Chapter 3
Chapter Three
R olling over in the dark, Jody caught sight of the alarm clock on the nightstand. Groaning, he rolled back over to slide his arm around Baylin’s waist. “I have to go.”
“Don’t go yet. It’s not even daylight,” she protested. Baylin snuggled against him, throwing a feminine leg over his.
“By the time I take a shower, drive home, and make myself breakfast, it will be.” It was much easier to deny her sultry invitation after spending numerous hours in a sexual haze.
“You could be late,” she suggested. “What does it matter? What’s the use of being one of the business owners if you can’t enjoy being late when you want to be?”
“I might be one of the owners of my family’s business, but that doesn’t mean I’m not responsible for my share of the work.”
“One of your brothers can take over for you. They don’t have a problem asking you to work when they want time off.”
Jody didn’t like the resentful tone Baylin used when she spoke about his brothers. Too late, he remembered why he had stopped hooking up with women—Baylin in particular.
Last year, when they had met up a few times to scratch each other’s itch, she had started asking to go out on dates. He had gently told her that he didn’t date. When she had pressured him the last time—her wanting him to meet her parents—he had stopped coming by. The way she was talking as if she was familiar with his family was a bad omen that Baylin was assuming more than the situational fuck session they had shared.
“You’re always putting your brothers over me,” she complained.
What the fuck? She just had to ruin the good time he was having.
Jody blamed himself; he knew before he had fucked her that the pleasure didn’t outweigh the negatives.
“I need to get that shower.”
“Come on, Jody …” She slid her hand down his chest to his cock. “Call one of your brothers,” she coaxed. Her caressing his cock didn’t tempt him to make the call. “It’s untelling how long before you come off that mountain again.”
Not anytime soon, if he could help it.
Removing her hand, he slid out from under her legs and went to the bathroom to take a short shower. All he wanted to do was get away from Baylin. She had to have a screw loose for her to say he was putting his brothers over her. How was he putting his brothers over her? She acted as if he had never stopped coming around, that they had been in an ongoing relationship.
He toweled his body dry and walked out of the bedroom with the towel wrapped around his hips, giving an inward groan at seeing Baylin had pulled on leggings and was putting on a black workout top.
“I’m hungry,” she stated, seeing he was watching her. “I thought we could grab breakfast on your way home.”
He was about to refuse but felt bad when she sent him a pleading look.
“You were going to fix yourself breakfast, anyway,” she cajoled. “Eating breakfast out will be quicker.”
“There’s no one open this early for breakfast.”
Baylin’s face broke into a smile. “The diner reopened. I saw it when I drove by yesterday. I just checked on my phone, and it opened at six. We can eat breakfast, and then you can go to work, and I can go to the gym.”
He wanted to kick his own ass at Baylin’s instant comeback.
As he was getting dressed, he thought it over. He knew he wouldn’t be seeing Baylin anymore from the way she was acting. He could tell her here or put a stop to it at the diner. From the angry glimmer in her eyes, it was safe to assume he wouldn’t be walking out that door without a huge argument. The restaurant was a safer bet—Baylin wouldn’t want it getting out around town that his interest in her was in her imagination.
“Sure, we can do that. You ready?”
“I am.” She grabbed a black jacket and put it on.
Leaving her bedroom, he grabbed his truck keys from the kitchen counter. In the parking lot, he waited until she was in her car then followed her to the diner.
From the outside, the diner looked the same way as it always had since he was a kid. Getting out of the truck, he opened Baylin’s car door for her. When she would have taken his hand as they walked to the diner, he shoved his into his pocket.
Opening the door for her, he let Baylin go in first. As they stared around the empty restaurant, he saw a woman, who had her back to them, making coffee then turn around.
“Have a seat. Take any table you want,” she greeted them warmly.
His mind on the coming confrontation with Baylin, he didn’t pay attention to the waitress, more concerned with trying to decide which table would be the best option to sit at to keep the waitress and any other customers from hearing their conversation.
“Let’s take the back booth,” he said, placing a hand on the small of her back as he led her to the booth farthest away from the front counter and the door.
Letting Baylin sit first, he slid into the opposite side of the booth.
“How are you two doing today?”
Looking away from Baylin’s set face for not sitting next to her, Jody raised his eyes to the waitress.
He felt as if a thunderbolt had come from the ceiling to strike his nuts and could only stare at the woman, not making any move to accept the menu from her. Treepoint was a small town, so the fact he didn’t recognize her told him that she was new to town. If the woman was meant to be important to his family or him, his brothers would have seen it in the stars. Because they hadn’t, his inexplicable reaction to her shook him.
