1
LAILA
Ilove the switch tolate at nightfrom merelynighttime. Today being Tuesday, it happens just after ten-thirty.
My gaze drifts between my laptop and the chilly rain pitter-pattering on the cars still in the diner parking lot.
Ray’s Diner is one of those timeless escapes from the outside world. Classic teal vinyl booths. Food that’s always better than you’d expect at a place like this. Perky service and bottomless coffee at all hours, evenlate at night. It’s a small sliver of peace that never changes.
I take a sip of decaf, and sure enough, as soon as I set the mug back down, I see an orange-topped coffeepot out of the corner of my eye descend and pour another inch.
"The first hour you were here, you were completely focused, but now… What’s up?" Claudia asks with a smile, leaning on the side of the booth. She's almost always smiling. Her crisp blue uniform must be a magic charm that wards off bad moods.
"It's the rain," I sigh. “I think I’m wishing it was snow."
"Really? It's so much harder to get around in snow."
"Yeah, I know." My head shakes. "Maybe it's easier to pretend I'm in another world when it's snowy?"
She laughs, then glances around the diner to check if anyone needs her. There’s an older couple at the counter, three teenagers in the back corner with their noses in their phones, and a tall, dark-haired man with his back to us working on a laptop across the aisle and one booth over.
"Hey, since when do you work Tuesdays?" I ask.
Claudia grins. "My schedule keeps getting switched around while I'm in school. And you? Since when do you work so late?"
I shrug, then pull my cardigan tighter around my shoulders. "I had to escape my house. The Megan Show has completely taken over."
She clicks her tongue sympathetically. "It's not getting better?"
I've already told her about the train wreck that is my sister's wedding planning extravaganza. The actual wedding isn’t for another year, but there are already festivities practically every weekend. I'm getting sick of her trying to set me up with a certain one of the guests, of being yanked into photo shoots, of having to attend events where I'm expected to socialize with her wannabe-influencer friends.
"There's a fourth –fourth– engagement party that lasts this entire weekend. What I’d give to just…" I point to my laptop. "Slip into one of the wormholes in this book and just disappear."
I look up at Claudia hopefully. "Hey, any chance you could arrange some kind of freak accident where I ended up chained to this table and couldn’t be freed until Monday?"
She snorts, then shakes her head. "Honestly, I wouldn’t say no to the company. I'm scheduled to work Saturday night and it's going to be completely dead for Valentine's Day."
"That sucks, I’m sorry."
Just then, the bell over the door chimes as a couple of construction workers come in and greet Claudia warmly on their way to the back.
She shoots me a sympathetic look, then grabs some menus. On the way by, she asks Laptop Guy, "More coffee, Devin?"
"No, I'm good. But thanks, Claudia."
Oh wow. I've never heard a voice that sexy and deep before. It's dark and smoldering, like a hot movie villain. Like, you don't want him to win the battle or anything, but at the same time you wouldn’t say no to listening to him explain his evil plan a few more times.
He slides out of the booth, turning to me and standing. It actually takes some effort for me to close my lips. He'sbig. At least…maybe six foot three? And even though he's wearing a crisp dark blue button-down shirt, there's no hiding the muscular frame underneath.
He takes a step closer, his caramel brown eyes fixed on me. "May I join you for a moment?"
He's gorgeous. No. Striking. No, that's not it either. My brain short circuits for a few seconds before I realize I haven't answered. "Sure."
He sits in the booth across from me, carefully moving his long legs to the side so as not to crowd me. "Please don't think I sit around cafés eavesdropping on conversations," he smiles. His eyes sparkle. "But I couldn't help overhearing that you want to escape town this weekend."
I relax a bit. "I mean, off the planet would work too. Anywhere so that I don't have to go to my sister Megan's party."
He leans in, letting the volume of his voice drop a bit. It only makes it smokier. "I'm sorry. Is she a mega bitch?"
