Page 25 of Worth Loving
He slipped the menu in front of her. “Here for food, I’m assuming, since you said it was your lunch break.” He turned when a waitress came over and handed him an order, her hand trailing down his arm. He’d smiled back and turned to fill it but didn’t move from his spot just yet.
She was trying not to see crimson. She didn’t have any claim on the sexy man whose biceps were flexing under his red Pulse embroidered T-shirt. She was just a customer like so many others here.
Even a few other single ladies at the bar were trying to get his attention.
She had to be an idiot to think he was telling her things he hadn’t told other people.
He was probably just playing some kind of game like he did to everyone.
Better tips for sure.
“I’ll be back to get your order,” he said, moving over to help someone else.
She checked out the food selections and decided maybe a salad was the way to go. No reason to get something greasy and risk spilling it on herself.
While she watched Dean being friendly with a few other women, she felt her heart drop and realized that was how he was. It wasn’t just the waitress.
He wasn’t treating her any differently than anyone else who came into the bar.
She should have known that all along and wondered why she was so naïve to fall for the fact that she thought he was flirting withher.
When he came back a few minutes later, he said, “Ready to order?”
“I’ll have the chef salad with house vinaigrette.” She pushed the menu toward him.
“Coming right up,” he said, moving away and punching it into the computer. “So I guess you find you like it here.”
“What?” she asked. She’d turned her head and was just looking around at the place. She realized it was brighter during the day than the night she came in here when she was “ditch the date Molly.” She hadn’t realized that the last time she was here. She’d been too focused on how she felt when she walked in to notice much more about her surroundings.
“You’ve been back once a week now for a few weeks,” he said, smiling, his eyes crinkling at the corners, a little twinkle almost coming her way.
Nah, men like him didn’t twinkle. What the hell was wrong with her? She was losing her mind thinking she was in some fairytale world where dorky women could transform into hot babes and land a guy like him.
She’d always felt like the outcast. She’d never fit in and she wondered why she was deluding herself that she could just because she purchased some new clothing.
Seeing Dean acting the same with the other single women at the bar just slammed her back into reality.
“Sometimes when I find something I like, I keep coming back until I wear it out,” she said. She had a grin on her face, but there was more truth to that than he would ever know.
By coming back today, she hit that spot well. It’d be the last time.
Dean was thrilledto see Molly walk back in today. He’d been hoping for it but came to not expect or rely on much in his life that he had no control over.
As much as he prided himself on controlling it all, he’d lost that battle years ago and had to pivot.
Hot chicks he wanted to bed weren’t something he could always control once Jonah came into his life.
She looked a little different to him today. Still the same sexy clothes, but definitely work-related clothing. With her hair pulled back, he could admire how sharp her cheekbones were. How clear her blue eyes, that were normally smiling at him—but weren’t right now—happened to be.
She’d come in in one mood but seemed to have taken a turn and he wasn’t sure the cause.
He couldn’t say she looked almost sad. More like distracted.
“Bad day at work?” he asked when he put her salad in front of her and refilled her seltzer.
“What?” It was the second time he’d asked her a question and it was like she was in another world.
“I asked if you were having a bad day. You looked lost in thought. Trying to figure out how to analyze the lunch I just put in front of you? I can assure you that those meats aren’t processed, but cooked fresh each day.”