Seeing where his attention was centered, Baylin reached out to take both menus, laying his down in front of him.
“We’re good,” Baylin answered for them through tight lips.
“What can I get you this morning?” the waitress asked, giving them a friendly smile.
“We’ll take two coffees,” Baylin ordered.
“Okay, I’ll get that for you.” She smiled at Baylin then gave him a sympathetic glance, as if he wasn’t all there. Jody couldn’t blame her; he was acting like a dumbstruck idiot. “Look over the menu, and I’ll take your orders when I come back.”
From the reaction he was having, Jody could have sworn he had just met his soul mate, if not for the fact her star was nowhere within sight of Treepoint.
Glancing away from the waitress as she walked away, he was met with Baylin’s furious glare.
“Could you be more obvious?” she hissed at him.
“What?” He frowned in pretend ignorance.
“Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about, Jody. For a second, I thought you were going to come when she smiled at you.”
Fuck, he hadn’t been that obvious, had he? He reassured himself that the only reason Baylin had read his reaction so easily was because he had spent several hours during the night fucking her.
Deciding the best way to respond to her accusation was not to, he picked up the menu to study it.
The waitress coming back with the coffee had him placing the menu down, keeping his eyes on Baylin as the coffee cups were placed on the table.
“Are you ready to order?”
“I’ll take a BLT,” Baylin ordered. “What about you, Jody?”
“I’ll take the steak and eggs.”
“How would you like your eggs?”
“Over medium.”
“How do you like your steak cooked?”
“Medium,” he managed to croak out. Why in the hell hadn’t he ordered the same as Baylin?
“All right, I’ll give the cook your order. Just let me know if you need more coffee.”
Jody’s eyes never left Baylin’s, feeling a cold sweat run down his back. What the fuck was going on with him? The whole time the waitress had stood next to the table, he felt as if she were giving off a static charge. If he didn’t know his soul mate wasn’t supposed to appear in his life for another year, he could swear she was the one destined for him.
Picking up his cup of coffee, he put the waitress out of his mind. He had to deal with Baylin, sure his reaction to the waitress was only an intense physical attraction. Silas had warned him last year when he had stopped by unexpectedly to borrow his truck and found him with Mina that he was treading on thin ice where women were concerned. He had listened and stopped going into town to find the sexual release the women offered.
“I’m sorry I’m cramping your style.”
His jaw clenched at the snide way Baylin was glaring at him.
“I wouldn’t let you cramp my style if I were interested.”
He had meant to wait until after they ate to talk to Baylin, but the way she was talking to him had him responding in kind. He didn’t like being unkind, but when push came to shove, he was no pushover.
“You brought me here to break up with me, didn’t you?”
At Baylin’s raised voice, Jody looked toward the counter, seeing the waitress waiting on a lone customer. “Lower your voice.”
“Don’t want your waitress to hear?” Baylin’s voice grew louder.
Jody leaned over the table, keeping his voice low. “If you think you can embarrass me, you won’t. The only one who will be embarrassed is you. I’m a Coleman—I’m used to being trash-talked. Are you?”
Baylin’s jaw snapped shut.
He used the opportunity to say what needed to be said.
“To break up, it would mean we are a couple—we aren’t. I made that plain from the get-go. I wasn’t looking for a commitment. What we did have was an arrangement that neither of us would get serious, both times we talked about it. You agreed each time. You’re the one who is trying to take it from the bedroom to a relationship I clearly said was never going to happen,” he told her coldly.
“Here you go.”
Wanting to bite his tongue off when he looked up and saw the waitress standing there with their food, Jody had no choice but to brazen it out. “Thank you, Rowyn.”
Frowning, he looked away to stare down at the food she had placed in front of him. Why did her name sound wrong on his lips? He had noticed her name sewn onto her uniform top when she had first come to their table. That was why he had been reassured she wasn’t his soul mate.
“Is something wrong with your food?”
Jody raised his eyes back to hers.
Her friendly smile was gone as she stared back at him.
“No, it looks good. Thank you,” he lied, looking away from the rare steak and runny eggs.
The waitress gave him a disparaging look before shifting her gaze to Baylin. “Is your food okay?” she asked sympathetically. “I can get you something else if you want.”
“No, it’s fine.”
His lips tightened at Baylin’s tearful expression. He should be the one crying. At least her burnt bacon didn’t look like it was about to jump off her plate and start running.
“Can I freshen your coffee?”
“No, we’re good,” Jody answered for both of them.
The waitress gave Baylin time to gather herself, which Jody would have thought was sweet, if he wasn’t coming across as the bad guy by breaking her heart.
