Chapter Seven
The next day, Skylar had to work the lunch shift with Cat. Her arms ached, her back ached, and she couldn’t get Jamie out of her damn mind. Luckily, the crowd came in a steady flow as people got out of church or woke from a late night of partying, so they kept her mind busy. Cat struggled here and there with the pressure, so Skylar would pick up the slack. She couldn’t blame Cat, though. It was pretty evident that the restaurant was her first job. As Skylar walked away from one of Cat’s tables, having taken their order, Cat blocked her from moving with an outstretched arm.
“Go take a break. It’s your lunch.”
Skylar gripped the notepad. “Isn’t it your lunch?”
“Nope. Already took mine. Now hand over the notepad. Cher will be here any minute now to help out, so you can go sit and have some of Dee’s food.”
Skylar rolled her eyes, knowing very well that Cat hadn’t taken her lunch yet. But the Alpha’s female was determined, and Skylar wasn’t going to say no to a rest. She relinquished the notepad and walked to a table set away from the rest of the crowd, placed in the bright sunshine. The window gave a great view of Big Bear Boulevard. Probably not the most scenic, but Skylar loved people-watching. You could learn a lot about people if you just took the time to sit still and observe.
Unfortunately, she didn’t get much of a chance. The door jingled, and a bubbly blonde walked through the door. Jessica pouted at Cat, who called out a hello from the red counter where a line of customers sat with their burgers and shakes. The restored jukebox in a corner currently played some old nineties’ band.
“Man, I miss when you just stayed home, Cat. Now I have to drive all the way into town to see you.”
Cat laughed, sticking her notepad into her dark-blue uniform, again modeled after a retro waitress. She grabbed a couple of plates from the kitchen and called over her shoulder, “We see each other almost every day, Jessica.”
“Yeah. Well, it could be every day if you didn’t have to come here all the time.”
Cat ignored her, engaging her customers. Jessica pursed her lips and looked around the diner. Skylar shifted in her chair. Please don’t see me. Please don’t—Unfortunately, the small movement drew Jessica’s attention. She smiled and walked over. Her nude heels clicked across the linoleum floors, and Skylar tried to give her the sincerest smile she could.
“Skylar! What have you been up to? Do you like Wolf Creek?” Jessica asked before sitting casually in Skylar’s booth. Like she meant to stay. Shit, just what I need.
“It’s been pretty good. I’ve been working a lot.” Oh, and I went out with your brother. I want to screw his brains out.
“Well…that’s boring.” Jessica huffed, looking out the window.
“Don’t let her lie to you, Jessica,” Cat interrupted, coming by their table with her notepad in hand. “She went out on Jamie’s boat yesterday.”
Skylar shot Cat a dirty look, but she only shrugged and went back to taking her order. Traitor. The news had the desired effect though. She leaned forward on the table, her eyes wide. “Oh, a date? Already? My brother moves fast.”
Skylar shrunk in her seat but felt her defenses building up. All she needed was these two women thinking there was something going on between her and Jamie that wasn’t. At least…not at the moment. “Emery was with us, so it wasn’t exactly a date. He said he just wanted her to have fun.”
Jessica fell against the back of her seat, arms crossed. She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. “Mmhmm. Right.” She sighed, tilting her head slightly. “Just be careful, hon. I love my twin to pieces, but even I admit he has problems with the ladies.”
Skylar could see it. The playfulness he tried to push on everyone to make it seem like he was a playboy. Yet something about his curiosity and the way his gaze became serious as he stared at Skylar made her feel there was more. Was she wrong? Jessica was his sister, his twin, in fact. Wouldn’t she know him better?
“Really? I figured he works a lot. Cop schedule and all.” Skylar played it off like she didn’t really care.
Jessica laughed, but her face was anything but amused. “Yeah, well, he’s a guy. They make the time.”
Skylar didn’t know what to say to that. It wasn’t like she wanted Jessica to know she’d already tried out Jamie’s goods. That he had rocked her world and continued to rock it. Would it make her seem weak? Easy? Instead, Skylar turned to look back out the window, leaving Jessica in silence. Cat took their orders and continued working. Jessica would catch Cat whenever she had a second, talking about setting up some sort of get-together with her parents and how she’d love it if Cat and Killian could tag along.
Jessica’s face brightened, and she jumped in her seat, grabbing on to Skylar’s hands. “Oh! I know! How about we have a girls’ night? We haven’t had one of those in a couple weeks, and we need to introduce you into our group.”
Skylar looked at Cat, begging for escape, but the woman only smiled and shook her head.
“I’m not sure—” Skylar began, only to be cut off by Jessica narrowing her eyes.
“You don’t want to hang out with us?”
Skylar shook her head. “That’s not it. I just don’t think I should leave Emery yet.”
Jessica sat straighter in her seat and pulled her hands away to dig around in her purse. “Oh, I didn’t think about Emery. I’m sure one of the guys can help out…or maybe Kelly will miss on this one…” she mumbled, carrying on a conversation with herself. Skylar glanced nervously toward where Cat should be, but she was already in the back, getting an order.
Jessica groaned from across the table.
“Ugh, gotta go back to work. Mary gets nervous if I’m not there to help clean up and check the register.”
Skylar checked her phone. “Yeah, lunch is over for me too. I’ll see you around, Jessica.”
“Yes, you will! On Saturday, in fact. I’ll swing by your place to pick you up at seven. Dress hot because we’re going down the mountain.” Jessica winked and blew out of the diner the same way she blew in, with an air kiss and wave toward Cat.
Exasperated with Jessica’s smooth dismissal of her concerns, Skylar stood and shook her head. A girls’ night? She’d never had one before. But Emery came first. Emery always came first.
Skylar was just tying her apron back on when Cat grabbed her arm. She looked up at Cat’s worried expression.
“Look, I don’t know what’s going on with you and Jamie, but I think you should know. Don’t take what Jessica said to heart.” She half smiled and released Skylar’s arm. “I think he is a lot different than the person he tries to make us all see.”
All Skylar could do was smile and nod, although, from the look on Cat’s face, she didn’t think it was very convincing. She wasn’t even considering a relationship with Jamie, yet their different opinions of him really nagged at her. How could two people so close to Jamie have such differing views on what kind of person he was? Was he the pretentious cowboy, or was he the caring guy with affections so deep he had to hide them behind a mask?