He smiled briefly at me.
I waved my hand around the empty dining room. The handful of locals who came in during the week hadn't shown up yet. "You can sit anywhere."
"Which are your tables?" he asked.
I pointed out my set of tables, and he took off his coat and sat down. I brought him a menu, but he waved it off. "Just a coffee, please … Ray," he added. I was stupidly pleased that he remembered my nickname.
"Right … Ro." I'd remembered his, too.
I brought over the coffeepot and a cup and saucer. "You're not trying to go all day on coffee, are you?" I shook my head. "Sorry, none of my business."
"That's all right and no." He leaned back and patted his flat stomach. "Filled to the top with my niece's chocolate chip pancakes."
"Lucky you. I haven't had chocolate chip pancakes since I was a kid. My mom used to make them on my birthday or when I got an A on a test."
He squinted a green eye as he looked up at me. "I'll bet you got a lot of As on tests."
I laughed. "Are you telling me I look like a nerd?"
"A hot nerd if that helps save me," he said. "Besides, let's face it, we guys always had big crushes on the brainy girls. Mostly because they were out of our league."
"Baloney," I said with a laugh. "And I was more a B student. I was too busy thinking about boys. You know, the boys who were crushing on the A students." I lifted my hand to push a stray hair off my face. His gaze went right to the small tattoo on the inside of my wrist. It was a circle of stars around the nameJack.
"Lucky guy"—he motioned toward my arm—"Jack, I mean." I decided not to fill in any details. I realized I was instinctively flirting with the man, and I didn't need to encourage him. If he thought I was dating a man named Jack, all the better.
"Just the coffee?" I asked as I poured it into his cup.
"Yeah." He took a sip and winced.
I straightened. "Too hot? I'm sorry. I should have warned?—"
He shook his head. "No, it's not too hot. I bit my tongue yesterday."
"Well, I know working on a construction site can be dangerous, but I didn't realize the hazards of tongue biting. Guess you won't be kissing your girl for a few days." My hand flew to my mouth. "Oh wow, can't believe that just fell out of this mouth." What was it about this man that was turning me into an absolute fool?
He laughed. "You know I hadn't even thought of that and wow, that is a bummer because I do love to kiss. However, there is no girl in particular, at the moment. I guess you could say I'm between lips." He shook his head, and we both laughed. "Wow, this conversation went way off the rails."
"That was my fault," I said.
"No, I'm glad I stopped in. It's been a great way to start a day that's followed a long string of bad days. Thank you."
"You're welcome. And I'm sorry about the string of bad days. Experienced a few of those too. I hope things get better from here out."
"Well, I think those chocolate chip pancakes might have just started me on a better path."
"How old is your niece?"
"Rio is fifteen, and she's, well, she's the best."
"That's sweet. She's sounds incredible. Well, let me know if you need a refill." I turned and walked away, a warm blush covering my face. Nora had been watching from behind the counter where she was filling the napkin holders.
"Thought you weren't interested," she said dryly.
"Shh, he'll hear you," I said in a quiet tone. "I'm not." I glanced back, and another small gasp escaped me as I realized he was still watching me. I spun back around to Nora. "He's so hot, it's hard to believe he's real."
Nora stared back at him brazenly. "He looks like something I created in AI." She looked at me. "So, I guess that's it then. I don't have a chance."
"Don't be silly. I'm sticking to my resolution. You can even refill his cup."