Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Kendrick didn’t want to be too obvious about his intentions, so he tried to appear as casual as possible while looking in the big windows of the diner.
The various glares from the fading sun, Christmas lights, and just the busyness of L.A. made it hard to see anything inside.
He’d just have to go on in and see if the waitress who’d captured his attention was working. If she wasn’t, he could force himself to eat something, even though the food there wasn’t what he was really craving.
That looked like what he’d have to do. Upon entering, he didn’t see the beautiful girl anywhere. The woman behind the counter was probably about sixty. A second later, another person came in through the door that presumably led to the kitchen. But it was a man of about forty-five or so.
Kendrick watched as the guy dropped off the plates he was carrying and then walked behind the counter to start chatting with the woman.
The table who’d just received the food held three guys, all of them wearing long-sleeved, bright-yellow shirts and tattered ball caps. Kendrick guessed they were part of some work crew.
Another table held an older couple who already had their food. Besides them, there was a younger couple at a table not too far away, and then one other occupied booth that had two middle-aged men sitting across from each other.
Through the rectangular open window that ran part of the wall behind the counter, showing the kitchen, Kendrick could see two cooks.
He laughed to himself.
Old habits died hard. He constantly scanned faces and counted people. Everywhere he went. Without fail. Years of being a cop had made him hypervigilant and ever watchful.
Kendrick considered just spinning around and going right back outside, but the waitress behind the counter noticed him, smiled, and called out, “Sit anywhere you’d like.”
Damn.
Offering her a little smile, he nodded and took a seat in a booth by one of the front windows. He grabbed one of the stained, laminated menus and looked it over, though he already knew nothing there sounded good.
He thought of himself as a pretty decent cook, so his standards were a bit high. Sure, sometimes he was in the mood for some really greasy food. It could hit the spot. But most of the time he wanted something better. He didn’t quite consider himself a food snob. But he borderlined it.
He was perusing the menu, searching for the lightest option so he’d still be hungry when he got home and could whip up something better, when the bell over the glass door rang. He looked up and saw… her.
She must have just been arriving at work.
Okay, he thought, this is getting better. Now I have a reason to eat this stuff.
For a moment, he thought about averting his eyes quickly to the menu. But then he thought better of it. Might as well make his intentions known. He wasn’t the type to play games. No one had ever accused him of being subtle, either.
But…
Was he sure he wanted to pursue this woman? She was gorgeous. Something about her called to him. But he needed a Little.
Kendrick was a Daddy, after all. He wouldn’t be happy living his life any other way. A “vanilla” relationship just wasn’t in the cards for him. Wasn’t how he wanted to live his life.
Why then was he so drawn to this woman he didn’t even know? They’d met one time. It occurred to him that he didn’t even know her name.
Okay, so maybe she’s not the one for me, he thought. It still wouldn’t hurt to get to know her a bit. Maybe a good friendship would come out of it. She’s from Kentucky. You’re from Tennessee. Hillbillies have to stick together.
He laughed slightly at his own internal joke.
But he was also laughing at the notion that he was just there to pursue a friendship. He knew damn well that wasn’t his intention. This woman had a powerful hold on him. Maybe spending some more time in her presence would tell him why.
That might not be in the cards tonight, he realized, as the other, older waitress sauntered over as if she didn’t have a care in the world. “Never seen you in here before. Usually we only get regulars.”
“Every regular has to start somewhere,” he pointed out. “I was in here the other night, actually, for the first time. Good stuff. Thought I’d come back.”
“You’re a bad liar,” she countered. “No one accuses this place of being good. But it’s familiar to some. So, they keep coming back.”
He chuckled. “Pie is tasty.”
That wasn’t too big a lie. It wasn’t like his grandma’s Thanksgiving pie or anything, but it was pretty darn good. Better than the main course had been, at least.
She smiled and nodded. “What’ll it be? Or do you need another minute or two?”
Normally, Kendrick could control his actions, but his eyes darted inadvertently to the pretty waitress as she grabbed an apron off a peg on the wall and hung it around her neck.
“Ah,” the older waitress said. “So that’s why you came back.” Light shone in her gray-blue eyes. “Samantha, honey, you have a customer.” In a lower tone, she leaned in closer and said, “Samantha’s a sweet girl. But she can be a bit prickly, between you and me. Watch out.”
She stood upright, winked, and then walked away to check on some other customers.
Kendrick was all smiles. And he’d found out a valuable piece of information.
Her name was Samantha.
She came over and stopped bit further away than Kendrick would have expected her to.
Was something wrong? It was almost as if she were apprehensive. He hoped he wasn’t creeping her out.
Daddy would never make his little girl feel uncomfortable.
