Bearly Enough (5 page)

Lucy gave him a weak smile and watched him slowly walk out.

“He is such a catch,” Trish whispered to her. “I don’t know
why you don’t think so.”

Lucy internally rolled her eyes. “Yes, he’s very sweet,” she
agreed. She didn’t add that Quentin was too safe, too predictable, and well,
just too damn nice for her. She really wished that she could like him, but she
couldn’t help being drawn to the type of guy who lived just a little too close
to the edge.

She sighed.

Time to start her shift.

Her afternoon was filled with refilling water glasses,
scurrying back and forth to the kitchen, and dodging Mac’s advances. Some
out-of-towners, who had that pulled-together-East-Coast look, left her a huge
tip, while some local high school students, who had clearly come straight from
school, left her a mere dollar.

“Jackasses,” she muttered, stuffing the dollar into her
apron. She vaguely remembered their faces from her time at the high school. The
diner was empty except for two elderly couples. Lucy loved the afternoon lull
that came after the lunch rush and just before the dinner rush.

She sat down at a table in the far corner, keeping her eye
on her one table in case they needed anything else. It was almost four in the
afternoon, and she knew soon enough more customers would be coming in.

 She reached down to massage her aching feet, cursing
herself for not wearing better shoes today. She was still so surprised by Gabby
and Zane’s engagement that it felt like her world had tilted, and she was now
more off balance than normal.

She hadn’t even bothered to tell her mother the news. Gabby
said she would tell their mother, but Lucy wondered if Gabby actually would. It
didn’t seem possible, but Gabby seemed to dislike their mother even more than
Lucy. And no wonder; Gabby had been forced out of her childhood once their
father had died and had to start caring for Lucy right away.

Lucy had no memories of her father; she had been just a baby
when he was killed. And she also had no memories of her mother being sober. It
was always Gabby. Gabby wiping her nose, Gabby dressing her, Gabby packing her
lunch, Gabby forging their mother’s signature on her school papers.

Gabby had been forced to grow up so fast.

Lucy heard the bell tinkle as someone walked in, and she
knew that the next customer would be placed in her section. She looked up and
her jaw nearly hit the floor. There, standing by the door, was Stone.

What the hell was he doing here?

He looked surprised and smiled at her. Trish swooped in to
greet him, moving him to a small booth in Lucy’s section.

Feeling like she was in a daze, she walked over to him.
“Umm, hi,” she said carefully. “What are you doing here?”

He laughed. “Well, I came in to eat. What are
you
doing here?”

Lucy blushed, pointing at her silly nametag, which said LUCY
in bright red letters. “I work here.”

“Nice.”

“Have you been here before?” Lucy asked abruptly. She was
certain that she would have noticed Stone before.

He was impossible
not
to notice.

He was still wearing the same long-sleeve grey shirt and
fitted jeans that showed off his drool-worthy physique

He smiled. “Nope. I went to the library down the street and
then passed this place and realized I was hungry”

Lucy stared hard at him.

What were the odds?

But he certainly couldn’t have known that she worked here.
And why would she flatter herself to think that he was following her?

He gave her another sexy smile, and then opened his menu.
“Are you going to take my order?” he teased.

“Oh. Right,” she said, snapping out of it and grabbing her
notepad. “What can I start you with?”

He scanned the menu and then closed it. “I already know what
I want. Could I start with a Coke? And then I’d like the House Special burger,
minus the pickles, and a side of fries.”

She scribbled it down. “Sure. How do you want your burger
cooked?”

Stone paused, his eyes clouding over. “Medium will have to
do.”

Lucy nodded, adding that to the order. “Great. I’ll get your
drink and then your food shouldn’t be too long.”

She hurried off to put in his order and get his Coke. She
avoided his gaze when she set the drink down, and Trish came over to her before
she could catch her breath.

“Who is that?” she murmured. “Do you know him?”

Lucy really liked Trish, but sometimes she could be way too
into her business.

“I just met him today, actually. He showed up in all of my
classes.”

Trish raised her eyebrows. “And then he showed up here?”

Lucy nodded.

“Well, he’s either following you or it’s meant to be!”

Lucy shook her head. She didn’t think it was either. “He
must be new,” she mused.

Trish shrugged. “New or not, you need to be friendly with
him!”

Lucy rolled her eyes.

The diner began to fill up, so luckily, or unluckily
depending on how she looked at it, she didn’t have much time to chat with
Stone. But she always felt his eyes on her.

Always.

It was flattering and unnerving at the same time.

And he didn’t try to hide it when she would turn around and
catch him staring at her.

She brought his burger out and he gently grabbed her by the
wrist, startling her. “Can you sit with me for a minute?” he asked seductively.

She stared into his beautiful eyes, getting lost in them.

“I can’t,” she said quietly. She looked over and saw Trish
smiling at her.

Oh, what the hell.

“Well, maybe for a minute,” she said, sliding into the
booth.

“Do you think it’s strange that I showed up here?” he asked,
taking a massive bite of his burger.

Lucy thought for a minute. “Yes. It’s weird that you were in
all my classes today, and now you’re here. Did you just move here? Why have I
never seen you before?”

Stone wiped his mouth with a napkin as he finished chewing.
“That’s good,” he said appreciatively, nodding at his burger. “I am from around
here, but I haven’t gotten out much. I was taking some online courses, but I
didn’t like it. I decided to try out going in person.”

“So you’ve lived here your whole life?”

