CHAPTER 3

No Room For The Past

Colton

HEARING LOKI BARK, I look behind me just in time to watch Mom walk into the house.

“Good morning, honey,” she greets, giving Loki a quick scratch behind his ears before walking farther into the room.

Glancing from her to the door, I shake my head. “You know, if I get a woman, you’re gonna have to give me back my key, right?” I raise a brow and watch her drop the bags she brought in to the top of the counter, then turn to glare at me.

“Do you have someone you’re interested in?” she asks, and instantly Gia comes to mind. Gia, with beautiful green eyes, cute dimples in both cheeks, full lips I want to taste, long dark hair I can picture spread across my pillow, and curves in all the right places. Gia, who likes to knit and turns adorably embarrassed whenever I get too close to her. Yeah, there is definitely someone I’m interested in.

“That’s not the point,” I say, and she rolls her eyes.

“When you start having a woman over here, I’ll start knocking,” she mumbles, pulling things out of the bags, setting them on the counter, and placing all the empties in a pile.

Taking a bite of the eggs on my plate, I shove a piece of bacon into my mouth then pick up my plate and walk around to the sink, saying, “I can also do my own shopping.”

“I was already at the store.” She shrugs, not looking at me. “I figured I’d just pick you up some stuff and save you the trip.”

“Ma, I love you, but I need to be doing shit on my own,” I tell her softly, watching her shoulders sag.

“Watch your mouth. I swear, you, your brothers, and your dad could make a sailor blush.” Smiling, I wrap my arms around her shoulders and pull her in for a hug.

“You curse more than all of us together,” I say, and it’s not a lie. My mom has a mouth worse than most men I know.

“Whatever.” She tightens her hold on me then looks up. “And so you know, as your mom, it’s ingrained in me to take care of you.”

“I know, and I appreciate you taking care of me, but it’s important that I get back to some sense of normal,” I tell her gently, when I see tears start to fill her eyes. I know her seeing me in the hospital half dead fucked with her, but I didn’t die.

“Fine,” she agrees reluctantly.

Kissing the top of her head, I let her go and turn back to the sink. “Where’s Dad?” I ask, washing my dish out and setting it in the drying rack.

“At the storage building. The truck came in this morning, so he’s been there doing stock since six.”

“He should have called me.”

“He knows you worked late last night,” she explains, and I cross my arms over my chest then lean back against the counter behind me watching her put stuff away. “I also ran into Lisa this morning.” My hackles rise at the mention of that bitch, but I keep my mouth closed. “She was asking how you’re doing,” she says softly, putting a gallon of milk in the fridge.

“I don’t want to hear from that cunt, so next time you see her, you can tell her I said that,” I growl.

Looking at me, her eyes close briefly. “Honey, it was hard on her, on all of us,” she whispers.

“Yeah, was it?” I raise my brows as blood roars through my veins, making it hard to see clearly. “She wasn’t the one laid up in the hospital. She wasn’t the one who had to learn how to walk again. And she sure as fuck wasn’t the one who saw their future slip through their fingers. That bitch doesn’t exist to me, and I’d appreciate it if you don’t bring her up to me again.”

“Colton!”

“No, Ma.” I jerk a hand through my hair, looking away from her and trying to get myself under control so I don’t flip the fuck out. “I know you liked her, but she is a fucking bitch.”

“Okay,” she whispers, looking like she’s going to cry again.

“Come here, Ma.” I hold out my arms toward her.

“Are you still mad?” she asks, and I sigh, tugging her hand and forcing her into my hold.

“I’m not mad at you, but you need to understand I don’t want one fucking thing to do with her.”

“Stop cursing! And fine, I’ll stop bringing her up.”

“I love you, but seriously, I don’t know how Dad puts up with you.”

“Your father counts his lucky stars every night, ‘cause I put up with him.” She pats my back.

“I’m not sure about that.” I grin then dodge her hand when she tries to smack at me.

“You’re a pain,” she mutters.

“You love me,” I remind her then look at the clock. “I need to go get ready. I’ll see you tonight. Let Loki out for me when you leave.”

