d just made a big move from their branch in Colorado to New York, much to my evil stepmother’s delight.
At school, I was a prime target who the bullies christened the dance geek, so the night of the party I had the misfortune of having my very own Carrie moment. I even got the pig’s blood, too. They said it was a close match to my hair.
I was in mid-flight when I crashed into Jericho, who then saved me from the bullies who were chasing me. It turned out he was the thing they feared. The alpha at the head of the food chain. He, Knight, and Luc. The trio who owned the school. I never had any more problems with bullies after that day. Any problems I had came from being with a guy I knew right from the start my father would hate just for being a Grayson.
When I reach Jericho’s table, my head feels heavy and light at the same time. The feeling infuriates me because it’s his fault. The only thing I’m thankful for is that I’m out of earshot, so Kelly and Talia won’t be able to hear me. I have no shortage of words to say to Jericho for putting me in this awkward position.
“You know this borders on stalking, right?” I raise my brows and focus on his bright blue gaze, which brightens at the mention of stalking.
