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Lexie watched her friend sashay over to take Nico and Frank’s order, giving her no opportunity to respond. And continued watching out of the corner of her eye as their meals were delivered, devoured, and cleared away. When they rose from their chairs, each throwing a wad of cash onto the table for the check, Lexie’s breath hitched.
He was leaving.
“You okay?” Wade asked.
Lexie jumped from the spot where she’d stopped in her tracks with an armful of dirty plates. “Yep. Fine.”
Feeling her cheeks heat, she continued to the kitchen, deposited the dishes into the sink, breezed back through the swing door and slammed right into a warm, solid chest with an oomph!
Nico’s arms steadied her. “Whoa. Slow down,” he chuckled.
“Sorry,” she said. “I’m . . . a little distracted tonight.”
“It’s okay,” he said, clearly unaware that the cause of her agitation was standing right in front of her in the form of the tall, handsome stranger whose life she had once saved. “I just wanted to say goodbye.”
In her peripheral vision, Lexie could see Annie muscling in on Wade—pointedly staring him down then inclining her head in their direction, saying something Lexie couldn’t make out. She resisted the urge to narrow her eyes.
Focusing back on Nico, she asked, “You’re leaving?”
“Early start tomorrow.”
“Oh.”
He tilted his head. “Unless you changed your mind?”
“Actually, I was just about to take—”
“Lex!” Annie called out. “Wade said it’s time for your break. Like, now.”
Inwardly cringing, Lexie waved her acknowledgment. She rolled her eyes at Annie, who smirked and gave Wade a look that said, What? You weren’t going to do it.
Nico seemed amused. “So?”
“Follow me,” she said, and led him through the back.
Chapter three
Christ, she was cute when she was nervous—and clearly, she was nervous. Lexie took a sip of lemonade from a glass tumbler, looking anywhere but at him. She was just as beautiful as he remembered, perched atop what he assumed was the manager’s desk in her black uniform shirt and cutoff shorts. Her hair was still long, though tonight she had it tied at the nape of her neck, golden waves framing her face. Blue eyes. Creamy skin. And that smile . . .
Legs crossed at the ankles, one of her boots tapped the other repeatedly as she ran her finger around the rim of her cup. “So . . . You’re here.”
“I hope that’s okay.” Nico leaned against the far wall—which wasn’t all that far, three feet maybe.
“Of course,” she said, finally meeting his eyes. “I’m happy to see you.”
More silence stretched between them, loaded seconds piling up on each other until Lexie exhaled in a huff. “Wow. This is so weird.”
“Yeah, it is,” he replied. “How about we just talk about something easy?”
“Like what?”
He shrugged. “Tell me about yourself. I mean, I owe you my life, but I know nothing about you. I’d like to change that.”
At that last, Lexie blushed a little, soft pink staining her cheeks under the bright, fluorescent light.
She’d liked that. Interesting.
He filed that away and listened intently while she described her life here in Mercy Cove. A born and bred small-town girl, she’d lived here since she was a child and had no intention of leaving anytime soon. She’d waitressed at Rusty’s since the day she graduated high school, well before Wade owned it. She resided in a cottage on the outskirts of town—presumably alone, though she didn’t say—with a view of the sea, which she inherited after the unexpected death of her father. No mention of her mother. She had a ragdoll cat named Oreo. And a brother—Jake—who, according to her, was wild and outgoing, currently photographing his way across Europe with a small, yet celebrated, travel magazine called Earth Chronicles.