“Will do, see you tonight.” She shakes her head as I head for my room.

After getting dressed, I head back to the kitchen, grabbing my keys and gym bag before going to the garage. Looking at my bike longingly, I head for my Suburban. This spring has been worse than most. It’s rained almost every day, and with the temperature dropping the way it has been, the roads have been icing over—meaning I can’t ride my bike, even though that’s all I want to do. I’ve been riding since I was eight. Back then it was dirt bikes, and then I moved up to motorcycles. My first ride was a bike. I didn’t get a car like everyone else. I didn’t want to be like anyone else, except maybe my dad.

Getting in behind the wheel, I hit the remote for the garage to send the door up, and start the engine. After backing out, I send the garage door back down and head for the road, with Loki running behind me. He stops at the end of the driveway and turns back toward the house, knowing better than to go any further.

It takes me less than twenty minutes to make it to the gym, and when I pull into the lot, I see Tide has already arrived. Tide has been my best friend since I can remember. His dad and mine are best friends, and since they spent all their time together, we spent all of ours the same way. I don’t know what the hell his parents were thinking naming him Tide, or naming his sister Crimson, even if his dad did play football during college for Alabama State University.

Grabbing my duffle off the passenger seat, I get out and slam the door behind me. I spot Tide at one of the weight benches at the back as soon as I enter the gym. Giving him a chin lift as I pass, I take my bag to the locker room then head back out to meet him.

“Yo.” He puts the barbell up in its resting place when he spots me and sits up. Tide looks like a Viking, with his blond hair and blue eyes. He’s a big guy, bigger than most, and it’s not because he works out every other day. He’s just built that way; it’s in his genes, since both of his parents are big. In high school, they called him Mac because, like his dad before him, he played football and ruled the field. Anytime someone saw him coming, they got out of his way, meaning our high school football team was undefeated the four years he was on the team.

“What’s up, man?” I ask, bumping my fist against his once I’m close.

“Nothing new.”

“How’s my Goddaughter?”

“Perfect.” He gives me the same smile he always does when he’s talking about his three-year-old daughter, Olivia—a smile that says he’s got it all. “Wish I could say the same about her mom, but it is what it is.” He shrugs and lies back to finish lifting. “We have another court date in three months.”

“What’s this one for?” I ask, stepping up to spot him.

“I want custody to be fifty/fifty. She wants me to have every other weekend so I’ll have to give her more money,” he says through clenched teeth. I feel for him. Since the day Olivia was born, he’s been working on being a good dad and being present in her life. He stayed with Anna, Olivia’s mom, for a while after Olivia was born, trying to make it work with her so he could see his daughter every day, but that didn’t work out. I don’t know what all went down, but I do know that neither of them were happy. I also know that since he moved out, she’s been working on making his life hell.

“It will work out. The judge will see that you want to be in Olivia’s life and give you the time you’re asking for.”

“I hope so.” He sits up, grabbing the towel off the floor at his feet. “I don’t want to miss out on any more time than I already have,” he mumbles, then his eyes go over my shoulder and turn hard. “Fuck,” he clips, and I turn to see who he’s looking at then shake my head when I see it’s Lisa and her two best friends walking in. “I don’t got anything against women, and normally I’d be thrilled to watch bitches strut around in tight clothes that leave little to nothing to the imagination. But seriously, what the fuck are they even doing here?” he questions, studying them.

“Don’t know, don’t give a fuck,” I mutter, taking off my hoodie and heading for the treadmills across the room.

“Christ, they even have on fucking makeup. Who the fuck wears makeup to go work out?” he asks, claiming the machine next to mine.

Ignoring his question and the fact that they’re even here, I start up my machine and begin to run. It’s not the first time I’ve seen Lisa since I’ve been home, but I wish I could say it would be the last. Lisa and I dated in high school then off and on while I was in college for two years and after I joined the Marines. I proposed to her after my first tour overseas, and we had a plan to get married after my second. Needless to say, it didn’t happen. After I was shot and lost use of my legs, she ended things with me. The doctors didn’t think I would be able to walk again, and she couldn’t handle the idea of being with a paraplegic, so she jumped ship.

