Scorched - Book Four - The Surrender Series (29 page)

“Hey Keith,” she said as she approached his table with a big smile. “How’re you liking the weather?”

“Oh, I like it just fine,” he said smiling back at her. “Now what’s a pretty little thing like you doing in a place like this?”

“Hey!” she teased back, “this happens to be
my
place, mister.”

They laughed at the old joke and she took his order. Spaghetti this time and she’d add a little extra meat sauce. He knew she would, but he’d act surprised every time she set the plate down.

She picked up the water pitcher and refilled his glass. She smiled at him and setting the filled glass in front of him said she’d be back with his order in a jiffy. Glancing at the window she caught a glimpse of a man staring back at her through the wet pane. She let out a gasp and covered her mouth with her hand, dropping the nearly empty pitcher. The noise of the shattering pitcher filled the room as all heads turned in her direction.

“What is it? Alexa?” Keith struggled to his feet as fast as he could. “What’s wrong?”

She turned her head to answer him and when she turned back to the window the man was gone. She quickly dropped to the floor and began picking up the larger pieces of broken glass. Her face was pale and strained.

“It…it was…it was my dad,” she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. “He was there for just a second, but it was him, I know it.”

She was picking up the glass as fast as she could, fighting back the tears. Keith knew the history of her dad and fiancé. She’d told him the story one night when the diner had only just opened and there were no customers yet.

“You’re working too hard, Alexa,” said Keith as he softly patted her shoulder, “You need to take some time off and get some rest. The mind can play tricks on you when you’re as worn out as you are.”

With the excitement over, conversation in the room resumed after a few concerned looks in her direction.

Alexa smiled weakly up at Keith and stammered, “I…I’m okay…it just caught me off guard, that’s all. It was probably someone that looked like him. Sorry to cause a panic. I’m fine. Thanks, Keith.”

Tahleah hurried out of the kitchen with broom and dustpan in hand to help sweep up the glass.

“Are you feeling okay?” she asked, searching Alexa’s face, “you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Alexa smiled her best smile and stood with help from Keith.

“I’m fine. Just have slippery hands, I guess. Thanks for the help, Tahl.”

She composed herself and straightening her shirt, she walked to the front of the diner and around the end of the counter. There was a new customer at the counter and as she came around the corner she asked him the same question she felt she’d asked a thousand times that day.

“What can I get you?”

She searched his face waiting for an answer. He perused the menu looking for what he might like to eat, not looking to the lowly waitress. When he finally did look up, his beautiful green eyes gazed at her from under wet and windblown sandy colored hair. Despite his boyishly handsome face, he looked tall. He was just a bit taller than she was, even sitting down…and he continued to stare, and stare and stare.

On any other day she would have seen his attention as flirting and she’d get angry, want to flip him off and end up keeping all that to herself. But today she was feeling a bit off balance and just wanted to take his order and get away from him. He continued to stare at her.

“Sir? Your order?” she said with no small amount of impatience. “Did you want to---“

“Oh…Oh, yeah…sorry,” he said obviously blushing and looking down at the menu. “Uh, yeah, I’ll take the number three.”

And that was how this sandy haired stranger came to be called “Ham and Eggs.”

* * * * *

“Can I get you anything else?”

He finished his meal and was slowly and deliberately drinking his now nearly cold coffee.

“Well,” he said, his placid green eyes raising to meet hers, “You could tell me what time your shift is over and where you’d like to go when you’re free.”

This was the same thing he’d said
last
Friday, and the Friday before, and the Friday before that. Over and over again he’d asked her that same question. She could see ears on his head, but were they not working correctly? Was he incapable of hearing with those ears?

For a month now, since Ham and Eggs first appeared at the diner, it was the same exchange. Every Friday she wanted to give him the single digit salute and storm off. However, she had to think what that would look like to her other customers. At the same time, she wondered why this guy made her so angry. Maybe it was because he appeared to look forward to her reaction every time he made his little speech. Maybe it was because he thought so much of himself that he figured she’d just melt and give him whatever he wanted. Oh how that infuriated her. So, this time, instead of just turning and walking into the kitchen, she thought she’d mix it up a little for him.

