“Hey, Blue Jay.”
“Dakota.” Her brother Lachlan’s best friend sat in the booth, smiling back at her. “I don’t think I know your friends.”
“Wouldn’t suppose you would, sweetheart. We’re down on a little trip from Oklahoma. Just come down to see our buddy Dak about some custom parts for our bikes.”
“Are you doing that with Lach?” Jessie tipped her head in confusion. Jessie helped out at her brother’s garage several times a week, and he hadn’t mentioned branching outbeyond the regular stuff he did as Silver Springs’ only mechanic. Of course, she wouldn’t be surprised if he did decide to expand his offerings. Business had been slow for him recently.
“It’s something we’re exploring. Jess, do you think we could have ‘the works’? Trying to show my friends here that Silver Springs is all about good hospitality.”
“Yeah, that’s no problem,” Jessie answered as she wrote down three all-American meals on the ticket. “You all want coffee with that?”
“Yeah, sweetheart. Can I get mine with a little sugar?” The guy sitting next to Dakota reached out, his hand sliding along her hip before she could step away. Jessie smiled, her hand removing the man’s hand before she turned towards the kitchen. “I’ll have your orders out for you in just one minute.”
Fucking creep.
She shivered as she walked the order back to the kitchen. Growing up in Silver Springs, and having her mom as her boss since she was a teen, meant she didn’t have to put up with men being too handsy with her all that often. But when she did, her skin crawled.
“You okay?” Adrienne, her friend who had been serving alongside her at the diner since they were in high school, asked as she pulled her order off the line. “You’re staring into space and I just saw your favorite regulars sit at table seven. You want me to take their order?”
“Shit. I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me today! I’ll be right out and I’ll take care of them.”
“How about I take table twelve?” She looked over her shoulder and then faced Jessie again, her eyes going wide. “I’m not sure who the hell that is with Dakota, but the man in the leather jacket and all those tattoos. Damn. I could really use a win, Jess.”
Jessie laughed. “If you’re in here when their order comesup, feel free to bring it to them. Just be careful, the leather jacket guy just tried to feel me up.”
Adrienne’s ears turned bright red, but she just shrugged and laughed before heading out of the kitchen.
“Here, kid. You look like you could use some of this.” Duke, who had been cooking alongside her mom since the diner opened, handed her a mug. Jessie took it, smiling as she realized it was her mom’s chicken soup.
“Thanks. I think this might be the only thing keeping me up off the floor.”
“You and half the town.”
Jessie took another sip, letting the hot, lightly spiced liquid warm her from the inside out. That was exactly what she needed. She wouldn’t let the flu take her out. Not when her mom was counting on her to make sure things were covered with service at the diner, and she had those business night classes she was taking towards her degree. Lach needed her at his mechanic shop, and her dad still needed her to help out at the ranch, even with her brother Beau stepping up so much over the last year. She wasn’t about to let a little illness stop her from being there for her family. They were counting on her.
Jess squared her shoulders and smiled as she grabbed the coffee pot off the warming plate. Her smile almost faltered when Dakota’s guests came back into view, but she forced herself to remain polite.
“Here,” Jessie took the first coffee cup off the table. “Let me get these coffees poured for you. It should only be a few more minutes before your meals are out. Is there anything else I can get you in the meantime?”
Leather jacket guy moved his hand from the table down to his lap. Jessie pretended not to see the way he adjusted himself as she reached to pour coffee into Dakota’s cup.
“You know, I’d still really like that sugar.”
Before Jessie could step back, the man’s hand was on theback of her leg, pulling her off balance towards him. She bumped against the table, the soft space where her belly met her hip taking the brunt of the force.
“You need to take your hand off of her.Right. Now.”
The voice from behind washed over her, and she knew she was safe.
Hawk.
If only he could make the dizziness from her cold go away.
“Ah, Dak, you said she wasn’t seeing anyone.”
“I’m not,” Jessie replied, her own voice sounding a million miles away. God, she absolutely hated when people talked for her. “But that doesn’t give you a right to put your hands on me. A second time. I’m going to have to insist that you leave the diner now.”
“Jessie, that’s really not necessary.” Dakota crossed his arms. His friendship with her brother—hell, him feeling like an older brother to her—wouldn’t get her to budge.
