Page 8 of Justice for Daesha

“A lovely person. Yeah. Look, thanks for trying to be nice about it. I know I’m no catch, and I’m okay with it.” She took another swig of her Hefeweizen and didn’t even look at him.

And that was a shame, because he loved those eyes. They were the oddest shade of light green he’d ever seen, and something in them captivated him. “It sounds to me like you’d be a great catch.”

“Right.” Her beer mug hit the table with athunkand she wiped her lips with her napkin. “Do you want dessert?”

Yeah, I’d like you for dessert, Amos heard his brain whisper, and he recoiled in horror. Dear god, what was going on? He didn’t find her that attractive. Or did he? She was certainly a good-looking woman; no, downright pretty. He hadn’t paid that much attention before, but he took a different look at her. She was plenty tall enough for him. Her hair was gorgeous, and so were those eyes. Full, lush lips finished off a face with high cheekbones and a beautiful, straight, slim nose. Her eyebrows weren’t bushy, and that was good. He hated bushy eyebrows.

But the rest of her?Hubba-hubba, Amos thought and almost laughed aloud. Her shoulders were square, not sloping, and she had willowy limbs, almost like a dancer. The rest of her was soft and round, with a pair of nice-sized tits and that ass he’d watched wander away from him at the reception. In all, her bearing was… regal. That’s how he’d describe it. “Um, no. I think I’ll pass on dessert,” he said before he had a chance to change his mind. “By the way, you never told me what your dad does.”

“You know the CheekyDonuts chain? The one with the commercials of the little kid with the chubby cheeks?”

“Yeah.”

“He owns the franchise. Forty-eight states and Vancouver.”

Holy shit. The guy was rich. Amos had read an estimate the year before that said CheekyDonuts was the number one franchise opportunity in the nation, and the owner was worth several million dollars. “Your dad is the CheekyDonuts guy?”

“Yeah. He named the business after Dorinda and me. When we were kids, we had chubby little cheeks.” She grinned, and he could almost see her child self grinning at him. “I own an interest in the business. My sister did too, but it was non-transferrable. We wondered if Max knew that before she died, or if he thought he’d get her interest in the business as a survivor.” She lightly slapped the tabletop. “He. Did. Not.”

“Good. Bastard didn’t deserve any of it,” Amos said plainly.

“No, he didn’t. The divorce was his idea. She wanted it to work. At least I thought she did, but now… I’m not certain of anything anymore. Sometimes I wonder if I even knew her at all.”

“Don’t doubt that, Daesha. You knew your sister. She just had parts of her life that were hers and weren’t shared, that’s all.”

“I guess we all do.” She stopped, then smiled. “Hey, would you like a CheekyDonut as your dessert? There’s a place right down the street, and I get them free, so…” She pointed toward Louisville and shrugged.

“Nah, but thanks. I should probably get going, but this was fun. Nope,” he said as she reached for her purse. “My treat.”

“I invited you. I should pay,” she said, shaking her head.

“No. I insist.” He grabbed her check and stacked it with his, then put his debit card in the mix.

“Well, thank you. Is there any chance you’d be able to look at her files at some point?” Amos wasn’t sure what kind of expression passed over his face, but she said, “Oh, I’m sorry. That’ll take up your time, and I’ve already taken up too much of it. Never mind.”

“No, no! I’d be glad to.” He thought about his schedule for the week. “What have you got going on Tuesday night?”

“Nothing. Same for almost every other night.”

“Okay. How ‘bout if I swing by and pick them up?”

She laughed loudly. “Nobody ‘swings by’ my place! It’s not exactly on the beaten path.”

“So it’s out of the way! No biggie. Give me your phone number and address and I’ll let you know when I’m headed there.”

“How ‘bout I fix dinner? Could you stand a home-cooked meal?” she asked, and he took a good look at her face. She wasn’t scheming. She was just being friendly and genuine.

“Sure. That sounds great. So I’ll give you a call on Tuesday when I get off work.”

“Sounds good. Thanks, Amos. I really appreciate it.” She sat there for what felt like an awkward minute before she stood. “Well, um, I think I’ll, um, get going,” she said, thumbing at the door over her shoulder. “I’ll see you Tuesday.”

He’d stood too, smiled, and extended his hand. “Yep. See you Tuesday.” But when she took it, something happened.

There was a connection there, and that startled Amos. He hadn’t anticipated it, but he couldn’t say it was unwelcome. He just hadn’t anticipated it being withher. She was sonothis type. As soon as she took her hand from his, he missed it. It was warm and soft, and he wanted to hold it a while longer. “Well, see ya,” she said and turned to walk out. He watched her pretty backside as she went, her limp almost invisible. People who didn’t know her wouldn’t even notice.

Amos sat back down to finish his Hefeweizen and the server came to pick up the check and his card. Before the young man left, he looked down at Amos. “I see you know MissDaesha,” he said with a smile.

Amos nodded. “Yeah, just met her at my brother’s reception. She’s very nice.”

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