“Pretty much.” His eyes darkened again, though Lucy wasn’t
sure why.

“Where do you live?” she couldn’t help asking.

He took another bite of his burger, chewed it up and
swallowed before speaking. “Wooded Pines.”

Lucy nodded knowingly. That explained a lot.

She didn’t get time to ask any more questions because she
had been sitting longer than she should and she could see some of her tables
getting antsy.

“Excuse me,” she said quickly, jumping up.

But all the while she was thinking about him living in
Wooded Pines.

Wooded Pines was a small community that kept entirely to
themselves. While Gabby lived in one community that butted up against the state
park, Wooded Pines butted up against the other end.

It was strange; there were three small, reclusive
communities nestled around the state park. Lucy had no idea if they interacted
with one another, but they sure as hell didn’t interact with the rest of Russet
Falls. In fact, they all had their own small schools.  They were known for
keeping to themselves. Lucy tried to rack her brain to remember if she had ever
met anyone else from Wooded Pines.

She didn’t think that she had.

She bustled around, taking care of her tables, all the while
feeling Stone’s eyes on her. She checked on him a handful of times, but never
had enough time to sit down and talk to him again.

She dropped the check by his table and it wasn’t until she
saw him at the register paying his bill that she went over to him.

“Sorry, I didn’t get more time to chat,” she said
breathlessly, staring first into his bright blue eye, and then into his warm
brown one.

“That’s alright. You were working.” He gave her a half
smile. “Maybe I’ll have to come in here more often now that I know you work
here.”

She wasn’t sure if she should flirt back. “Maybe,” she said
cautiously.

“See you soon,” he murmured, moving so close to her face,
that she could smell his woodsy, masculine scent and the hint of sweetness on
his breath.

She stood there, speechless, and then he was gone.

What the hell?

She watched him stride across the parking lot and climb into
a black truck.

“Well, hot damn,” Trish murmured in her ear.

She jumped.

“Sorry,” she apologized, “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

Lucy just shook her head. “He’s sexy, isn’t he?” she asked,
her voice sounding very far away.

“Yes, he is. But he struck me as slightly dangerous,” Trish said
pursing her lips. Apparently Trish had changed her tune after watching him for
a bit.

And that was just the problem.

Stone had that hint of danger, which drew Lucy to him.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Trish warned, sounding more like
her motherly self.

She turned on her heel and headed back to the kitchen.

Lucy slowly walked over to his table to clear his dishes.
She gasped when she saw the tip he had left her.

Ten dollars!

His meal hadn’t even cost ten dollars.

She stuffed it in her pocket, trying to decipher the meaning
of the large tip. Did he leave it because he liked her? Did he feel sorry for
her? Was it something else?

But she didn’t have any more time to analyze it; the dinner
rush was now in full swing. She steadied herself against the remaining hours of
her shift.

Pulling into the school parking lot on Wednesday morning,
Lucy couldn’t help but look around for Stone’s truck.

A very bad sign.

She had just met him and already she was thinking about him
way too much.

And she had dressed up more than usual today, which annoyed
her at the same time; she didn’t like to think that she was dressing to impress
Stone.

This morning she had slipped into her favorite black and
grey wool sweater and her black skinny jeans. She had almost slipped on her
Converse, but then she chose her black-heeled boots instead.

Stupid! Why did she need to wear heeled boots to class?

School, school, school. She needed to focus on school.

She almost called Gabby on her drive to campus, but she
didn’t want to be distracted on the road. And Gabby would probably want to talk
about her wedding, and Lucy wasn’t in the mood for that.

She tried not to feel disappointed when Stone didn’t show up
for their first class.

Wondering where he could be, she took her time walking to
her next class, annoyed again that she was overthinking this. Just as she
rounded the corner to the class, she caught a glimpse of Stone, who had his
back turned to her.

“I already told you,” he growled into the phone. “I’m doing
what Jeremy told me to.” He paused. “So, leave me the hell alone!”

The anger behind his words startled her, and she held back instead
of approaching him. She didn’t want to interrupt him while he was on the phone,
but she also couldn’t help being curious about his call.

“Enough,” he whispered harshly into the phone. “He’s no
longer in charge, which means I don’t have to take orders from you.”

He punched the hang up button and stuffed the phone into his
pocket. He whirled around quickly, as if he sensed Lucy behind him.

“Hey,” she said quietly, feeling as if she had been caught.

His eyes were dark, so dark that she thought for a minute
that she had somehow been mistaken about his two different color eyes, and the
veins in his arms seemed to be throbbing.

He quickly turned away, and Lucy wanted to flee, feeling as
if she had seen too much, but then he turned back around.

His eyes were hard, and Lucy shrank back in fear. Clearly,
he was upset. But she squinted at him, shocked by how it was once again obvious
that his eyes were two different shades.

“Sorry,” he said gruffly, not meeting her gaze. “I didn’t
think anyone could hear me.”

“I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to eavesdrop,” she stuttered, her
heart pounding, “I just sort of walked up behind you.”

“It’s fine,” he said, and stalked towards their class. Lucy
felt as if she had done something wrong.

What the hell?

She hadn’t done anything! There was no reason for him to act
like an asshole.

Before she could march up to him and ask him what his damn
problem was, he turned back around to her, his eyes filled with longing.

“Let’s cut class,” he said quickly, his voice deep and
rough.

She was caught off guard.

Her heart pounded against her ribcage.

“What?”

He grabbed her arm, a little too tightly, but something
about the roughness aroused her.