Stop thinking like that, Kendrick! You don’t know her. She’s most likely not even a Little. Just chill out with all this.
She recovered quickly, it appeared. Hmm. What was that all about?”
“Hello again,” she said, in a flat tone. It wasn’t rude exactly. But it sure wasn’t warm.
Kendrick thought he noticed a slight quiver in her words, too.
Wearing his most disarming smile, he said, “Hey. Sorry she called you over here. I told her I was here the other night and she thought maybe I’d want to say hi.”
Is that the best you can do? Not exactly a smooth operator, Kendrick. Come on. You’ve got more game than this.
“It’s nice seeing you again,” she said. “Where’s Isaiah?”
A confused smile split Kendrick’s lips as he tilted his head to the side. “How did you know his name?”
It looked as if Samantha was trying to recover quickly.
What was going on with her?
“You said it. The other night. Or I heard you both talking. I can’t remember which.”
Kendrick couldn’t remember them telling her their names. She certainly hadn’t shared hers. Hearing the other waitress say it was the first time he’d learned it.
And he doubted he would have called Isaiah by name during the conversation the other night.
Perhaps his memory was just getting bad. After all, Samantha didn’t have any reason to lie about this.
Did she?
“Well, Isaiah went on home. I’m flying solo tonight.” The old bench creaked a little as he leaned back in the booth. “So I suppose you know my name, too.”
She nodded.
“I learned yours a minute ago, Samantha. It’s good to officially meet you.”
Samantha smiled now. “It’s nice meeting you, too.”
They stayed like that for a few seconds, looking into one another’s eyes, something unspoken passing between them.
Finally, he shifted in his seat a little and said, “You always work the evening shift?”
He hoped she took the question the way he intended it—polite, get-to-know-you conversation and not a creepy guy prying into some woman’s personal life.
Thankfully, she seemed okay with it. “Yeah. Sometimes I work all the way to midnight or even one. But I get off at ten tonight. They just have me at part-time hours today.”
Kendrick looked down at his phone and noted the time. With his eyes back on Samantha, he said, “Man, only four hours. I hope you don’t live far. You know how this town can be—you might sit in traffic for an hour or more just coming here.”
“Yeah. I take the bus—or a couple of them—to get here. So it can definitely take a while. But traffic usually isn’t too thick. Especially going home.”
A look of regret registered in her eyes, but it faded just as quickly as it had appeared.
For a moment, Kendrick feared she was worried about divulging so much personal information to him. But then he realized it was something else.
She was embarrassed.
His heart broke. She didn’t need to feel that way with him. But it would take time for her to figure that out.
He tried reminding himself once again that he needed a Little. Yet he couldn’t explain why he felt more drawn to Samantha with each passing second. Did his Daddy intuition know something his brain hadn’t accepted yet?
Was she a Little?
He supposed time would tell that, too.
Right now, he just needed to get to know her a little more and see where things went. No reason to jump ahead of himself.
“So, what will it be tonight?"
“I think I’ll take a glass of water and then a slice of that apple pie, please.”
“You came all the way from your place to this diner for pie and water?” She was smirking a little, as if she found it endearing.
But then another glaringly obvious question screamed at him. He decided to ask her.
“Do you know where I live or something?”
Maybe I’m the one who should think she’s creepy, he thought, fighting back a smile. She sure seemed to know a lot about him. He was at a loss when it came to her.
“Uh, you… mentioned the other night… that you were just in the area. So, I assume you don’t live close.”
Okay, that explanation was plausible. He did remember him and Isaiah telling her that were passing through that part of town and had just decided to stop. He’d give her that one.
Still, something seemed off. It appeared as if she clearly knew more about him than he did her.
What was up with that?
Or maybe it was just his imagination. Cops could be paranoid sometimes. They were trained to look for patterns and connect dots. Right now, he didn’t have anything concrete. It might add up to a whole lot of nothing.
Remembering her initial question, he said, “Hey, the pie is pretty good. But… I’ll admit… I wanted to see you again.”
Kendrick was taking a risk here. But he figured honesty was the best policy, instead of being hypocritical, worried she was hiding something, while he was lying about his true motives for being there.
The brightness of her smile reached her brown eyes. “Really?”
“Yeah. I was curious if maybe you’d want to get something to eat sometime. Maybe go out for a drink, too.”
It was nearly cuteness overload as she let out a little squeal. It also gave Little vibes.
Maybe his Daddy radar was correct, after all.
“I’d like that,” she said. “When?”
Kendrick grinned. “How about tonight?”
She nodded before turning around to presumably go get his pie.
He watched her the entire way.
Damn, she was too cute.