Before Lucky (Forever Love #2.5)(7)
Author: J.S. Cooper

“Thanks,” I nodded and walked over to the same booth I sat in last time.

“This place is cute.” Brigetta giggled, and I looked up at her in confusion. I rubbed my eyes and took a deep breath. My head was not in the game at all. I had forgotten she was with me.

“Yes, it is.” I smiled at her weakly. “So, do you like beef burgers or veggie burgers?”

“Huh?” She looked at me in surprise. “I just told you, I prefer bison burgers, their meat is leaner.”

“Oh, yeah, yeah. Sorry.” I gave her a dazzling smile, trying to ensure she didn’t get upset at me. There was plenty of time for that later.

“Do you want to share fries?”

“You eat fries?” I knew that my shock showed in my voice and face and she burst out laughing.

“You think because I’m a Sports Illustrated model I don’t eat fries?” She laughed out loud. “I’m from Nebraska, we eat everything.”

“I don’t think I’ve met a model quite like you before.”

“That’s what I like to hear.” She winked at me, and I reached over and grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

“I’m so glad you were able to fit me into your schedule.” I looked into her eyes. Time to turn on the charm. “I wasn’t sure if I had lost my chance, after I heard you were going out with Braydon.”

“I’m glad you didn’t lose your chance as well.” Lucky’s voice was smooth and sweet, and I looked up with wide eyes, devouring her presence. Our eyes met, and there was a devious sparkle in hers as she grinned at me. “Welcome to Lou’s Burger Joint, my name’s Lucky and I’ll be your server today.”

“Nice to see you again, Lucky.” I spoke calmly, as if I hadn’t been having dreams of her all week long. “I wasn’t sure if you were working tonight. I didn’t see you earlier.” But if my heartbeat is any indication, I’m more than overjoyed to see you.

“Oh, I was in the back.” She grinned at me. “Doing lots of fun things with Mike.”

“Mike?” I asked as if I didn’t care, but I waited with bated breath for her answer. Was she allowed to have her boyfriend at work? I turned my eyes away from her quickly, as I didn’t want her to see the jealousy radiating from me. Who the f**k was Mike?

“Mike is the cook.” She smiled and handed us the menus. “Can I start you off with drinks?”

“I’ll have a strawberry margarita please,” Brigetta laughed. “I feel like letting loose tonight.”

“I’ll have a Corona,” I said, happy again. I was starting to think my emotions were on some sort of yo-yo when it came to this girl.

“Thanks for taking the table, Lucky.” The other waitress hurried past us. “We’re just so busy tonight, I couldn’t deal with another table.”

“No worries, Shayla.” Lucky smiled at her, and I watched as she licked her lips quickly before turning back to us. “Any appetizers, or would you like a few minutes?”

“A few minutes, please.” I turned back to the menu, angry at myself for noticing that she was wearing eyeliner and mascara. She hadn’t worn it last week and I was curious to know why she was wearing it tonight. The eyeliner brought out the hazel in her deep brown eyes, and they were so much silkier than I had remembered. I shouldn’t have come back—she affected me more than I liked to admit. This had been a mistake.

“I love margaritas, they are so delicious.” Brigetta’s voice was sickly sweet, and I realized that maybe she was too nice. There was something about her that was just as fake as Emily had been. I took a deep breath as I realized that I wasn’t being fair. Maybe both girls were nice. I just wasn’t giving them a chance.

“Yeah, they are good.” I nodded and studied the menu, feeling slightly uncomfortable. I wondered what Lucky was thinking. If she had noticed that I was with a different girl from the week before. Did she think I was a player? Or maybe she thought they were my friends. No, no, if she thought anything, she thought I was a player. Especially since she had overheard what I had said to Brigetta. But what did I care? What Lucky thought didn’t mean anything to me. Frankly, if she really knew what I was doing here, she would think I was worse than just a player. I laughed to myself.

“What’s so funny?” Brigetta laughed again, like she was a little princess, and I wanted to ask her, what’s so funny now? Her image didn’t match her personality. She was another gorgeous girl with her long straight black hair, emerald green eyes, a golden-brown tan, and a firm and toned body. She looked like a mean girl, but she acted like a little kid. Too wide-eyed, too happy, too giggly, too precocious. Yeah, that was the word. She was precocious. I felt like I was on a date with a little girl that I had to coddle. And I didn’t want to coddle. I wanted to dance slowly and intimately. I wanted to feel the warmth of a feminine body next to mine, teasing me with the promise of more to come. And I wanted that body to be Lucky’s.

“Nothing, just thinking that I’m so hungry that I could eat a whole cow.” I smiled at her weakly. I was really losing it. I couldn’t afford to have sexy daydreams about my waitress at that moment.

“Oh, that’s funny.” She laughed loudly and threw her head back. “A whole cow, ha ha ha.”

“I didn’t realize I was the second coming of Benny Hill.” I winked at her, and she stared back at me blankly. “The comedian? Remember him?”

“No.” She shook her head and laughed. “But you are funnier than Chris Rock.”

“I’m funnier than Chris Rock, huh?”

“Oh, yes.”

“I’ve never heard that one before.” I looked around the diner, trying not to roll my eyes. All of a sudden I felt very tired. This was not what I wanted to be doing. I watched as Lucky smiled at a guy in a booth on the other side of the diner, and I saw her play with her hair as the guy talked to her. I had a feeling he was flirting with her as he was staring up into her eyes intently and leaning towards her eagerly. I felt angry that this man thought he had a shot with Lucky. Who was he? I turned away from them quickly, annoyed that I cared who was talking to her. She is no one to you, Zane. I repeated the words over to myself in my brain. She couldn’t help me imprison Braydon for what he had done to Noah. I couldn’t allow myself to think about anything other than that.

“Hey, I’ll be with you guys in a minute.” Lucky shuffled past us with a huge smile. “Sorry, we’re busy tonight.”