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He glances at my lips.
“Want a drink? I have beer, water, tea, coffee.”
“Coffee at this time of night?”
“It’s seven. And I struggle to sleep most nights anyway, so?—”
I shrug.
“Why? A beer would be good.”
I grab two bottles and bring them over. Jesse unscrews the caps off on both of them and tilts the neck of his bottle toward mine.
“To getting what we want,” he says.
The way he’s staring at me sends shivers racing over my skin.
“To getting what we want.”
I take a sip of beer with him, then sit down on my old, squeaky armchair across from him.
Jesse smirks.
“You’re not going to sit next to me?”
“I don’t trust you to control yourself,” I say.
His gaze darkens.
“You’re not wrong.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Walked right into that one.
“So, why do you struggle to sleep at night?” Jesse asks.
“It’s the falling asleep part that’s tough. I’ve got a lot to think about,” I say. “The diner does badly during the off-season months, and I’m honestly struggling to make ends meet. A partof me wishes I could redo the diner, the menu. But I can’t afford that. And it would feel wrong to change things.”
“Like letting go of a part of your dad?”
“Yeah.”
I take another sip of beer, tucking my legs underneath myself and resting my nails against the glass.
Jesse tilts his head to one side, exposing more of his muscular neck, but it’s his eyes that are the real challenge. There’s a softness in them I don’t like or want to like.
“Maybe he would’ve wanted you to make the place your own,” Jesse says. “Since you’re his daughter. If he’s as good as you say he was, then he would want you to be happy and do what’s best for you, right?”
I lift my shoulders.
“Doesn’t matter. I can’t afford it anyway. And a menu change…”
“Why a menu change?”
“Before the accident,” I say, “I wanted to be a chef. I applied to a couple of schools, and I got in. My dad was so proud, and then he?—”
It’s hard to finish the sentence. The way my father passed has left an indelible mark on my soul.
“You don’t have to talk about this. When I said get to know each other, I meant like favorite colors and which side of the bed you sleep on.”
