Page 59 of Cautious Love

When his phone rang, we were saved by the bell because I wouldn’t have stopped, and I don’t know any man with that kind of restraint, except for Ledger.

It’s fine, we don’t need to talk about it. I’ll pretend it never happened, and maybe he will too.

The door slams, and I sigh.

Or maybe I’m far too versed in lying to myself.

I stare out the window of the diner at the empty street, absently wiping the counter down. The look in his eyes before he pushed me up against the wall makes my thighs squeeze together.

He held me captive. I couldn’t move. I didn’twantto move. I wanted him to do whatever he wanted, and my only answer would have been yes. It still would be yes if he asked.

“Shiloh!” Mollie-Mae yells.

I startle and look over my shoulder. “What?”

“I said your name three times, are you alright?” she asks.

“Yeah,” I sigh.

Mollie-Mae frowns and puts her hand on her hip. “Are you not feeling well? Do you need to go home?”

I glance at the clock and my shift ends in two hours.

“No, I’m fine.”

She hums, and I pour myself a cup of coffee. The bell dings as someone walks in, and I turn around to go serve them and find Cooper and Fletcher Hayes dropping into a seat at the booth. Five seconds later, Tatum and Cooper’s wife, Mae, come in.

They smile at their women, and my heart twists in my chest. I want that. I want what they have. It’sreal.

My mind goes back to Ledger, and it’s ironic that he too is a Hayes. I’m surrounded.

“Um, girl, do you want the table or not?” Mollie says, irritated with me.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m going,” I mumble and grab a couple of cups.

I bring them over to their table and pour them each a cup of coffee. “Hi everyone, what can I get you to drink?” I ask them.

Cooper, Fletcher, and Mae all say they’re fine, and Tatum asks for a ginger ale.

Once I get their drinks, I give them a second to decide.

Cooper stares at me for a minute, and I try not to focus too hard and spin my wedding ring around on my finger so they don’t see the stone, and hope they assume it’s a random ring on my ring finger.Subtle, Shiloh. Real subtle. I wonder if Ledger has told them anything about me.

“Do you know what you’d like?”

Everyone gives me their orders, and I hand them off to Bear for him to get started. But while I work on cleaning the already clean counter, refilling two ketchup bottles, it feels like Cooper’s staring, but I dutifully ignore it.

The bell rings again, and Mollie gets a dreamy look on her face. I spin around to see who she’s crushing on this week, and it’s Ledger. I have no reason to be jealous. He’s notmine for real.But I’d really like for her to stop looking at him like that because he’s definitely nothers.

He stops in the threshold and stares at me unabashedly. No one else except his family and my coworkers are in the diner.

My skin tingles, and my lungs tighten.

He tips his hat before turning towards his family, and grabs a chair from one of the tables to sit at the end of the booth with the rest of them.

“I’ll get him!” Mollie says a little too excited, and I nearly grab the back of her dress to hold her back.

“Nope, that’s okay, I’ve got it,” I say quickly.