I proved them all wrong. It took me a while to pull my head out of my ass and stop feeling sorry for myself, but eventually I began listening to what my physical therapist was saying and started working at getting stronger. I was in the hospital for a year and it took me six months to learn to walk again, in that time, I also had to learn what is really important in life—and it sure as fuck isn’t a woman like her.

“How have things been going with the new job?” I ask, needing to change the subject since every time I think about the years I wasted on that bitch, I get pissed all over again.

“Good. Really good. And if things keep going the way they have been, I should win the bid on the next location,” he says. I can’t help but be happy for him, since he’s been doing construction forever and this year is the first year he stepped out on his own, with his own crew.

“That’d be good,” I say on a deep breath.

“How are you liking running the bar?” he asks.

“It’s all right. We hired a new girl a few days ago.”

“Oh yeah?” he asks, and I turn my head to look at him.

“Yeah.”

“Well fuck me.” He grins, reading the look on my face without me even having to say anything.

“We’ll see,” I mutter then turn and press the button to speed up my run.

“I’ll have to stop by and have a beer.”

“She’s shy, man,” I confide quietly, wondering why I love that so much.

“Shy?” he repeats, sounding surprised.

“Yep, shy.”

“Have you ever had shy?”

“Nope, but it’s a new day.” I grin at him then curse when I see Lisa standing in front of my treadmill.

“Hey,” she says softly when our eyes meet.

“You here picking up dudes?” Tide asks, and her eyes go to him and narrow. “Just wondering, since you got a full face of makeup on and you’re not even sweating.”

“Don’t be a dick, Tide.” She crosses her arms over her chest, glaring at him.

“Don’t know how to be anyone but me,” he replies, and her lip curls up in disgust before she looks at me once more.

“Do you have a minute to talk?” she asks.

There was once a time when I would have said yes to anything she asked of me, but that was a long fucking time ago. Now I doubt I’d even spare a glass of water on her if she were on fire.

“Nope, I’m here to work out then I’m heading to the bar.”

“Oh,” she responds, looking down and shuffling her feet. “Can you call me? I’d really like to talk to you. We can meet…”

“I’d really like to have a threesome, but I don’t see that happening in my future,” Tide clips cutting her off, and she looks at him again with hatred glittering in her eyes. “If that’s all, you can move along.” He waves her away, and I fight back the laugher I feel building inside me.

“I still don’t know why you’re friends with him,” she scolds, looking at me.

“It’s called loyalty. Maybe you should look up the definition in the fucking dictionary sometime,” he says, and I laugh at that one as she narrows her eyes on mine.

“Come on, Lisa,” her friend Brittany calls from across the room, and she pulls her eyes from mine and lets out a huff before heading that way.

Shaking my head, I slow down to a walk.

“I fucking hate that bitch,” Tide mutters, and I turn to look at him. “Seriously, I fucking hated her in school, and even more so now. She’s never going to change.”

He’s right about that; she will never change. She’s selfish as fuck, and the only reason she’s trying to talk to me now is because I want nothing to do with her, and her ego can’t handle it.

“Join the fucking party,” I retort, and he grins, reaching over and patting my shoulder so hard I almost topple off the machine. “Easy, man.”

“Come on.” He hops off his treadmill. “Let’s finish our workout and get out of here. I feel like having a beer.”

“Tide,” I sigh, knowing exactly why he wants a beer.

“What?” he asks, and I shake my head.

“You meet her, you better be on your best behavior. And you better not scare her off.”

“Who, me?” He points at himself, trying to appear innocent. “I just want to make sure she’s not another Lisa.”

“She’s not.” I know she’s not. No way would Lisa ever get down on her hands and knees to clean up a mess, even if she made it. Or step in to take care of her family unless she was getting something out of it.

