Читать книгу Finders Keepers - Ingrid Weaver - Страница 5
Оглавление“Hello-oo?” The sing-song question came from one of the girls at the window table. It was followed by a quick succession of finger-snaps and muffled giggles. “Those fries are for us, right?”
Brittany realized she was still holding the plates. Speechless. Frozen in place. Like an idiot. And all because Jesse Koostra stood less than six feet away.
Terrific. And here she’d believed that she’d come a long way in eight years.
She deposited the plates and pasted on a smile for the teenagers, but she could have saved the effort. They were no longer looking at her, or at their cooling French fries. Their attention had shifted to a point just past her shoulder. One of the girls was actually blushing.
Okay, so evidently idiocy was contagious. Or maybe no female, regardless of age, was resistant to whatever it was that Jesse exuded.
Brittany wiped her hands on her apron. She hated the fact that his mere presence could make her palms damp. She also hated the frilly, pea-green apron her Aunt Mae insisted all the waitresses wear. This wasn’t how she’d fantasized being dressed when she saw Jesse again….
Stop it! she told herself. He’s just a man. A customer. Who’ll likely tip better than the rude girls. Besides, he probably doesn’t even recognize you.
Buoyed by that thought, she kept her smile firmly in place as she turned. “Hi. Welcome to Mae B’s. Table for one?”
“I’m supposed to meet someone here, but it looks like I’m early.”
Oh, great. How could she pretend to be professional when his voice was the same as she remembered, deep and rich and unhurried, as if there was nothing he would rather be doing than talking to her. She kept her gaze on his chest, which was easy to do since the top of her head scarcely reached his shoulders. If she thought that would minimize his effect on her, she was wrong. His battered leather motorcycle jacket hung open over a white T-shirt that clung to every muscular contour. She caught a whiff of fresh air, sunshine and designer cologne.
Designer cologne? On a trouble-making bad-boy like Jesse?
But people could change. Heaven knows she had. She lifted her gaze.
It should have been impossible for him to get better-looking, but he had. His jaw was squarer, his cheeks leaner. The dimples beside his mouth had elongated and deepened. His distinctive, ice-blue eyes were more enthralling than ever. And his hair, oh, that lovely, fine blond hair that he used to keep tied back in a dashingly romantic ponytail a decade ago was cut short, the perfect length to run her fingers through. Her hands tingled with the urge….
“Okay if I sit at the booth in the back?”
She caught herself before she could dry her palms again. “Sure. Go ahead and sit anywhere. Would you like something cool to drink while you’re waiting?”
“Thanks. Iced tea would be great.”
Iced tea? Jesse? “Uh, coming right up.”
Rather than moving away, he tilted his head to study her. “Don’t I know you?”
