No. They wouldn’t hire him. Even my sisters weren’t that cruel.
I shot a look at Myra, who simply blinked like a satisfied cat. Jean snorted a laugh, then covered her mouth.
And that was when the man turned.
Ryder. Ryder Bailey was sitting at that table. Ryder Bailey was our new hire.
My heart pounded double time. He watched me, his expression a heat that pulsed all the way down to my toes.
Something about him had changed in the time he had been gone. Or maybe it wasn’t a change. Maybe it was just that the years he had been away had concentrated him into something undeniably sexy. Something that made my mouth water and knees weak.
I took an involuntary breath as he raised his hand and slowly pinched his bottom lip between the side of his index finger and thumb, hiding a smile.
His eyes glittered with humor.
Great. Everyone was in on the new-hire joke. Fine. I was determined not to let it bother me.
“Evening,” I said as I strolled around the table to the empty chair and sat directly opposite Ryder. I kicked Myra in the shin as I scooted the chair forward. I said I wouldn’t let it bother me, I didn’t say I wouldn’t be petty.
She winced and tried to step on my foot, but I knew her tricks and quickly wrapped my boot out of the way around the lower rung of the chair.
“Evening, Laney,” Ryder said.
“Sorry I’m late.”
“Everything okay?” Myra asked.
I nodded and picked up my menu. “Terrific. Just terrific,” I said through a false smile.
She wasn’t buying it.
“So, Ryder,” I started, “I didn’t know you had an interest in law enforcement.”
“Food before business,” Jean said, cutting off his reply. “We were waiting on you to order. Except for beer. Got you a Haystack. Your favorite.”
“Thank you.” I glanced over the menu edge, with a look that said one beer would not make me forgive her for choosing Ryder as our new employee.
She opened her heavily outlined eyes even wider, feigning innocence.
“What’s good here now?” I went back to actually reading the menu offerings, surprised by how varied the selection was. Just a few months ago Jump Off Jack’s offered basic bar food: chips, bread appetizers, burgers, and sandwiches. Now there were some impressive options.
“Crab cakes with chili hollandaise, yellow curry rockfish over peanut rice, whiskey honey sauce sirloin, wild shrimp in smoked tomato glaze,” I recited. “Wow.”
“Mmm-hmm,” Ryder said. “The joint’s gone classy. Might have to up our game.”
“It all sounds good,” Myra added.
“New cook, new experiences,” Jean said. “We should all try something we’ve never done before. It might make us much less bitchy.”
I kicked her.
“Had,” she corrected. “Try something we’ve never had before. The bitchy comment stands,” she muttered.
I checked out Ryder’s reaction through my lowered lashes. Other than a crooked smile, he was studiously ignoring my stupid sister, poring over the selections.
“I know what I’m getting,” he said.
“Something fancy?” Jean asked.
