Page 26 of Lawton

"Sounds great."

At this, she finally laughed. A real laugh. "Seriously?"

"Why not?"

She was shaking her head. "Sorry, but you can't come in. I'll just have to owe you."

"Then I'll just have to collect." I grinned over at her. "Lucky for you, patience is my middle name." I turned sideways in the seat to face her. "So, uh, tomorrow morning work for you? Steak and eggs?"

It was a joke. A bad one, obviously, because the way it looked, she was taking it seriously. A nice guy would've told her he was just kidding. I wanted to be a nice guy. But the thought of breakfast with Chloe was impossible to resist.

So I waited.

Say yes.

But she didn't. She said nothing. Outside the car, the rain was pounding. Inside the car, her silence grew louder with every second. I studied her profile. What was she thinking?

"So Chucky," I said in a conversational tone. "How's it goin'?"

Chucky gave a small bark and squirmed in her lap.

Chloe gave a little shake, as if breaking out of a trance. "I've gotta go."

And just like that, she shoved open the car door and ran out into the rain, taking her little dog with her. Watching her sprint through the downpour, I couldn't help but smile.

Holy shit. She'd turned me down.

And for some reason, I liked it.

When was the last time any girl had turned me down? I tried to think, but came up empty. Was Chloe really the first? One thing was for sure, she wasn't easy. And yeah, I liked that, too.

Still smiling, I fired up the car and waited, keeping my eyes glued to her house. When I saw the front lights flick on, I knew she was safe, so then, and only then, I backed out of the driveway.

Driving through the pounding rain, I couldn't get Chloe out of my head. I had to see her again – tomorrow if I was lucky.

But as it turned out, I saw her later that same night, and in a place I didn't expect.

Chapter 13

Sitting in the red vinyl booth, Brittney glanced up from her menu. "I could totally get a job here, you know."

Amber nodded. "You could. Totally."

The restaurant, some trendy local place with a diner theme, was jam-packed and noisy as hell. I'd heard of the place, but this was my first time here. It was some sort of theme restaurant, where the servers were supposed to be rudely funny – and, if the stories were right, insanely beautiful.

Lounging back in the booth, I looked across the table at Brittney and Amber. Both of them were beautiful. And Brittney had no problem being rude. Who knows? Maybe shecouldwork here.

Brittney leaned across the table, giving me a nice close-up of her cleavage. She smiled. "What doyouthink, Lawton?"

I glanced away. "About what?"

With a sound of frustration, Brittney pushed herself back and settled into her seat. "About me. Could I work here or what?"

From the end of our table, a new female voice said, "Not a chance, honey. This gig's all mine."

I looked up to see our waitress, an attractive brunette in a low-cut white blouse and a short pink skirt. Her hair was big and old-fashioned, but her smile was just right – pretty, in spite of dark red lipstick that looked like something my grandma might've worn way back whenever.

The waitress had a pencil tucked behind her ear and a notepad at the ready. With a flourish, she whipped out the pencil and said, "So, baby-dolls, what do you want?"