Page 60 of Just The Way You Aren't

Damien looks at me for a long time, then shrugs. “All right, then. Burgers it is. You’ll have to direct me. I’m not sure I’d know a good place from a bad one.”

I smile and impulsively lean over and kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you. I know just the place.”

We pull away from a bewildered valet and head toward my neighborhood. Billy’s Burgers is bustling as usual when we get there. We have to park a block-and-a-half away. As we park, Damien eyes a gang of young men lounging near an alleyway.

“Am I going to have tires when we come back?” he mumbles almost to himself.

“It’ll be fine,” I assure him. When we get out of the car, one of the guys walks up to me and Damien tenses. “José!” I say cheerfully, giving him a complicated fist bump combination he showed me once. “How’s it going?”

“It’s going great, Miss Harper,” he replies, eyeing Damien up and down.

“This is Damien. We’re going to dinner at Billy’s,” I explain. “Damien, this is my friend José Fernandez. His grandmother has been a Silver Hearts client for several years now.”

Damien gives José a nod. “Good to meet you.” He extends his hand, and I can practically feel his relief when Jose gives him a normal handshake.

“How do you know Miss Harper?” José asks dubiously, continuing his scrutiny of Damien. It’s not like I pal around with billionaires on a regular basis, and there’s no hiding the fact that he is more than simply well-off.

“Damien’s been helping out at Silver Hearts,” I interject. “In fact, we just came from bingo night.”

José purses his mouth and nods sagely. “Oh, yeah? That’s cool. Good on you, dude.”

“Thanks,” Damien says, giving me a sidelong glance and a slight smile.

We both startle a bit as José suddenly whistles to the rest of his posse. “Oy! This is a friend of Miss Harper’s. Let’s make sure nothing happens to his ride.”

“They’re going to protect my car?” Damien whispers to me.

I shrug. “The neighborhood can be a little sketchy sometimes, especially at night. But these are good guys.” I don’t add that if Damien wasn’t my friend, the Mercedes may have ended up at a chop shop. He doesn’t need to know that.

“All right.” Damien nods to José. “Much appreciated.”

“De nada,” José replies.

Damien’s hand brushes mine and instead of pulling it back, he takes my hand in his as we walk into Billy’s. The place is crowded and there is no available indoor or outdoor seating that I can see. I’m disappointed, hoping Damien isn’t going to hate it here.

“Damn,” he says. “Quite a hopping place.”

“For good reason. Wait till you taste the burgers.”

Billy sees me and comes out from behind the counter. “Willow!” he booms, coming to grab me in a big bear hug. “It’s so good to see you!” He holds me at arm’s length and eyes me critically. “Where’ve you been lately? You haven’t been back on one of those vegan diets again, have you?”

I laugh. “No, just busy. It’s good to see you too.”

He looks around the room and spots a booth where acouple is finished eating but just sitting and chatting. “Max, Grace, go home! I’ve got new customers to feed!”

The young couple look up, see Damien and me, and quickly scramble to their feet.

“Don’t worry,” I whisper to Damien, grinning now. “You’re with me. They won’t turn us away.”

Billy herds us over to the table and sits us down. He plucks a menu out of a rack on the table that also holds ketchup and mustard and hands it to Damien. “Most people don’t need these, but I figure, since you’re new, you might.”

“Thank you,” Damien replies. He glances at me. “I suppose you already know what you want.”

“Cheesy Louisey, fries, Coke, and a banana-chocolate malt,” Billy rattles off for me without missing a beat.

Damien smiles slightly. “Actually, I’ll have the same.” He puts the menu back in the rack.

“Good choice.” Billy wanders back to the counter and yells our order back into the kitchen.

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