Another cringe-worthy moment later, and my glasses dangled in front of me. “Looking for these?”
Since he was speaking directly to me, social graces dictated I had no choice but to meet his eyes, which were all lit up with humor to match his tone. “Thanks.” I reached for them, realizing, too late, my hand was covered in gloppy gravy. The thermostat that was my face grew hotter. His lips twitched around a bit before he commandeered them.
Is he laughing at me again?
I hauled myself up, with as much dignity as I could muster under the circumstances, only to find Baseball Cap staring at me—intimately—as if we’d known each other for a long time. Instead of glaring, I found myself staring back.
“Waitress!” Ranger boomed, wrecking the magic moment for us.
We both blinked our eyes, but it was only me who stepped away. I was unsure how to proceed because Baseball Cap was still holding my glasses. “I, uh, need those,” I informed him artlessly.
He stepped forward, closing the gap between us. Butterflies swirled around in my midsection. We were standing so close now we could’ve been slow dancing to the country song playing in the background. Long hands slowly lifting, he slid the glasses back over my eyes. My breath hitched in my throat. And as his gaze lingered over my face, a soft, fluttery movement of another kind was going on outside of my stomach this time.
I jumped back like I was bit. Whoa! What was that? The feeling of warmth spreading through me was too much somehow. Moisture amassed in my eyes. Baseball Cap took a step back from me now, like I was crazy. No doubt most girls wouldn’t tear up at such a minor thing. Maybe I really was losing it? I should’ve allowed myself a good cry the other night, gotten it all out before it could bubble up at inappropriate times.
A hot guy touches you, and you fall apart. Great, Kate! Very cool.
After my fits of temper, dropping dinner on the floor, and now uncontrollable tears, he probably thought I needed to be fitted for a straightjacket. Actually, my sack-like uniform, cinched in by apron strings, looked a lot like a straightjacket. A giggle bubbled up in my throat.
Ranger yelled around a hand megaphone, “I’m not getting any younger over here!”
Somehow, I found the dumbest line in the book funny, so I laughed again. Hysterically. Baseball Cap looked bemused. Ranger bellowed again, and I rolled my eyes. Baseball Cap shocked me with a grin, but I came to when Ranger beckoned to me—a small movement made violent looking by the obvious effort it took to restrain himself.
Leaving me with a warning look, Baseball Cap went and slid back into his booth. Me and my mealy hands followed to see what the tyrant wanted. Unfortunately, another giggle threatened to escape despite my best attempt to stifle it. But the look Ranger seared me with caused the giggle to choke off like he’d reached across the table and squeezed my neck.
“We’re ready to leave now,” Baseball Cap informed me coldly, “so please bring the check when you come back.”
Hot and cold—these two were mercurial quick in their moods.
“More than ready,” Ranger seconded.
Stung, I did a reversal, skulking slowly back to my floor tray so I could eavesdrop on the dynamic duo. Ranger was grilling Baseball Cap about our “little mid-restaurant meet-and-greet.” My ears strained, but I could still hear Baseball Cap laugh it off, saying he feltsorry for me. This was by far the most hurtful thing—like a butter knife to my gut.
Blinded by tears, I scurried back to the kitchen. It seemed the madder I got, the stronger my urge to cry. Made it hard to read the numbers because they were all blurring together. Oh well. What did it matter anyway? The whole dinner was comped, or more likely deducted from my paltry pay.
I was also suffering from a hollow emptiness in my stomach that couldn’t be filled with food. It was a yearning for something. Like when I would go to the mall with Ashley-Leigh and see all the cool clothes I would never be able to afford. Look but don’t touch. What did I expect? Baseball Cap was someone both out of my league and out of my town. We may as well have been from different planets.
I was also angry at myself for allowing them to get to me. Angry for the insecurities my station in life manifested in me. Angry that I cried in front of them. And mostly just angry, that for a few seconds, I thought I felt something amazing happen between Baseball Cap and me.
Pathetic! I ripped off the receipt and swiped at my tears. Here I thought Ranger was the ass. Turned out—I was the biggest ass of all! And that was completely intolerable to me. Kate Connelly is nobody’s fool! I thought of one of Daddy’s sayings: Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice shame on me. I was a quick learner. Would not make that mistake again.
Ignoring Carlos’s disapproving look, I blew my nose on a napkin, wiped my eyes, and dried my foggy glasses. I would not shed another tear for them. Armed with my reloaded tray, I inhaled a steadying breath and stalked back out there, no longer a mouse for the predators to play with. I had their check—and my emotions—in hand. At the table I avoided their eyes, staring instead at their shiny boy-toy in the parking lot.
Ranger tsk-tsked me. “Do I even need to explain this?” He ceremoniously removed all but one of the remaining bills on the table. “I thought you might be trainable, but clearly, even I can be wrong sometimes.”
Wordlessly, I slid the appropriate plates to the appropriate jackasses and saw they were almost out of tea again. “I’ll be right back with more tea and some fresh lemons.”
“No need,” said Baseball Cap. “We’re leaving.”
“Would you care for anything else?” I heard the catch in my voice and hoped they wouldn’t.
“I don’t know . . . What else you offering?” Ranger’s eyebrow lifted devilishly.
“I brought you a receipt in case you need it for your records, but there’s no charge for the meal,” I said tonelessly.
I thought I saw Baseball Cap start to protest then change his mind. Whether it was to object about the bill or Ranger’s inappropriate comment, I couldn’t tell because words never formed on his lips.
“You not even going to say goodbye then, Glasses?” It was Ranger’s question, but Baseball Cap leaned in imperceptibly, poised for something, some kind of reaction maybe, but I gave them nothing but professional courtesy.
“If that’s it then, have a nice evenin’.” I dropped the receipt on the table, noticing neither one touched a single bite of their meals. Probably thought that if the food didn’t poison them here then I would. Grateful to finally be free of them, I turned to go when a human handcuff closed around my wrist.
“Did you think your lesson was over just because you failed?”
Ranger. I gave him stony silence.
“Looks like she’s playing the silent game,” he observed to Baseball Cap, who looked like he was tired of games. Or just tired. “Aren’t you wondering about that last dollar?” More baiting, but I wasn’t biting. “I see you’re done with me, Glasses . . .”—he gripped my wrist tighter, preempting any attempt to pull away—“but what if I’m not done with you yet?”
Baseball Cap cupped two hands over his visor as if he were about to make a move but thought better of it at the last second. Probably just wishful thinking on my part. I stared out the same window as Baseball Cap now, wishing, like him, I was any other place.