After Gia left the bar, I talked to my mom about how she knew her. She told me a little about her history, about her being friends with Gia’s parents when they were both in town and how they had both passed away, her mother from a car accident and her father from a brain tumor. After she told me that, she explained what Nina had to her—that for the last ten years, Gia thought her grandmother was dead. Even with all of that, she still dropped everything and moved here, leaving her job, friends, and life behind. A selfish woman wouldn’t do that.

“She knits,” I blurt out, and Tide stops with a weight lifted halfway up his chest and looks at me.

“What?”

“Gia, she knits,” I laugh, because it’s seriously ridiculous that I find it as hot as I do. “I asked her what she likes to do during her free time, and she told me she likes to knit.”

“So a shy girl who knits for fun? Now I really need to see her for myself.” He grins, pulling the weight fully up to under his chin.

“Just be cool.”

“Like I said earlier, I can only be me, man,” he mutters.

Knowing that’s the best I’m going to get from him, I don’t say anything more about it. I finish my workout then head to the locker room to shower. After I’m dressed, I get in my Suburban with Tide following behind me in his truck as we head to the bar. When we pull into the lot, I spot my dad and Gia standing outside by the open door of a bright yellow Jeep.

As I pull into a parking spot, Tide parks next to me and we both get out at the same time, heading toward my dad and Gia. Taking her in, I notice once again she’s traded in her slacks and sweater for a pair of tight worn jeans that mold to her ass and a long-sleeved red T-shirt that fits her like a second skin, accentuating the curve of her breasts and waist. Today, her long hair is half down, the top part pulled back away from her pretty face, making her eyes stand out. Eyes that stay glued on me as I approach her and my dad, but then pull away when I get close.

“What’s going on?” I ask, stopping a few feet away, even though I really want to get closer to Gia so I can smell her and see if she smells like vanilla, a scent that seems to cling to her.

“She was pulling into the lot and her door swung open. Said it hasn’t been latching correctly, so I told her I’d have a look so she doesn’t have to spend the money to take it to the dealer,” Dad explains.

“It swung open when you were driving?” I ask, and she looks up at me through her lashes as her cheeks turn a very pretty shade of pink.

“Yeah.”

“Has that happened before?” I demand, not realizing the question is actually growled at her. The thought of her getting swept out of her car is too much for me to handle.

“No,” she states, straightening her shoulders. “And I had on my seat belt, so it’s not like I’m an idiot.”

“Yeah, man, she had on her seat belt,” Tide taunts, and I look at him. “What? I’m just saying.” He holds up his hands.

“When was the last time you took the doors off?” Dad asks, cutting in.

“Doors off?” she repeats, looking puzzled. It’s a look I don’t want to find adorable right now, but I do.

“It’s a Jeep. You can take almost everything off of it,” he says, and she looks at the door before looking back at Dad once more.

“I lived in Chicago. If I took the doors off, it would get jacked. I mean… well, easier, I guess, since it got jacked when I had the doors on it,” she mutters the last part, and Tide, who thinks that’s hilarious, laughs. “It wasn’t funny,” she states, resting her hands on her hips narrowing her eyes on him.

“I bet not,” Dad grumbles, seeming as annoyed as I feel about the idea of her car getting stolen.

“How about you borrow my ride? I’ll drive this home tonight and see if I can’t get the door fixed,” I offer, and she looks up at me.

“Or I can just take it to the dealer.”

“Or you can wait to do that after I have a look at it, if I can’t get it fixed.”

“Are you sure?” she prompts.

“Positive. Give me your key.” I hold out my hand, and she looks at it for a second before digging in her pocket and coming out with a key hooked to a butterfly keychain.

Shoving her key in my pocket, I hold mine above her hand. “Do you think you can handle driving my Suburban?” I ask, and she looks past me to my SUV, which has three rows, the added length making it difficult for some people to drive.

“Probably.” She shrugs.

“Probably?” I repeat her answer while frowning.

“Yeah, probably.” She snatches the key out of my hand, shoving it in her pocket. “Anyways, what’s the worst that could happen? I wreck it and you get a new one with your insurance,” she says, smiling a smile that makes my chest feel heavy.

