“I don’t.I’ve been hoping that you meant what you said – about when you need an extra pair of hands.”
He relaxed.“Then, if you can spare any time between your shifts next week, I’d love you to come in and help.We have a few jobs lined up and most of them are time-sensitive.
“Troy called on Monday to say that he and Cara couldn’t work out a time to get over here this week.And there are a couple of jobs that I’ve been waiting for parts to do.Of course, everything’s come in at once, so it’ll be a busy week.”He paused.“Not trying to make you feel like you need to be here or anything.”
He gave her a rueful smile.“I guess if anything, I’m trying to make clear that I do need your help if you can spare the time – I’m not just using it as an excuse to see more of you.”
When her hand came up to her heart, he worried for a second, not understanding what her reaction might mean.
He felt a whole lot better when she said, “Oh, wow!It didn’t occur to me that you might … that you’d want to see each other more.”
He nodded happily.“Then you should maybe get used to the idea, because I do.”
“I do, too, Jake.”
He felt bad when he saw the way she snuck a look at her watch.
“That makes me happy, but for now, you need to get going, right?”
“Yeah.I don’t want to, but I have to get home and then turn around and come back again.”
“You know, since this place is halfway between the restaurant and your apartment, you can come hang out here any time you like – there’s the cot in the back room.”
He laughed when her eyebrows shot up.“I meant that you can take a nap if you need one without having to drive all the way home.”
Her cheeks were pink when she met his gaze, but her smile was huge.“Right, sure you did.”
“I did!”He laughed.“But I like that you were thinking something else.”
He was only joking, but when the pink stains on her cheeks turned red, it hit him that she really had been thinking about what they could use that cot for other than sleeping.
She dropped her gaze, and he got to his feet.When he reached her, he offered his hand and hauled her up to join him.Once they were standing toe-to-toe, he looked down into her eyes.
“Of course I was thinking that too, but I’m in no hurry.We can take our time.I’m not going anywhere.”
He was shocked to see tears shine in her eyes.“But I can if you like,” he added, hoping to make her smile again.
She sniffed and dabbed at her eyes.“Sorry, I’m not crying – not really.It’s just … you.You’re … I believe you.When you say you’re not going anywhere, you mean it.”
He nodded solemnly.“I might be boring and steady to some people, but it’s who I am.”
“You’re nothing of the kind – not to me.You are so far from boring that it’s not even funny, and as for steady?To me, steady is the opposite of boring.It’s … something I’ve always wanted but never had.”
Jake’s throat constricted, and he had to swallow as he leaned down to rest his forehead against hers.
He pressed his lips to hers softly and told her, “You have it now.You have me.”
~ ~ ~
Friday night was so busy in the restaurant that Savannah wished she hadn’t switched with Tia.Instead of hustling to take care of busy tables – including a couple of pretty obnoxious groups – she could have been curled up on the sofa at the apartment watching movies with Tiff.Or even better, on Jake’s sofa with him … not watching movies.
She sucked in a breath at the memory of the other night.Their makeout session – there was no other word for it – had left her all hot and bothered.And when he’d mentioned the cot in the back at the garage yesterday, all her thoughts had gone racing to what they might get up to there.
She wasn’t the kind of girl who … oh, who was she kidding?She wasn’t any kind of girl when it came to guys and … sex.She’d had a few boyfriends, and she wasn’t completely inexperienced, but … She straightened her shoulders and grabbed the tray of drinks from the bar.She didn’t need to let her mind go there right now.She was hopeful that side of things would work out well between Jake and her.He was so sweet.He’d told her that he wasn’t in a hurry, but the way his body had reacted to her on his sofa the other night had made it clear that he was definitely interested in getting there.She was, too.
She delivered the drinks to her biggest table with a smile, even though those guys didn’t deserve one.They were the kind who had her running back and forth all night, bitched about little details just to look like they knew what they were talking about, and she already knew they’d be stingy with the tip.She hadn’t worked here at the restaurant all that long, but she’d come to know their type.
Sometimes, she longed to go back to the diner over in Hidden Valley.She’d worked there for years, and even though she’d wanted to move over the hill to Summer Lake and make a change, she missed it.Alan, who owned the place, basically left her to run it whenever she was working, and that had been fine by her.
