Page 37 of You Girl (The Lucky Girls 3)

“The woman I ended up on a date with. It was Natalie.”

“The girl from the club?”

I nod and Jackson looks confused. I’m satisfied—that was what I was going for.

“Did youknowshe was the one who bought you?”

“She wasn’t. It was her boss. She got sick last minute and sent Natalie instead, not knowing that we knew each other.”

Jackson stares at me and whistles through his teeth.

“Fucking small world.”

“Right?”

“So, you took her home? Round two sounds just like you.” He waggles his eyebrows at me. “That’s what you want, right?”

I nod. It’s exactly what I wanted. I’m a lucky son of a bitch that it worked out right since I botched calling her the first time.

“So, are you going to see her again?” Jackson asks.

“You bet your ass I’m seeing her again. She’s fucking beautiful, incredible in bed, and she’s interesting. I don’t know what it is…I feel like Iknowher.”

“In the biblical sense, eh?” Jackson laughs from his stomach, enjoying his own joke.

I roll my eyes and turn into the wholesale lot. I find a parking space and we walk into the warehouse together. We’re each handed a clipboard with lists and tick boxes, and we step through another door and into a restauranteur’s paradise.

Jackson whistles through his teeth again.

“Okay, this place is nothing like picking out china.”

The warehouse is enormous. It’s open plan, but different sections of furniture splits up the floor. We start at the tables and chairs. They’re set up with place mates, cutlery, and crockery like they would be in a restaurant. They’re all different, from steel tables and plastic chairs to marble tabletops and chairs with chrome legs. Prices range from laughably cheap to ridiculously expensive and the cards attached to the furniture allows us to tick on the sheet what we’d like to buy.

I study the different tables, trying to decide which direction I’d like to go with décor. The restaurant—mine now that Hilary took care of the final paperwork—has a rustic, industrial feel to it and I think I’d like to stick to it. It makes décor easier and more fun, and I won’t have to work hard to cover up too much of what’s already there.

“So, what about this woman makes her different than all the others you’ve pushed away?” Jackson asks.

“I don’t know,” I admit and take out my phone to snap a few photos of ideas I might want to come back to later. “I feel like we’ve always known each other. She’s incredible.”

“Jesus, you’re in love with her,” Jackson exclaims.

I shove him. “Don’t be fucking stupid. It’s too soon for shit like that.” But I can see myself falling for her.

“That’s how it starts, man,” Jackson says, not at all upset I shoved him. “I like this one.” He points to a sturdy wooden table that looks like it’s been made from sleeper wood and heavy benches to go with it. “Johnny should put these in the pub.” When he looks at the price, he shakes his head. “Or not.”

I chuckle and we move to barstools.

“You’ll let me drink at a discount at your place, right?” Jackson asks. “Friends and Family Discount.”

“I’ll see,” I laugh. “But I think you’ll put me out of business if I let you guzzle at half price.”

“Killjoy,” Jackson mutters. “When am I meeting her?”

“It’s not that serious yet,” I say. “I’m taking things slow with her. She has a daughter and she’s cautious.”

Jackson freezes when I say it and snaps his eyes to mine.

“What?”

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