“Are you married?” Tide asks, breaking into our stare down, and Gia pulls her eyes off mine to look at him, making me want to beat the shit out of my best friend.

“No.”

“How do you feel about eloping with me to Vegas?” he asks, pointing at his chest.

“I would, but I kinda gotta work,” she replies, scrunching up her nose and making her already adorable face look even more endearing.

“Bummer.” He tries wrapping his bulky arm around her shoulders, but she ducks before he can.

Jesus, she won over Tide. Then again, I’m not the slightest bit surprised by this. She’s sweet, and obviously funny, and fucking cute. No, actually, she’s gorgeous. God, is she gorgeous. Especially when she’s looking at me the way she is right now.

Pulling her eyes from me, she looks at Dad. “Thanks for having a look at it.”

“Anytime, girl, and I have no doubt Colt will make sure it’s safe for you to drive,” he says, and she peers up at me.

“Thank you.”

“No problem.”

“I should get inside and help Rose.” She gives us all a smile before turning on her boots and heading for the door. Watching her go, I know I’m fucked, because I have never in all of my life wanted anything the way I want Gia Caro.

“I approve,” Dad mutters, and my eyes go to him. “I get why you were with Lisa when you were young, but she wasn’t the woman for you. She wasn’t the kind of woman you build a life with. She wasn’t back then, and she isn’t now. That girl there…” He lifts his chin at Gia’s back as she disappears into the bar. “That’s the kind of woman you lay all your hopes and dreams on, the kind who will make the struggles you’ve been through worth it.”

“You just met her,” I remind him while trying to remind myself of the same thing.

“No,” he denies, shaking his head. “I’ve been married to a woman just like her for the last thirty years, and for those thirty years, she’s made me happy, given me a family, and made it possible for me to live a dream every day.”

With that, he claps me on the back before heading toward the bar.

“She’s cute,” Tide says, breaking into the millions of thoughts swirling through my head. “And funny.”

“Yeah,” I agree, running a hand through my hair.

“Lucky fuck,” he mutters, starting to the bar then spinning around to look at me. “Come on, I need a beer.”

Pulling in a breath, I turn to Gia’s Jeep, shut the door—or try to, since the shit just pops back open—and after three more tries, I finally get it closed. Heading inside, I find Tide at the bar with his ass planted on a stool, my dad behind the bar, and Gia nowhere to be found.

“She’s helping your mom in the back,” Dad says as I pass him on the way to the office. Ignoring his comment, I drop Gia’s keys to the top of the desk and pick up the ones for the storage room. I don’t know how I feel about my dad or anyone knowing how I feel, when I haven’t even come to terms with it. This attraction came out of nowhere. I wasn’t expecting it or looking for it. That doesn’t mean I’m stupid enough to let it pass me by. I would be pissed off at myself if I didn’t try to get in there, and let some other guy see what I see. Then again, I don’t want to scare her off, since my feelings are so intense. I don’t know what could happen if I’m not careful.

“Earth to Colton.” My mom’s voice snaps me back to reality, and I tip my head down to look at her. “You okay?”

“I’m good.”

“You sure? I called your name three times, and three times you ignored me and stared at the desk like it had all the answers in the universe.”

“Sorry, I was just thinking,” I mumble.

“You sure?” she questions, getting close, or closer than she was just a second ago.

“I’m sure, Ma.”

“All right, honey,” she coos, but I can see she wants to ask at least a dozen more questions. “I’m going to take Gia over to the storage locker and show her around.”

“I’ll do it,” I say without thinking, and her head jerks back in surprise.

“Uh….”

“I’m sure you have other stuff to do,” I interject.

“Okay, sure. Well then, since she’s already in my car waiting for me, why don’t you just drive my Charger?” She hands me her keys.

Giving her a smile, I leave, shoving them in my pocket as I go. “I’ll be back,” I tell Dad as I pass him, and Tide frowns.

“Where are you going? We just got here,” Tide questions after taking a pull from the beer in front of him.

“Gonna take Gia to the storage locker.”

