Page 56 of Bullet
“I’m ready if you are,” I tell him.
He gets up, and we head toward my car. We make the twenty-minute ride to the restaurant with nothing but the radio playing.
“Are we underdressed?” he asks as we approach the door.
“Nah, we’re fine,” I lie.
This place is definitely nicer than jeans and a T-shirt, but that doesn’t matter. I’m not here for the food.
As soon as the hostess seats us, I see him.
Perfect.
“Hey, I’ll be right back. If the waitress comes to take our order, can you order me a water, please?”
I don’t even give the prospect enough time to respond before I stand up and walk away. Neither of them notice me as I approach, which pisses me off.
Goddammit, Bullet, are you really not paying attention to your surroundings?
I clear my throat as I come to a stop next to the table.
“Hey, Jacob,” I say sweetly.
He looks up and his eyes widen.
“Fancy running into you here,” I say.
“Do you two know each other?” Adalyn asks hesitantly, giving me a look like she already knows the answer to her question.
“I don’t know. Do we, Jacob?”
“Harlee…”
Ignoring his warning, I turn and look at the girl and offer her my fakest smile. “I’m sorry for interrupting your date. It’s just Jacob and I go way back, so I was surprised to see him here when he told me he had somewhere else he needed to be tonight. It’s good to see you, though. I hope you found another book that you enjoyed.”
Her eyes widen. “Oh god, I am so sorry. He never said anything about you two being together.”
I wave away her apology. “Oh, it’s not like that between us. Anyway, I’d better get to my table before the waitress gets there. I just thought I’d come over and say hi. I hope you two have a lovely night.”
I walk away before either of them can say anything else and head back to the prospect, who’s shaking his head.
“You know they warned me about you, but I thought they were overreacting.”
“What can I say, I am a handful.” I shrug.
“So are we staying or are we going?” he asks.
“Let’s get out of here. It’s not really our scene now, is it?” I laugh.
“You can say that again,” he mutters.
“I’ll meet you at the car. I’m going to go to the bathroom real fast.”
We go our separate ways, and I head toward the restroom. When I step out of the stall after doing my business, I come to a stop when I see her.
“Hey.” She smiles weakly as she wrings her hands together.
“Hi,” I say as I go to the sink and start to wash my hands.
