Chapter 4
Chapter Four
JOEY
Tap. Tap. Tap.
My nails tap a staccato on the Formica tabletop at Pinecrest Pancake Emporium. I suggested it because it’s a low key spot for a first date. Not much pressure. Then if things go well, we can go to The Dusty Spur for a drink. Even though my brother owns it, it’s not the worst thing.
The best part about being from a small town is everyone knows me here. Everyone. I’ve grown up here. My parents grew up here and their parents before them.
So there’s always a watchful eye on me. If Gavin turns out to be a serial killer, he won’t get far. Which was why I don’t mind being here.
Sipping my drink, I tap my phone to check the time. He’s now twenty minutes late. I wonder how long I should give Gavin to show up.
I fidget with the straw wrapper sitting on the table in front of me, shredding it to pieces. Where is this guy? I pull up my message to him from when I arrived, telling him I was here. Nothing since then.
Knowing my luck, this asshole ghosted me.
I hate that I put so much into how I look tonight. And I look really fucking good. I curled my hair and did my makeup to perfection. Brought out my best navy, floral-print crop top with the thin straps. Paired it with my favorite dark, high-rise jeans and cute gold sandals.
I even used my brand-new dark lip stain—the one I’d been saving for a special occasion. That’ll show me to use it on some throwaway guy who doesn’t care about me.
It’s been too hard to try and find a nice guy. Someone who shows up when they say they will and treats me with respect. It’s not like I’m asking for all that much.
I tried to make a go of it with Max’s dad for my son’s sake, but he was worthless and wanted nothing to do with my sweet baby. It’s like he jinxed my love life and made it so I’m not good enough for any guy that I meet.
Time after time, it either ends after one date or they never bother to show up. How hard is it to find one person?
“Can I get you anything while you wait?” Shelly asks, coming up to the booth.
Checking my phone one more time, I decide to call it. No sense in sitting here feeling like a fool.
“No. I’ll just take the check.”
Shelly gives me a pat on the arm. “It’s on the house, honey.”
I wince. “Thanks.”
Nothing like people taking pity on you because you were stood up. Grabbing my purse from the black leather seat, I go to stand, but stop.
“Sam. Hi.”
In his usual tight jeans and an even tighter white T-shirt, he looks hot as sin walking into the restaurant toward me.
“Joey. Nice to see you.” Sam smiles down at me, resting one hand on the opposite side of the booth. “What are you doing here?”
“Waiting on a date.” I look around, trying to deflect his gaze from mine.
“When’s he supposed to be here?”
“Oh, about thirty minutes ago.” I sigh. “I’m leaving now. No sense in waiting around for him to show if he’s this late.”
“Even if he did show up at this point, fuck him,” Sam snarls.
“What? Why?”
“If a man can’t be on time to meet you, he doesn’t deserve you.”
“That’s awfully nice of you, but he was probably too good to be true, anyway,” I say. “So stupid of me.”
“Why’s that?” Sam asks, looking confused.
“A picture with a puppy and a kid?” I scoff. “He just wants to draw a woman in so he can get laid.”
And I fell for it—hook, line, and sinker.
“Hey.” Sam rests a warm hand on my forearm. “He’s the stupid one.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because he passed up the chance at meeting you. He’s an idiot.”
Something flares in Sam’s eyes and I don’t understand it, but his words have my stomach doing somersaults. Sam Shaw has no right to look as sexy as he does. The kind of sexy that is so effortless, you wonder where it comes from.
I don’t know when Sam became attractive in my eyes.
It might have been the first time I came home from college and saw him working on the ranch with no shirt on. Those biceps were too delicious not to drool over. Or maybe it was when he was pitching in at the diner to help Betty after her husband passed away.
Or maybe it’s the way he looks at me like I deserve more.
“Sam. Your food’s ready,” Shelly calls from the register. “Get it while it’s hot.”
“I should get going,” he says, throwing a thumb over his shoulder.
“Why don’t you eat here with me?” I ask.
“I shouldn’t.”
“Please? It’d help me feel like I’m not the biggest loser for getting roped in by another guy. And Max is at my parents’ for the night, so I’ve got some free time.”
Sam doesn’t answer but goes to grab his bag and returns to the table, sliding in across from me. “You want the red velvet pancakes or the lemon ricotta?”
My eyes light up as he pops open the Styrofoam container. The sweet scent of citrus assaults my senses. “I’ll take the lemon one.”
He pushes the container toward me as I unfurl my napkin and silverware. A quiet settles over us as we dig into the fluffy pancakes.
I can’t help but moan around the first delicious bite. All light and buttery, it’s just what I need after tonight.
Sam eyes me before turning his attention back to his own meal, popping a piece in his mouth.
“I didn’t take you for someone having a sweet tooth,” I say between bites.
“Every now and again after a long day at the barn.” His deep, chocolate-brown eyes stare into mine. “I like something sweet. Takes the edge off.”
“Not me. I like something stronger.”
“What might that be?” he asks.
“Shot of tequila. Maybe some dancing at The Dusty Spur.”
His jaw tics as he leans back into the booth, spinning his fork between long, thick fingers.
I wonder how good they would feel inside of me.
