She sounded nervous on the phone, a million miles away from the confident woman from last night, who had asked for and taken her pleasure.

“Hey,” I greeted. “Your car’s ready, if you want to come pick it up.”

“Right, yeah. That’s great. Really great. I mean of course, I’ll come and pick it up.” She stopped suddenly. It must have occurred to her that she was almost babbling.

“You want to join me in town for something to eat first?” I suggested, glancing at my watch. I had skipped breakfast to come in early and work on the car, and now I was starving. Plus, it was a chance to see her again, to figure out how she felt about what had gone down last night. After all, I still had her panties at my house on my nightstand. A trophy? I grinned. So what? I’d wanted this woman since high school.

“Oh, yeah. That would be great,” she agreed, clearly surprised. “Just let me get ready and I’ll meet you at the diner in fifteen?”

“Sure.” I nodded, and I hung up. I realized I had a smile on my face at the thought of seeing her again. Just like a damn teenager. I needed to get myself together. It was no big deal and definitely nothing to get hung up on. Technically, we had just fooled around when we had both been drinking. This kind of thing happened every Saturday night all over the country.

I cleaned myself up and drove her car back into town; I had to pick up another vehicle for a go-over later in the day, so I could just drive that back to the garage. I liked her car. I wondered what she did to be able to get her hands on a vehicle as nice as this one.

When I arrived at the diner, she was already waiting for me. I had to admit that I’d been surprised she had suggested a place like this. I would have thought she would pick the new hotel downtown, but maybe she was one of those rich girls that liked to play at being just another girl. Hey, if she wanted to get down and dirty, I was all too happy to accommodate anyway I could.

She looked good, considering she couldn’t have gotten home before midnight last night. Her chocolate hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her face was scrubbed clean. Actually, she looked younger and fresher than she had last night.

She was tracing her finger around the rim of her coffee cup and staring off into space when I stepped in, but her eyes slid to me when I strode through the door and she offered me a shy smile.

Little late for shy, but okay.

“Hey,” she called. “Thanks for bringing the car in and…uh…everything.”

“No problem,” I replied, as I sat opposite her.

The waitress approached and poured me a cup of coffee.

“Thanks, Pauline,” I said, taking a long, grateful sip. I hadn’t had a whole hell of a lot to drink the night before, but had thrown back a few when I got back home. A strong black coffee was usually enough to scrub the raw edges off any lingering effects.

“I haven’t been in this place in so long.” She glanced around and shook her head, making her ponytail swing. “I used to love it here. All of us did.”

“Yeah, I can’t believe it’s still going.” I cast my eyes around. “Guess a whole new generation of teenagers are using it as their date spots now.”

“And so the world turns,” she murmured. Our knees brushed briefly beneath the table and she seemed to shiver slightly. Her teeth traced a line over her lower lip for a split second.

Fuck, she was hot. First thing in the morning and she already had me all riled up. It took me a minute to remind myself that I couldn’t just throw her down on this table and fuck her senseless right here in front of everyone.

“So, how did it go with my car?” she asked, glancing outside to where her vehicle was waiting for her.

“As good as rain,” I replied. “Managed to get her going again, but you‘ll want to take her into a garage back in the city when you get a chance, make sure that everything’s running smooth.”

“As long as I can actually make it back to the city in it, I don’t mind,” she replied.

Pauline came over to get our order.

I had what I always did, a couple of eggs and bacon to go with my black coffee.

She ordered some fruit. “Don’t want anything too heavy on a hangover. About what happened last night…”

“I think,” I said quickly, “last night is best described by Josephine Baker when she said, ‘I wasn’t really naked. I simply didn’t have any clothes on.’ ”

She pulled a face at me threw back her head and laughed. I hadn’t heard her laugh before and I was surprised by what a lovely sound it was.

She peered at me over her coffee cup. “The next time, am I going to be able to dance with bananas?”

“Princess, the day you have to use a banana while I’m around will be a sad one,” I mocked.

She turned a lovely shade of rose. Suddenly, I was surprised at how easy I was finding this breakfast. Back in the day, I could never have imagined hanging out with someone like her in this casual a setting, but she seemed chilled, laid-back, in a way that I’d never seen her before. Maybe all she’d needed all this time was for me to make her come on my fingers.

Before she could say anything else, I spotted someone over her shoulder, someone I unfortunately recognized. I groaned internally as Jilly, my ex, made her way toward the table, bleached-blonde hair pulled into a high topknot on her head. She was wearing a tight white top and jeans shorts. Her hips swayed deliberately from side to side.

I exhaled quietly.