The waitress ignored him, waiting for Baylin’s answer.
“I’m fine. Would you mind bringing me a to-go box? I’ve lost my appetite.”
“I’ll be right back.”
After giving him a warning look, the waitress briefly left them alone.
As soon as the waitress’ back was turned, Baylin gave him a feline smile. “Good luck getting into her panties now.”
Picking up his fork and knife, he started eating, afraid if he didn’t keep his mouth full, he would say something he would regret.
From the way the waitress stared at him when she returned to the table with the to-go box, Baylin had accomplished her goal.
“I’ll take the ticket.”
Lowering his fork carefully to his plate, Jody caught Baylin’s gaze. “I would stop while you’re ahead,” he warned, which had both women looking at him warily. “You can give me the ticket when I’m ready to leave.” Remembering his manners, despite how angry he was, he gave the waitress a dismissive nod.
“We’re good. If we need anything else, I’ll let you know,” Baylin said pitifully.
The waitress didn’t immediately leave. “Are you okay?”
Baylin raised her napkin to her eyes, as if she were about to burst into tears. “I guess I’ll have to be. Thank you.”
Nodding, the waitress stepped away to wait on the customers who had just come in. Jody was conscious of her standing where she could keep an eye on their table while Baylin placed her food in the to-go container.
“So, this is it? I’m not going to see you anymore?”
Jody cut off a rare piece of his steak. Piercing it with his fork, he lifted his eyes to hers. “No chance in hell.” Callously, Jody let her see exactly what her chances were of him ever knocking on her door again. “I don’t know what you were going for by acting the way you did. Either you’re a fucking psycho living in a dreamworld, or you did it to get back at me and used the waitress to even your scoreboard. Whatever the reason was, you miscalculated. Colemans might have a bad reputation in town, but no one says we’re stupid, do they?”
Paling, Baylin grabbed her container and fled.
Determined to ride out the embarrassing situation, he ate his food until his churning stomach couldn’t handle another bite. The only reason he had eaten the godawful food was because he wanted the least interaction with Rowyn as possible. Complaining about the food would have him talking more to her and having to wait for the food to be prepared all over again. Having to eat the revolting food was a price he was willing to pay to get away from Rowyn and the effect she had on him.
Standing, he went to the cash register. When she noticed him, the waitress finished pouring the coffee into a customer’s cup.
“Was everything all right with your meal?” she asked him stiltedly, giving him the check.
“Yes.” Lying, he took out his wallet. Pulling out the necessary cash, he handed the bills to her. “Keep the change.”
“Thank you. Come again.”
After the words left her mouth, her face turned bright red before she practically ran through the door to the kitchen to disappear.
He didn’t have to wonder what had embarrassed the woman. It had been plain she had heard Baylin’s remark.
Gritting his teeth, he jerked the door open. He couldn’t have made a worse first impression if he’d tried. Thank goodness the waitress wasn’t meant for him. Baylin had made him look like a dirtbag.
Well, Jody thought fatalistically, at least he had a year for the gossip to die down. The diner had been the hotbed of gossip before the last owner had taken it over. At least the current owner seemed more hospitable than Marty had been. Whoever they were, at least they allowed the customers to eat inside.
Pulling out onto the main road in Treepoint, he braked at the red stop light. Jody drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. He saw only one slight problem—his reaction to Rowyn. Looking back, he was sure his reaction hadn’t been as intense as he remembered it.
Shifting on the bench seat, he put the truck in gear when the light turned green. Who was he kidding? He was lusting after a woman when he shouldn’t have after the night he had spent with Baylin. That in itself was a warning he needed to stay away from the waitress. The only one he wanted that reaction from was his soul mate.
Was that what Silas had been attempting to warn him about? If so, Silas should have given him a stronger warning other than to be careful that he was treading on thin ice.
It might be too late, but he was going to give the town a wide berth until his soul mate came to town.
As he drove up the mountain road toward his family’s land, the sun was beginning to come up. When he passed The Last Riders’ clubhouse, he saw there were already lights on and the members crossing the parking lot to head to the factory.
Three miles ahead, he put on his blinker, even though no one was on the road. The curvy road could be dangerous if someone wasn’t paying attention to their speed. Making the turn into his family’s driveway, he looked to the side of the yard and saw Silas and Fynn watching the sky where the last of the stars were making way for the sun’s arrival.
A cold chill ran down his spine. His younger brother was in his pajamas instead of being inside, getting ready for school.
Jody could think of only one reason that Silas wouldn’t have Fynn inside, getting ready, and that was if they needed to read the stars. Something had happened.
And with a clench of dread, Jody was afraid to find out what it was.