“Is that what we’re calling it nowadays?” he asks with a lopsided grin that turns into a wince when Mom pops him upside his head with her open palm.

“Tide, you better watch it. And you…” She spins around to look at me. “You, Colton Samuel Rust Allyster, better be on your best behavior with that girl.”

“Leave him be, babe,” Dad mutters, and Mom looks at him with squinty eyes.

“Leave him be?” she repeats.

“Yes,” he says, and she must see something in Dad’s look, because she turns her eyes back to me and when they meet mine, they’re warm and knowing.

“Please go in soft. She needs soft,” she whispers, and I lift my chin, letting her know I hear her. Leaving the bar, I head out the back door to where my parents park. As soon as Gia spots me walking toward the car through the windshield, her eyes get big and her lips part.

“I thought your mom was taking me to the storage unit,” she says as I slide in behind the wheel.

After releasing the lever to move the seat back, I look at her. “She was, but she got caught up. Asked me to take you,” I lie.

“Oh.” She presses her lips together then looks away, and I can see her eyes are on the door handle and she’s thinking about bailing. Before she can do what I know she wants to do, I start up the engine and put the car in drive since Mom had backed in when she parked.

“Seat belt,” I say, stopping at the stop sign at the end of the drive, but just like the other day, her look is a million miles away as her eyes stay glued to my hand on the gearshift. “Gia.” I reach around and her body jolts.

“I...”

“It’s all good, but you need your belt. I’d hate to get into a wreck and have your pretty face splattered against the windshield,” I tell her, then instantly regret it when I see her eyes fill with pain. Knowing that her mother’s death isn’t something she shared with me, as much as I hate to do it, I ignore the look and hook her belt. “There. Now you’re safe,” I say softly, hitting the blinker, looking for traffic, and pulling out onto the road.

Making it to the storage unit on my parents’ property fifteen minutes later, I put the car in park. The drive was made in silence. I could tell by the energy coursing through the car that Gia wasn’t sure what to think, what to say, or what to do with herself. She kept shifting in her seat and messing with the vents. I asked her a couple of times if she was cold, but she would say no, then go about messing with them some more which made me fight back a smile. I make her nervous; that much is clear. But that also means I have a shot with her because she’s at the least attracted to me.

“This is it.” I shut down the engine and unhook my belt. When I turn to look at her, her eyes are on my parents’ house that’s up on the hill above us.

“Did you grow up here?” she asks, and I try to see what she sees. A twenty-five hundred square foot Tudor home, surrounded by trees at the top of the mountain, that looks out over the city.

“I did, but I didn’t grow up in that house.” I nod toward it. “My parents had that built two years before I moved out. But growing up, there was a double-wide in that exact spot. Me, my two brothers, and my parents lived in it,” I explain, expecting her expression to change to one of disgust—the same look Lisa used to have when she would come to our house when we were in school. It was before my parents were able to afford building their dream home.

“It’s still beautiful. The land is beautiful. I can’t imagine waking up to that view every day,” she says wistfully. “Growing up in the city, you don’t get a view like this.” She nods toward the windshield.

“You’ll have to see my place sometime. My parents’ view is good, but I got one of the lake that puts theirs to shame,” I brag, pushing open my door and hearing her open hers.

“I didn’t know you have brothers,” she prompts, meeting me at the hood while putting on a light beige jacket.

“I do, two of them, both older. Cade lives in Nashville with his wife and two daughters, and Carson is right outside of Chattanooga. I’m sure you’ll meet both of them sometime, since Cade brings his girls at least a couple times a month, and Carson is around all the time. What about you? Do you have any siblings?”

“No, I was an only child. I used to beg my parents for a brother or sister, but it didn’t happen. I do have my best friend, Natasha. She’s like a sister to me, since we met when we were five and have been inseparable since then.”

“Is she back in Chicago?” I ask, heading toward the door to the building, unhooking the lock, and punching in the code to send the door up.

“Yeah, we have…” She pauses, shaking her head. “We did have a place together.”