“Listen…whoever you are…I work 24/7, I don’t eat, I don’t sleep and I don’t ‘
go
’ anywhere, especially with someone I don’t know. Now, is there anything
else
I can get you?”

The smile never left. His eyes playfully searched her face for what seemed like hours. She hated his confident air.

“No,” he said, finally looking down at the empty plate and cup of cold coffee in front of him, “It was delicious. Thanks.”

Trails of Tabasco Sauce circled the empty plate and, as usual, he’d eaten like he hadn’t seen food in weeks.

Alexa walked to the other end of the counter and began drying glasses. As she placed the first glass in the cart, she felt a sharp poke in her side.

“Ow!”

“What’s the matter with you?” The words came in a whispered hiss from Tahleah’s lips. The girl’s creamy ebony skin, almond shaped black eyes and thick lashes, combined with her mass of shiny black curls, all added up to stunning beauty. Not to mention the perfect body she carried around so gracefully.

“He’s gorgeous! Are you
blind
? And he’s totally into you. What does he need to do, get down on his knees and beg?”

“Even that wouldn’t work. I’m not interested.”

Alexa dropped the glass into the cart, picked up another one and started drying it, much more vigorously than the first.

“You are crazy, girl. If you’re not going for the gold, I’m gonna get me some.” Tahleah smiled that smile she used when she was on the prowl. She started walking toward the other end of the bar, much like a lion stalking a gazelle. This time, a sandy haired, green-eyed, very well built gazelle.

“Go for it Tahl. I’m sure the two of you will make a darling couple.” Alexa muttered that last part under her breath.

It wasn’t that she abhorred affection. She longed to wrap herself up in the comfort of a man’s arms. She wanted to feel his breath on her face, to feel her blood pumping through her body. What was it like to feel arms around her, wanting her, loving her? Yes, she wanted to be in love, to feel loved. But it wouldn’t work for her, not now. Not ever.

She turned bitterly away as Tahleah finished her prize winning stalk and headed back toward Alexa.

“How’d that work for you?” asked Alexa with a forced smile.

“It didn’t. It’s you he wants and I say go for it. He’s even nicer up close.” Tahleah turned and walked into the kitchen.

Alexa looked down the counter to where Ham and Eggs had devoured his meal. She realized she didn’t even know his name. The fact she was even curious about his name infuriated her. He was the hottest thing she’d seen in her diner since opening. That little factoid also infuriated her. Still, after a month of his weekly invites, she wondered on this evening how it might feel to actually go out with him.

She quickly pushed the idea from her mind and mentally kicked herself for even thinking of it. It must have shown on her face.

“Ah,” said Tahleah coming back out of the kitchen and pulling off her apron, “he’s finally getting to you, is he? You look completely frustrated and ready to pounce. On him, I assume.” Tahleah laughed lightly at her own joke and pushed against Alexa with her shoulder. “Come on, Alexa. You know you want to.”

“All I know is he’s driving me crazy, and not in the way you think. I don’t know who he is, where he came from or why he showed up here. I want him gone. I want him to stop bothering me. If I had money for a restraining order, I’d get one!”

She plopped the glass into the plastic holder and stopped.

“Hey, Tahl, could you watch the front for me for a minute before you go? I just need to use the bathroom.”

“Sure. But don’t be long…I’ve got a hot date, and I mean hot. Well, not as hot as Ham and Eggs down there, but hot all the same.”

“Thanks.”

Alexa shoved the bathroom door open and stepped quickly to the wash basin. She grabbed a paper towel and ran it under cold water from the tap. Wringing out the excess she dabbed her forehead and cheeks with the cool water. Glancing in the mirror she stared back at the pathetic woman standing there.

“What’s the matter with you? Get a hold of yourself, Alexa. You’re bigger than this, better than this and smarter than this.”

Throwing the wet towel in the trash, she grabbed another paper towel, dried her face and started for the door. Inside her she knew she could handle this. She tucked the pain carefully back into its spot in the back of her head, reveled in the strength she felt return to her ever vigilant heart, and pulled the bathroom door open. She would survive this if it was the last thing she ever did.

She hurried back to the counter. Ignoring Ham and Eggs pondering his coffee cup, she strode confidently to Tahleah.

