Page 45 of Timid (Lark Cove 2)

The conversation at our table stopped as the three of us did what we always did at meal time: inhale food. By the time we were done, Mom, Dad and I hadn’t spoken more than one word. Our three pizzas were gone except for a few pieces of discarded crust.

Jackson chuckled, returning to the back of my chair. “I was going to bring you a box, but I see you don’t need one.”

Dad laughed too. “We were hungry.”

“Can I get you anything else?”

“Just the check.” Mom smiled up at Jackson, her nose a rosy red from the martinis.

“Will do,” he told her. “Willa, you feel like sticking around for a bit?”

“Oh, uh . . . no. I’d better go.”

“Come on. One more beer,” Jackson pleaded. “I had this idea to do something special for Charlie and I wanted to run it by you.”

I hesitated long enough for Mom to make my decision for me.

“Stay, sweetie.” Mom patted my hand. “Your dad and I have business to attend to at home.”

I groaned. “Blargh.”

She giggled and batted her eyelashes at Dad. Two martinis and she was tipsy, even with all that pizza.

Dad was actually looking a little buzzed himself, and when he made a kissy face at her, I decided I’d rather brave time with Jackson than deal with these two as they groped each other on the walk home.

“Okay.” I nodded. “I’ll stay for a bit.”

Jackson smiled as victory danced in his sky-blue eyes. “Finally.”

“I’m impressed you guys ate three pizzas,” I told Willa as I loaded up their empty pans.

“We were hungry.” She shrugged, taking her half-full beer glass over to the bar.

Her parents had just left, snuggling together as they’d walked out the door.

Willa pretended to be grossed out by their not-so-subtle innuendo, but as she watched them leave, her dreamy smile told a different story.

As she sat on a stool, I hustled the empty pizza pans to the kitchen sink, then came back to clear the martini glasses and wipe down the table. After I did a lap around the room, making sure the other customers didn’t need anything else, I went back behind the bar and stood across from Willa.

What I really wanted to do was kick everyone out for the night. I’d finally gotten Willa to agree to spend some time with me, and I wanted to give her my undivided attention. But it was busy tonight and I didn’t have another option.

“Want another beer?” I asked.

“No, thanks. I’ve got a busy day tomorrow and I need to be fresh. Two beers make me a little woogidy the next morning.”

“Woogidy?” I grinned. “That’s not a word.”

“It’s kind of a word,” she muttered. Her face flushed and she looked down at the bar.

Damn, she was cute. Cute in a sexy, drop-me-on-my-ass kind of way. I smiled at her rosy cheeks and the way her shoulders crept up to her ears.

I liked that I had the ability to unsettle her a bit. It meant that somewhere in there, her crush on me wasn’t completely gone.

“Woogidy.” I leaned in closer. “I like it. I might have to use that one myself.”

She lifted her chin and gave me a shy smile.

“How about a Coke?”