Jason slid the chicken breast next to the collard greens and set the plate under the heat lamp, ready for Sam to take it to Ms. Taylor. The plate looked kind of empty to him without any sweet potatoes, but it was the way Ms. Taylor liked it. She’d smile at Jason and murmur something about watching her weight, though Jason couldn’t see she needed to worry about that. According to Bryce, she was one of the most stylish women in town. Jason couldn’t really comment on that, as his idea of style came with a flatter chest and a dick, but she was a nice lady who always made sure to compliment him on his food.
That was the last ticket done. The lunchtime rush had finished an hour ago, but there were always a few stragglers who came in late, and Ms. Taylor was usually the latest of those. Jason took off the bandana he’d been wearing to keep the sweat from his eyes andrubbed his hand through his curly hair. He was hot, tired, and ready to head home just as soon as three o’clock came.
Matt had insisted the pack patrol their territory every night since the hostile alpha Cale, along with his brutish pack, had attacked them. Jason knew his alpha was right to do so, but that didn’t make it any easier to spend the night roaming the woods and hills around the ranch with every sense alert before coming in to do a full morning shift at the diner. Andthenhe had to return home to cook dinner for a pack of hungry wolves every night.
Some days he didn’t know why he bothered, because they all scarfed their food down so fast it was like they didn’t even taste it. But then Tristan or Dave would enthuse over something new that they liked, and it made all his work worthwhile.
Well, he’d thought it did. But something had changed recently, and he found himself almost resentingthe amount of time he spent cooking. Not the cooking itself—he’d always love that—but the way it had started to feel like the only thing about him anyone really valued.
He wasn’t sure that was fair. But Jesse’s offhand question about his role in the pack had lodged in his chest.Wasthat all they saw him as—the cook? And maybe that should be enough for him, because he’d finally found somewhere he belonged. Somewhere safe. But he wanted… he wanted to beseen. Not to have to apologize for taking up space.
He glanced up as the swing door from the diner opened, and Sam Fawcett poked her head through. “Jason, honey, can you watch the place for ten minutes? I want to look in on Natalie and check she has everything she needs.”
“Sure,” he agreed, wiping his hands on the dish towel and following her out.
He too had been wondering how Natalie was. She was the full-time waitress here and, at six months pregnant, had called insick last week and hadn’t been in since. Sam hadn’t given Jason any details—and he was glad, because he was happy to live in ignorance when it came to that kind of thing—but he knew Sam was worried about her.
“Maybe take her a cupcake?” he suggested. “She likes the double chocolate raspberry.”
“She can’t eat that alone,” Sam said. “She’d feel rude.”
Jason bit back a smile as he picked out from the glass-fronted counter two of the cakes he’d made that morning. He boxed them up and handed them to Sam.
“Thanks, honey,” she said.
As she disappeared out the front door, she passed a young blond guy in a brown leather jacket on his way in. The guy took his shades off and looked around curiously, and Jason’s knees practically gave out.
What? No, seriously,what?Someone looking like that had come toElk Ridge?That face should be on posters across the country.Underwearposters, looking at the rest of him—battered jacket open over a soft-looking sweater that somehow both skimmed and clung to his body.
Jason had never seen someone that hot in real life. In his mid-twenties, Jason thought, with spiky blond hair, and a jawline that made him look like his face was sculpted from marble. Nothing on that face gave away what he was thinking about what he saw. The diner wasn’t the fanciest place, but they served good, honest food.
Jason had to actually lockhis knees together when the man looked over at him and wandered in his direction. Why had Sam chosen now of all times to duck out? How the hell was he supposed to speak to someone this hot?
“You still serving lunch?” the customer asked, glancing at the blackboard that listed the day’s specials. Customer. That was all he was—acustomer.Jason clung to that thought like a lifeline.
The customer changed the direction of his gaze to look at Jason, and the whole world crashed to a halt. There was something in those blue-gray eyes—something he’d never seen before.
“Uh, yeah, sure,” he stammered, his mouth so dry he wasn’t sure how he got the words out. He had no idea what the question had been but figured his answer would be the same in any case. There was no way he could refuse this man anything.
The customer’s eyes flicked back to the specials board. “I’ll take the pesto chicken special and an iced tea.”
“Sure,” Jason said, and didn’t have a clue what he was agreeing to.
“Should I just sit anywhere?” The man gestured at the almost empty diner.
“Uh, yeah, please. I’ll bring it out to you when it’s ready.” Jason finally managed to stumble through something resembling a sentence.
The man made his way across the diner to a seat by the window, and Jason watched him the entire way. He moved with absolute confidence, almost to the point of arrogance. But then, looking like that, why not?
Jason dragged his eyes away before he could get caught staring, and his gaze accidentally locked with Ms. Taylor’s. She was watching him, face lit with amusement, and as their eyes met, she raised a deliberate eyebrow.
“Jason, dear,” she said, pitching her voice so there was no way he could claim not to have heard her. “Do you have a minute?”
“I—uh—” Jason attempted a wave in the direction of the new customer to indicate he needed to be in the kitchenright now. Which he did. He just didn’t want to go back there and miss asecond of someone as hot as this in Elk Ridge. In hisdiner.Because it would never happen again.
“Just for a second,” she insisted.
He made his way over to her, and she put her hand on his wrist. “One thing I’ve learned in this life is not to miss an opportunity,” she said. “Things don’t just happen on their own. You need to act.”
