Before Lucky (Forever Love #2.5)(16)
Author: J.S. Cooper

“Oh, who owns it?”

“Who owns it?”

“Yeah, which chef?” She gave me a “duh” look. “I didn’t know a new place had opened recently. It’s not Wolfgang, is it? I just love his food.”

“Errr, I don’t think it’s Wolfgang.” I held in a laugh. “I’m not sure you’ve heard of the, um, chef. But I can attest for the food. It’s good.”

“Well, I’m sure you wouldn’t steer me in the wrong direction. What type of food? Not Spanish, I hope. Is it Thai? We need a good Thai restaurant here in Miami.”

“Um, I wouldn’t say Thai, but the good news is that it’s not Spanish.” I smiled and turned on the radio to avoid having to go into the exact details. “It’s a surprise. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it.”

“I guess so.” She frowned and wrinkled her nose at the music playing through the speakers. “Can you turn it to 95.3, the pop station?”

“Sure.”

“Oh, we’re going to the beach?”

“I thought it would be nice.”

“Romantic, I guess. I don’t normally leave Coral Gables.”

“Not even when you dated Braydon?”

“Braydon?” She frowned at me.

“Braydon Eagle?” I spoke casually, pretending to be nonchalant. “I thought I heard you dated him, and he doesn’t seem the sort to stay in the Gables.”

“I never dated Braydon Eagle.” She looked at me like I was crazy.

“You didn’t?”

“No way.” She shook her head and made a face. “I have no interest in dating guys in the industry.”

“Oh, weird.” I frowned, wondering why Special Agent Waldron had told me to ask her on a date. And then it hit me: he most probably wanted to throw Braydon off of the trail. If he started to get suspicious and spy on me, he would think that Brigetta was wrong or that I didn’t know as much as I could. By taking Mailbert on a date, I was showing him and everyone else that I was dating other girls. I shook my head and laughed to myself. I had to hand it to Special Agent Waldron, he was definitely two steps ahead of me.

“So where are we going?”

“We’re going to Lou’s Burger Joint.” I pulled up to a parking spot and jumped out of the car lightheartedly. It didn’t matter if Mailbert was disappointed now. I didn’t need anything from her. She had no information, and I sure wasn’t going to bother wasting my time taking her for a walk on the beach afterwards. “You’ll love it. The food is great and the waitresses are even better.”

“A burger joint.” She looked down her nose at me. “Are you joking?”

“Do I look like I’m joking? Let’s go.” I grabbed her arm and pulled her along with me to the diner on the corner. I was excited to see Lucky. I was excited to give her the small present, and I was anxious to see how she would react when I gave it to her. Would she think it was too much? I hoped she didn’t ask me why I was giving her a gift. I stifled a groan. Maybe she would think I was a creeper?

“What about creeping?”

“What?”

“You just mumbled something about creeping or something?”

“No, no I didn’t.” I opened the door quickly. I was definitely losing it if I was talking to myself out loud.

“Hey Zane, welcome back to Lou’s.” Maria winked at me as I walked in. “Grab a booth, I’ll let Lucky know you’re here.”

“You come here a lot?” Mailbert frowned as we walked into the diner and looked around with a scornful look.

“A few Fridays here and there.” I walked to my regular booth in the corner, and looked around for Lucky. My breath caught as I saw her laughing with someone at the counter. My heart pained as our eyes met and she gave me a little wave before turning back to the customer in front of her. How was I going to leave Miami and Lucky behind?

“It seems like more than a few Fridays.”

“What?” I looked at Mailbert briefly and then back to the counter. Lucky was no longer laughing, and if anything she looked a little worried, scared even.

“I said I think that you’ve…”

“Excuse me, I’ll be right back.” I jumped up and walked to the counter without stopping to think what I was doing. “Hey, is everything okay?” I looked at Lucky questioningly, and she looked surprised to see me.

“I’m fine, why?”

“You looked like you were upset.” Good one, Zane. You sure don’t look like a creeper or a stalker now. I tried not to roll my eyes at myself.

“Oh, I was just talking to Nate intensely.” She nodded towards the guy at the counter, and my insides churned with jealousy. “I’m okay.”

“Oh, okay,” I responded, glaring at Nate. He looked back at me with a slight air of anger and I knew that he didn’t appreciate me interrupting their conversation. I wanted to ask her what they had been talking about so intensely, but knew that it was none of my business. “If you can bring a menu soon, I’d appreciate it. My date and I are hungry and we have plans for after we eat.”

“I’ll be right with you.” She looked hurt at my curt tone, and I turned around abruptly, upset that she was sharing private information with Nate and not with me. I walked slowly and kept my ears tuned to their conversation to see if I could hear anything.

“So, I can give you a ride to work if you don’t think your car is going to make it.” Nate’s voice sounded as smarmy as his face looked, and I prayed that Lucky would tell him where to get off.

“That’s okay. Thanks. I should have enough to get my car fixed soon. I should be fine.”

“My uncle owns a used car dealership if you need to buy a new car. He does his own financing as well, so if your credit sucks, he can hook you up.”

“Thanks, but I should be okay.” Lucky’s voice trailed off. “I think my car has some life in her yet.”

“Well, here’s my number in case you ever need a ride.”

“Thanks.” Lucky’s voice sounded happy and I wanted so badly to turn around to see if she had pocketed the number or not. I also wished I was able to give her the money to fix her car. There was no way in hell I wanted her calling Nate if anything happened. He sounded like a sleazeball. And I didn’t trust what he would do if he got the chance to be alone with her outside of the diner. Yeah, I didn’t know him. But something about him gave me the creeps. Yeah, the fact that he’s a guy who likes her. That’s the only thing you really have against him, Zane. I ignored the voice in my head that was trying to be rational. I didn’t want to be rational. Not when it came to her.