“My sister and I were twins. When one of us said or did something, the other tended to do the same. Our friends and family called us the jinx twins. When I left home...I wanted a new identity, but I also wanted to keep a part of my sister. Jinx felt right and felt like me.” She looked down at her watch and grimaced. “I gotta go, or I’ll be rushing to get shit done. Um, if you want to stop by, I’d love to see you. That is, if you don’t mind, I’d be working, too.”
“Hey, stop. I have to go back to my parents and do a few errands, but I’ll be by. Here’s my number.”He grabbed one of his business cards from the cubby in the center console.
Jinx looked at the silver foil card with a stylized skull on the front, his name, cell phone number, and email address. To his astonishment, she pulled her phone from her pocket, typed out a text, and then his phone buzzed.
“Now you have my number.” She turned the screen toward him.
“There’s that blush again,” he said, loving the color that covered what he could see. He wanted to see just how lovely she looked with that blush tinting her from head to toe.
“Okay, I’ll see you.”
He placed his hand on her arm. “Hold up.”
Viking got out and went around the front of his truck. He looked around the nearly empty parking lot, feeling slightly exposed. The odd sensation had him pausing with one hand on the passenger door, holding it closed. He glanced around with a keener eye. Each vehicle appeared empty with frost on the windows as if they’d been there a while.
Jinx knocked on the window, jerking his attention to her. She mouthed the wordwhat.
He shook his head, blowing out a breath. “I’m losing my mind.” Viking pulled her door open. “Just checking the lot.”
Chapter Ten
Jinx got into her truck after the odd interaction with Viking outside the diner. He didn’t seem like the paranoid sort, but he’d looked around the lot as if he’d sensed someone watching him. If he’d been a lawyer who prosecuted bad guys, she’d worry for him, but as a man who dealt in land issues and such, she didn’t see who would be making him look over his shoulders.
“I’ll see you tonight,” she said, wondering if he’d actually show up. Her body still tingled from the light touches earlier. If she hadn’t needed to work, she didn’t doubt they’d have ended up tangled in her sheets already. Not that she was easy. Hell, she'd slept with one man in all her twenty-four years. One time. Maybe if he’d been good, or if it had been good, she’d have done it again. Gah, she needed to get away so she could get her shit together.
“Buckle up and drive safely. I’ll see you in a few hours,” he said, leaning down to look her in the eyes. “If you need me to bring you anything, shoot me a text or call me.”
Jinx gave him a thumbs up, waiting for him to shut the door before shifting into reverse. She eased onto the road, acutely aware of Viking watching her.
A couple of hours later, she moved toward the front of the bar, ready to cook herself a pizza. They had a small kitchen area behind the bar that offered pizza and a few other things that could be baked or microwaved. She never ate the microwaved shit, but the pizza wasn’t too bad.
She ducked under the counter and moved through the swinging door into the kitchen breakroom combo. Inside the standing freezer, she pulled out a personal pizza. After setting the oven temperature to the correct temperature, she pulled out her phone to check the time.
“Shit. Fred and Jordan should be here by now.” Her best friend texted earlier, saying he was catching a ride with his roommate. She didn’t think that should make them both late.
She pressed the button with his image next to it, waiting for Fred’s familiar voice to answer. After several rings, his voicemail picked up. She tried again, hoping he’d misplaced his device and wouldanswer this time. She hung up the moment his automatic ringtone clicked into the recorded tone.
“Dammit, Freddy. Where the hell are you?”
She put her phone back into her pocket and moved toward the door leading to the bar. A buzz made her pause and pull her cell phone out. She looked down to find a message from Fred.
Her hand went to her mouth. An image of Jordan’s SUV in a ditch with a tow truck on the road made her heart lurch. The words under the image blurred. She blinked several times until she could read Fred’s message.
“A deer ran out in front of us. Numbnuts screamed like a girl and ran into one, then off the road into the ditch. We’re waiting on the ambulance and cops. Can you believe the tow guy got here first? Also, he’s hot, and his truck is warm.”
She nearly collapsed in relief after reading his explanation. The oven beeped, reminding her she needed to heat her pizza. While she typed with one hand, she hurriedly put the pizza in with the other.
“Take care of yourself and keep me posted on the damage. Tell Jordan I said I hope he’s okay, and I’m sorry about his SUV.”
Fred mentioned the ambulance, but he didn’t say they were severely injured. She had to assume they were taking precautions or something. Her friend was a drama king who would’ve cried to the heavens if he’d been hurt. Not to say that Jordan might not be suffering in some way. Fred tended to overlook others' plights when he was focused on his own. From the sounds of it, he had his eyes on a tow truck driver instead of his roommate. That could be a sticky situation, but she wouldn’t stick her nose in his business.
“Good thing I came in early to stock up. Now I can only hope shit doesn’t get crazy tonight.”
The bar phone rang, jarring her nerves. She wiped her palms down her thighs before snatching the receiver up. “Tap House,” she said.
“Hey, Jinx. This is Frank. I just got off the phone with Fred. He said Jordan has a broken leg. He’s whining about having a broken nose and possibly needing plastic surgery to fix his good looks. The kid is broken in the head. Foolish boy. Fred is going to ride along with Jordan and get checked out even though he swears he’s fine.” He sighed loudly. “Anyway, I’m calling to tell you to go ahead and lockup. I don’t want you to be there on Christmas by yourself. Take the night off, with pay, of course.”
“I don’t mind, Frank. Really, I’ve worked the bar by myself plenty of times.” She tried to reassure the older man, but there was a finality to his tone. She had a feeling nothing she said would sway him.
