Before Lucky (Forever Love #2.5)(2)
Author: J.S. Cooper

“Do you guys know what you want to drink?” The waitress interrupted my thoughts and I glanced up at her again quickly, happy for an excuse to stare at her face. “I’ll have a Corona, please.”

“And I’ll have a glass of water, no ice, add lemons.” Emily didn’t look up from her menu, and I saw the waitress stifle a sigh.

“I’ll be right back.” She walked away quickly and then stopped and came back to the table. “Hey, sorry, I forgot to tell you. My name’s Lucky and I’ll be your waitress today.”

“Nice to meet you, Lucky.” I nodded at her and she smiled before turning away again. What a name, I thought to myself. Who calls their kid Lucky?

“This place is so gross.” Emily’s voice irritated me as she interrupted my thoughts. I tried not to snap at her as she looked at the silverware in front of her with disdain. “I hope I don’t catch anything.”

“I’m sorry.” I looked at her with a sorrowful expression. “I’m sure this isn’t as nice as the place Braydon took you to.”

“No, it’s not.” She snapped. “He always took me to the Capital Grille.”

“Oh?” I cocked my head to the side. “Any particular reason?”

“We both liked steak.” Her eyes flashed at me and I resisted the urge to ask her if she ever really ate more than a salad anyways. From the looks of her, I doubted it. But I knew I had to keep my thoughts to myself.

“The Capital Grille is a pretty popular place. I think Braydon goes there a lot, huh?” I continued, hoping Emily would make this easy and just give me the information that I wanted.

“I have no clue.” She shook her head. “We only dated a few weeks.”

“Yeah, he’s a player.”

“I haven’t heard that you’re an angel.” Emily looked up at me and laughed. “You make Braydon look like a wannabe.”

“I wouldn’t say all that.” I shook my head, embarrassed, even though her words were true. I didn’t do relationships, and I made no secret of that fact either. Women only wanted one thing from guys: to settle down and get married. I shuddered just thinking of all the women who had told me they loved me and wanted to be with me forever. Women who didn’t even know me, women I didn’t know and didn’t want to know. I suppose I was a bit of a challenge, the man that had never been in love. The man who didn’t do relationships. Little did they know, that was never going to change. I was never going to let some woman come in and destroy me.

“Excuse me, but have you guys decided what you would like to eat?” Lucky’s words interrupted my thoughts again and as I looked up into her clear brown eyes, I felt a slight shock of some unfamiliar emotion course through my bloodstream. My whole body felt on edge, and I scowled at her in displeasure. “We’re not ready yet. I’ll let you know when we are.” I dismissed her casually, and I saw the quick flash of pain in her eyes. She looked at me uncertainly before she walked away, and I felt ashamed of myself for my cold and dismissive words. I took a gulp of beer and stared down at the menu with my heart beating rapidly. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but as I looked at the items on the menu, the words blurred and all I could see was Lucky’s face in my mind.

“Hey sexy, are you on the menu tonight?” A loud rowdy voice called out and I looked up to see some skinny punk trying to touch Lucky’s ass. My blood boiled as I saw his hand on her back, and I was about to jump out of my seat and smack his hand away when I saw her glare at him and take a step back.

“I’m not on the menu, sir, and if you touch me again, I’m afraid to tell you that nothing on the menu will be available for you.” She ended the sentence with a sweet smile and I saw the guy look at her with shock on his face. I bet no one had put him in his place like that before. I was impressed at her spunk and frustrated at the same time. What if the guy had groped her or gotten angry at her talking back to him? I looked around the diner and was upset to see that there were no men working, only Lucky and the other waitress she had called Maria. I bit my lip and looked back at my menu. It’s not your problem, Beaumont, I repeated to myself over and over again.

“I guess I’ll get the taco salad.” Emily’s whiney voice aggravated me and I wanted to tell her to just have whatever before I stopped myself. Get it together, Beaumont, I ordered myself. I needed to ensure that Emily was one of the girls who fell for my charm. I needed to concentrate on her and not let myself worry about some flimsy waitress, who was too bouncy and too open with her smiles. I vowed to myself that this was the last time I would come to this diner. I didn’t need any distractions at this time and I knew that Lucky could turn into the biggest and most unwanted distraction of my life.

***

“Thank you for dining with us tonight.” She avoided my eyes as she laid my change on the table, and I wanted to reach over and grab her chin. Look at me, I wanted to command her, look at me and let me see your beautiful brown eyes.

“It was our…” My voice trailed off as she walked away without letting me finish my sentence.

“Well, she’s rude.” Emily’s voice was loud. “She should get fired.”

“It’s fine.” I shrugged, not wanting her to see how annoyed I was that Lucky had dismissed me so casually. Who was she to turn around and walk out on me? She thinks you’re a jerk, the voice inside my head whispered, and who can blame her? I pulled out a $50 and placed it on the table as a tip. Let her think I’m a jerk now. “Let’s go.” I jumped up out of the booth and waited for Emily to stand up.

“Where are we going?” She smiled up into my eyes and I knew she expected to come back to my place to f**k. Shit, any other night and I would have been all about that.

“I think I have to be up early tomorrow,” I spoke with pretend remorse, trying not to watch Lucky as she picked up plates from another table. “I may just have to take you home.”

“But, I want to spend the night with you.” She whined and grabbed hold of my arm, her fingernails digging into my skin and causing an acute pain.

“Not tonight.” My voice was low and grating. Why wouldn’t she just shut up? We walked toward the door and just before we exited, I looked around and saw Lucky, standing at the booth I had just vacated, staring at me with wide eyes. I watched as she played with her ponytail, and an image of her on top of me running her hair across my face flashed in my mind. She mouthed thank you and gave me a sweet smile and I nodded before turning back around with a grin on my face. She wasn’t mad at me anymore. A sudden lightness filled me and I wanted to run down the street and pump my fists into the air.