The thought hits me out of nowhere. Sam Shaw is off-limits. But it’s hard to get my brain and lady parts on board when he is looking at me like that.
Like he’s having his own dangerous thoughts about me.
“If I didn’t have to get back to the barn, maybe I’d buy you that shot.”
I lean across the table, dropping my fork into the container. “How about next time?”
I’m shamelessly flirting and I don’t give a damn. It feels good. Makes me feel like I’m still the same person I was before I became a mother.
My son is the most important thing in my life. I love him beyond words. But sometimes, I feel like all I am is Max’s mom.
It’s nice to have a night on my own and have a sexy man like Sam look at me like he could devour me.
I’ll take whatever I can get.
Even if I shouldn’t be doing it.
He points his fork at me. “Next time, Joey.”
“I’ll hold you to it.”
“I’m a man of my word.” He nods.
“Maybe that’s my problem.”
“What is?” he asks, confusion written all over his face.
“On dating. No one is a man of their word anymore.”
“Could just be that you’re only finding immature boys who don’t know how to treat a lady.”
I flutter my lashes at him. “You make it sound so old-fashioned.”
“Nothing old-fashioned about respecting someone. You show up when you say you’re going to show up. It’s not rocket science.”
“If only Gavin could have been more like you.”
He snorts. “Gavin? I shouldn’t be surprised this guy stood you up. Sounds like a first-class asshole.”
“Probably was.” I smile back at him. “I mean, yeah, he totally is. He stood me up. The fucker.”
“That’s the attitude to have. Nothing you did wrong. The man wouldn’t know a beautiful woman if she walked right out in front of him.”
“You calling me beautiful, Sam?” I ask.
He takes a minute to pause, stuffing an overly red bite of pancake into his mouth. He chews thoughtfully before swallowing. “You know you are.”
“I like hearing it from you.”
“You’re beautiful, Joey,” he answers. There’s no hesitation in his voice. No stutter at all.
The way Sam is looking at me tells me he means it. I want to squirm under his gaze, but something tells me I shouldn’t. That this man wants me to know he means what he says.
“You’re not so bad yourself, Sam.”
It’s all I can say.
Tension is thick between the two of us as we take one another in. I want to move from my side of the booth to his just to feel his warmth against me.
Before I can do anything stupid, Shelly comes to the table.
“Do you two want anything else…or are you finished?”
She eyes the empty containers.
“We’re done.” Sam cleans up the containers and stuffs them into the plastic bag as Shelly takes them and walks away.
“What do I owe you for the pancakes?” I ask, fishing some crumpled-up bills out of my purse.
“Don’t worry about them.”
“You sure?” I ask, resting my hand on his forearm.
The corner of his mouth quirks up into a smile as he pats my hand. “Your dad would never forgive me if I let you pay.”
“I wouldn’t tell him.”
It’s a bucket of cold water thrown over me. Not that I need the reminder of who Sam is to me.
“No, but I’m sure it’d get back to him somehow.”
“The joys of a small town,” I say.
I don’t do anything to shake off his touch. His warmth—hell, his presence—is calming in a way I haven’t experienced in a long time.
It’s…well, it’s nice. It makes me feel like there might not be something wrong with me that makes guys keep standing me up.
“I should get going,” Sam says.
“Me too. I can get in some grocery shopping without Max, which means I don’t have to buy every type of cookie there is.”
Sam laughs. “I remember those days. I hated taking Lennox shopping because I always had to buy her something when we went.”
“And if you didn’t it’d be an epic meltdown?”
I stand, crossing my purse over my shoulder and following Sam to the door.
“You know it.”
“When do they grow out of it?”
Stepping outside, a wall of heat greets us. Even in the early evening, it’s still hot. But I love it. These are my favorite kind of summer days. Where the light clings to the mountains, not setting until late and letting fireflies dance in the sky.
“Lennox stopped when she was ten. But she also hated me at that point, so that might have had something to do with it.”
I wince. “Well, I hope Max won’t ever hate me.”
“I think you’ll be just fine, Joey.”
I stop at my car and rest my ass on the hood of the old beat-up sedan. It’s seen better days, but at this point, I can’t afford much else. “Thanks for rescuing my night, Sam.”
He stuffs his hands in his pockets, eyes crinkling as he smiles at me. A bright white smile that I don’t think I’ll forget anytime soon.
“Any time.” He winks and is gone.
Butterflies let loose in my stomach. God damn it.
Tonight was better than any date I could have imagined. I want to wait at the Emporium every night in the hopes of getting to see Sam. To talk with him. Look at him. Breathe the same air as him.
I bite down on my bottom lip to keep from calling out after him as I get into my car. There’s nothing I want more than to keep this night going. Maybe get a drink with him.
But that’s a dream. One that I need to shut down.
Having a crush on my dad’s best friend is a bad idea. They’ve been playing poker together since before I could walk. I have no claim to this man.
I need to set my sights on someone who is more appropriate for me. Not someone twenty years older than I am who will only bring trouble into my life.
But this is exactly what Serena was talking about—chaos coming into my life. I don’t need chaos. My life is chaotic enough as it is being a single mom.
And Sam would definitely bring chaos.
But damn, if I don’t wish I could have some chaos…at least for one night.