Not Quite Dating Read Free Page B

her to reveal a thing or two about herself.
    “It’s hard to stay awake most nights. We start to pick up around four thirty.”
    “That’s an ungodly hour,” Tom said between bites.
    “You’d be surprised at the number of suits that come in for a bite before heading into LA to work. They start early to avoid traffic.”
    “I’d heard that LA traffic was bad, but that bad?” Jack asked.
    “The worst. You must not live here if you have to ask.”
    “I’m from Texas, mostly. My most recent job brought me here, near the airport.” Ontario International Airport took some of the burden off LAX and Burbank, but the land around those airports was built out, without any ability to grow. Ontario provided plenty of room for new hotels.
    Mike nudged him in the arm. “Bums off my place when he wants a decent night’s sleep.”
    Which wasn’t exactly a lie, Jack thought. Mike lived over in Claremont, and Jack sometimes stopped by to crash when he wanted a break from the hotel. The Morrison was a five-star luxury hotel filled with champagne and caviar. Sometimes Jack just wanted pizza, beer, and a ball game on the tube with a friend.
    Jessie seemed to mull over the informationa bit too long. She shrugged her shoulders with a flash of disappointment. “Well, enjoy your food.” With that, she turned and walked away.
    Dean laughed. “Not so easy, is it?”
    “I’m not done yet,” Jack told him as he picked up his fork. Not by a long shot.
    By three, most of the food was gone and a few new customers had shown up at the counter, pulling Jessie away from their table.
    An older man in his seventies turned in his chair to leave the counter and Jessie rushed to his side. “I told you to let me help you, Mr. Richman.”
    “I can do it,” the older man said. But as he rose to his feet, he swayed against Jessie.
    “It’s the moisture in the air. Swells up my old bones,” he explained.
    Jessie wrapped her arm around his waist and helped him to the door, where he’d left his walker. Even then, she didn’t turn away.
    “I can make it from here,” he told her.
    “I’m sure you can, but I could use some air. All this bacon grease is getting to me. Walk me outside?” she asked him.
    Mr. Richman offered a small smile as she opened the door and helped him to his car.
    A couple minutes later, she walked back in with a contented grin on her lips.
    “Hey, Jessie,” the other waitress called from the cash register.
    “Yeah?”
    “Your buddy didn’t leave enough money again.”
    Jack watched Jessie’s eyes travel to the door. She shrugged and reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out her tips. “I’ve got it, Leanne.”
    Leanne shook her head. “I don’t know why you cover him all the time.”
    “It’s pancakes, Leanne. And hedoesn’t have anyone. Give the guy some slack.”
    Jessie covered the rest of the man’s bill and walked away from the register.
    Something inside Jack clicked into place. He absolutely needed to know more about Jessie.
    Each time she returned to refill the coffee, Jack tried to engage her in some kind of conversation. She didn’t bite. Jack started to think that maybe she wasn’t interested, but the fact that she wouldn’t look him in the eye, and how her cheeks took on an adorable rosy color when he paid her a compliment, proved she wasn’t unaffected by his charms.
    Jessie cleared their table and placed the bill in the middle. “I’ll take this whenever you’re ready,” she told them.
    For a minute Jack was tempted to toss his credit card on the table and cover the meal to see if Jessie would look him in the eye then. Tom saved him the trouble.
    “Guess you want me to cover this one, too, huh, Jack?”
    “Hey, I drove,” he said.
    “And we paid for gas.” Which actually was the arrangement; staying at the Morrison Hotel and Casino in Vegas was on Jack.
    Tom, Dean, and Mikey tossed bills on the table and handed them to Jessie. “Keep the change,” Tom told her.
    After Jessie