‘What did you go and do that for?’ Ray complained, as I watched Jack move through the tables back towards the bar.
‘He’s our neighbor,’ I replied. ‘I was being polite.’
‘No, being polite is saying thanks when he takes our order, or complimenting him on the décor. Whatyoudid is borderline weird. Inviting a stranger to join us.’
‘Again, he’s not a stranger, he’s our neighbor, and I want to find out more about the guy who’s living next door to my mother, if that’s OK with you.’
‘Now we’ll have to talk to him.’
‘What’s wrong with talking?’
‘I can’t be bothered with it. People natter on and on about the stupidest things.’
‘You mean like porridge?’
He glared at me.
I wasn’t about to admit it to Ray, but the invitation had slipped out of my mouth before I’d even thought about it, and Ray wasn’t the only one questioning my motives. Yes, Ididwant to find out more about the guy my mother had invited to live in the family cabin, but was that all it was? I couldn’t deny the fact that Jack was ridiculously good-looking, and our banter the night before had been fun. The most fun I’d had in a while, in fact. I couldn’t blame my subconscious for wanting a repeat performance.
‘I’m officially on a break and all yours,’ Jack said, sliding into the booth beside Ray. ‘Thanks again for inviting me. It makes a nice change from mindlessly shoveling in food while I go over the accounts in the office.’
‘Did you hear that, Ray?’ I said. ‘He thanked me. You could learn from him.’
Ray ignored me. ‘Are you sure our order went through?’
‘Of course,’ Jack reassured him. ‘And I’ve added mine to it. It’s all gone through to the kitchen and they’ll be preparing it as we speak.’
I leaned back against the vinyl, padded red bench seat, which was warm from the heat of the day, and studied him through narrowed eyes. ‘Let me guess, you ordered the sirloin steak.’
He shook his head. ‘No. Why?’
‘You just look like the kind of man who eats a pound of meat a day.’
He snorted, almost spitting out the mouthful of beer he’d just drunk. ‘What do you mean, I look like I eat a pound of meat a day?’
‘You know, you just have a healthy, outdoor, rugged woodsman look about you.’
‘Woodsman?’ he replied, amused. ‘Are they even a thing any more?’
‘One hundred percent,’ I assured him. ‘If the romance books I read are anything to go by. OK, so if you didn’t order the sirloin,’ I studied him. ‘It has to be the lobster.’ I flicked a sympathetic glance over at the live tank in the corner, from where people could choose their own live lobster to be cooked for their dinner. ‘Poor bastards.’
‘Wrong again.’
‘Burger?’
‘No. You’re really bad at this, aren’t you?’
‘Not normally.’ I protested. ‘This is like my superpower, guessing what food people are going to order. I’m stupidly good at it.’
‘That’s a weird superpower.’
‘Obviously. But still, I’m never wrong.’
He shrugged. ‘I guess I’m the exception.’
‘Like I said,’ Ray muttered, as he unrolled cutlery from inside a napkin and placed them in front of him in preparation for his meal. ‘People like to talk about stupid stuff.’
‘How long have you been working here?’ I asked Jack.