“Are you going back?” My gut sinks at the idea of her leaving town and going back to Chicago. `

“I don’t know. If I do, it won’t be for a while.” She pulls her eyes off me. “My grandma isn’t doing so well, so I won’t leave her,” she states firmly.

I watch her pull in a breath as I fight the urge to tug her into me, to hold her and tell her everything will be okay, even if I’m lying to her in the process, just to get that look off her face.

“So your mom said there were some rules about this place,” she says once she’s gotten herself under control.

“Yeah.” I step inside the metal building and go over to the wall, pulling off the clipboard that’s always there.

“If you come here to do a pick-up, you mark off everything you take, always pull from the front, and always, always, make sure you lock up when you leave. Every month, Mom does a count and places an order so we don’t run out of anything.”

“That seems easy enough.”

“It is. We used to keep all this shit at the bar, but a few years ago, some kids broke in and stole everything, and I mean everything. Over thirty thousand dollars’ worth of liquor. No one knows about this place, not even the other waitresses and bartenders.” Which makes me wonder why Mom was showing her. Then again, I could tell my mom had a soft spot for Gia.

“Other waitresses?” she repeats.

“You’ll meet them both at some point. Dena works at the Rusty Rose and The Post, another bar in town. And Macie just works the Rusty Rose. They’re good people. You’ll get along with both of them.”

“Cool.”

“Any other questions?” I ask, stepping out of the building with her.

“Not right now.”

“Good.” I shut the door then head back to the car, with her following my lead. After getting in, I wait until she’s buckled up to pull off.

“Where are we going?” she asks a few minutes later when I pass the Rusty Rose and keep driving.

“I’m starved. I didn’t get a chance to have lunch.”

“I’m on the clock.” I hear the panic in her voice as she looks over her shoulder at the bar that is now a few hundred yards behind us.

“Me too.”

“I need to be at work when I’m on the clock, not out with you because you didn’t get lunch.”

“It won’t take long.”

“You cannot be serious,” she murmurs, and I turn to look at her. Seeing her worrying her lips, I press mine together so I don’t laugh.

Pulling into the parking lot for Ted’s Burgers and More, I park and get out then bend down to look at her in the car when she doesn’t move to get out. “Come on.”

“Come on? You’re not just running in and grabbing something?” she asks with wide eyes.

“Nope.” I slam the door, hearing her say something through the glass, then watch her jerk her seat belt out of the buckle and get out.

Stomping toward me, she shakes her head. “I can’t even call your mom and tell her what you’re doing because my phone is at the bar.”

“Ma will want me to eat.” I smile, placing my hand at the small of her back and leading her into the restaurant.

“You’re unbelievable.”

“Thanks,” I reply, and she lets out an audible huff of annoyance.

Spotting a table in the back, I lead her there then hold out her chair. It takes a few seconds, but she sits. Actually, she throws herself into the chair like I’m asking her to have lunch with the devil. Sitting down across from her, I don’t look at the menu on the table. I’ve been here so many times that I have it memorized.

“Do you know what you want?”

“I’m not eating. I’m going to keep my hands free so I can shove whatever food you order down your throat as quickly as possible so I can get out of here.”

“Pick something to eat, Gia,” I urge softly, and her eyes fly up to meet mine. “I’m not going to rush through lunch. The bar will be fine without us, mom and dad are both there.”

“You—”

“Please,” I say, and I can see the wheels in her head spinning.

“I don’t have my purse, and all I have in my pocket is five dollars.”

“You think I’d let you pay for our first date?” I ask, and her eyes widen and her body stills, even her breathing.

“This isn—”

“I’m kidding, Dimples. I got lunch. Order whatever you like,”

“Don’t call me Dimples.” She grumbles picking up the menu on the table.

“They’re cute.” I smile and I can tell she doesn’t know whether to yell at me or smile.

“Whatever.” She huffs dropping her eyes back to the menu. After that the waitress comes over and we place our order then sit there and eat lunch. It takes her a while to relax, but she eventually does. And when she does, I know I don’t want this to be the last meal I share with her.