Again, Samantha stopped herself as her mouth was already opening. She was about to ask if they were out on Daddy Guard business. Yikes! They needed to leave before she slipped up.
“Then I don’t think we’ve met,” she told him.
Guilt surged through her. For some reason, she hated lying to him.
Though dishonesty came fairly easy to her in most cases…
“Huh. Could’ve sworn I’ve seen you somewhere.”
She simply smiled at him before turning her attention to his friend.
“I’ll have a cheeseburger and fries,” Isaiah said. “Everything on it, please.”
“You bet. I’ll get those orders put in.” She looked around and then back at them. “I don’t think it’ll take very long. We’re not exactly busy.”
The guys laughed.
“Take your time,” Kendrick said.
Part of her wanted to drag their visit out. The longer she was in Kendrick’s presence, the better!
But the other part of her knew that gave him more of a chance to recognize her. She needed them gone before that happened. So, she hurried toward the kitchen window where she slid the ticket atop the shiny, silver surface and then smashed her palm down on the bell.
The cook appeared, grunted, and took the ticket.
That was about the most conversation she ever got from him, unless he was feeling talkative and wanted to share about the parlays he had out, hoping to hit on the various sports wagers he placed.
She didn’t know anything about that stuff. But she listened whenever he was in the mood to talk, because the night silence could be near maddening.
But tonight she was happy. It didn’t matter that she was broke. Or that the diner wasn’t busy, which meant no tips and she was working for minimum wage.
At the moment, she didn’t even care that Christmas was coming and she’d spend it alone, like she did every other holiday.
Right now, the man she dreamed of calling Daddy was just a few feet away. And it seemed as if every time she chanced a peek in his direction, he was looking her way, too.
She covered her mouth to giggle.
That night had suddenly turned wonderful. And she was going to savor every moment of it.
Chapter Four
Kendrick awoke the following morning to find the cute waitress from last night was still on his mind.
Her brown hair. Those big brown eyes. She was as cute as could be. Something told him she had a sassy streak, though. He chuckled just thinking about that.
She’d given him no evidence of such. It was simply a hunch he had.
Daddies could pick up on those things. They just knew.
He took a sip of coffee from the mug he held and strolled into the den. The morning sun was coming through the back window, making the space plenty bright even though none of the lights were on.
December might be cold and cloudy in other parts of the country, but there in Los Angeles it was all sunshine and mild temps. Even around Christmas.
It might not have felt like the holiday season outside, but it did inside. Thankfully.
The lights of a grand Christmas tree twinkled, switching from red, green, and blue to clear and then back again. Wrapped presents ringed the base of the tree. Some were perfectly packaged—like the ones the ladies had done or the ones someof the guys had paid to have professionally wrapped at the mall. But others looked like a toddler had wrapped them—the paper and tape askew.
Those were the ones Ace had done himself.