“Thanks, Tahl. Have a nice evening, you horn dog.”

Tahleah laughed and nodded toward the gorgeous man still seated at the counter.

“Waste of a perfectly good opportunity, but you’re welcome. And you’re not kidding me for one minute. You didn’t go in the bathroom to pee. We both know that.” Tahleah smiled her sly, all knowing grin and grabbed her coat from the rack. Heading to the door she called out, “See you in the morning.”

That evening, it was Alexa’s turn to close the diner. Everyone had gone home and Ham and Eggs, who usually came only for breakfast, was just finishing up his dinner. When he was finished, she took his plate, silverware and cup to the sink. He stayed put at the bar, seemingly content to watch her work.

Alexa swept the floor, wiped each table and began wiping down the counter at the opposite end from where he sat. She turned off the lights in the kitchen and then in the dining room, hoping Ham and Eggs would get the hint and leave.

Turning off the last of the dining room lights she looked up to see him coming around the end of the bar. In the dim glow cast from the street light, she could see his determination, his eyes smoldering. It made her want to cry for help, except she didn’t exactly feel threatened. Angry was probably more like it. Why was he still here and what was he doing behind her counter?

She wanted to tell him to get out and never come back, to leave her alone, but her voice box rebelled and refused to utter even the smallest sound. Maybe it was the look on his face, the heat in those sexy eyes, the soft beautiful lips, the firm set of his jaw. Any one of those things would have kept her voice tucked silently in her throat, and certainly did.

With strong, confident strides he started toward her, never taking his eyes from her face. He took her wrist in his warm, gentle grip, pulling her down the length of the counter and around the corner to the restroom hallway.

“Wh..what are you doing? Let go!”

She knew she could have demanded with more force and he would have released her, but the warmth of his touch was weakening her resolve with each step.

He stopped a few feet down the hallway. His eyes softly explored her face as he smiled a kind, inviting smile. He leaned her gently against the wall with her hands pinned over her head. His demeanor was casual, even flirty, but his eyes exposed the fire burning inside him. Alexa’s chest heaved in and out with short, uneven breathes. She tried her best to look angry as she studied his face.

“First of all,” he said as he stared intently into her eyes, “my name is Cayman, like the islands. Last name is Richards. Secondly, you’re beautiful and the most beautiful thing about you is you’re oblivious to the fact. And third…” He stopped talking and moved her head to one side with his own.

“You so very…” he began to softly kiss the contour of her neck.

“Stop it.” The words came in a hoarse whisper.

“…so very…badly…” his kisses traveled ever so slowly up her neck to the bottom of her chin. She slowly raised her head in response.

“I mean it, stop.” She could feel his body pressing against her; feel his heart racing in time with her own, sending her blood coursing through her veins.

“…so very badly…need…” The smooth, silky tone of his voice made her heart race.

“I…I said stop it. Stop,” she moaned, helpless in his grip.

He brushed her ear with his lips, his ragged breathing hot against her, revealing his own fight with restraint. With his face leaning against hers he whispered, “…need to be…kissed.”

Pulling slightly away from her, he faced her, just inches from her mouth.

She could feel her knees about to buckle and kept them locked through sheer will. Her mouth was dry with fear and longing. She attempted to regain her composure while trying to glare furiously.

“Let me go.”

“As you wish,” he spoke tenderly, releasing her hands and stepping back.

She lifted her arm to slap his face, but he caught it mid-air.

He smiled and leaned forward, kissing her on the forehead.

“You just let me know when you’re ready for that kiss.”

With that he turned and walked confidently from the hallway and out the door. He strode from the diner, not once looking back.

She stood for a brief moment watching him go, hating his arrogance, loving his confidence, confused by both. Swallowing hard, trying to force moisture into her mouth, she slowly slid down the wall collapsing in a pile on the floor. The sobs came from her in great gasps, uncontrolled as she lay curled up in with her legs to her chest. She was unable to stop the rush of emotion and could feel her heart breaking all over again. Breaking for the loss of her father, the loss of her love, the loss of the lock she’d placed on it. She couldn’t stop the tears or stem the tide of passion that swept through her, hidden for so long.