Page 8 of The Playboy and the Waitress

“Ok, I might be a city boy, but I'm not going to stand here holding the damn flashlight while you pack the heavy stuff. Trade me.”

“Nope, not gonna happen. You are welcome to grab a piece if you want, but that shirt you have on probably cost more than my whole wardrobe.”

“It’s just a fucking shirt.”

“No getting mouthy with me, it won’t do you any good because I’ll win anyway.”

“Sorry, I just keep stumbling along when it comes to you. I feel like I'm fourteen all over again.”

“At least you're man enough to admit it. We don’t exactly live or mingle in the same circles, honey. Now that you have unraveled your feathers. I have been packing wood since I was a little girl. I think I can handle a few armloads to get us through this evening.”

“Have you always lived here?”

“Yep, Mom and Dad bought the place when I was little. It was a thriving farm, but I can’t keep up with it on my own. I tried the first few years, but…well, let’s just say I wasn’t man enough to run the place. I'm far from being wimpy, but there were things I was physically not able to do. Dad sure made it look easy though.”

“I take it your father is gone.”

“Yea, I lost both of them around seven years ago… to a plane crash, go figure. It was one of those random things that happens to everyone else or so you think until it happens to you. They were on a simple-hour flight, something they had done dozens of times. Mom had family that lived in Florida, and she liked to visit them a few times a year. Dad just finished bringing in the fall crop and they were both ready for a break. I dropped them off at the airport, kissed them both bye, and was on my way to work when I got the phone call. Mom's cousin saw a crash on the news and when she couldn’t get ahold of Mom she immediately called me. I didn’t believe her at first. I was convinced it was another flight.”

I drop the wood in my arms into the wood box and wipe a random tear off my face as I head back off the porch to gather the next load numbly.

“I'm sorry, Jenna, I didn’t mean to bring up bad memories.”

“Oh, you didn’t, it’s just one of those things that never really gets easier to talk about…but you always seem to have to. It’s always easier to just rip the bandage off sometimes than to let it fester. I know death is a part of life, I just feel like they were taken from me too soon. The only relief I have ever had was that they were together.”

“So, no brothers and sisters to help out around here.”

“Just me. Mom always joked that I was more than enough because I was such a handful.” I throw the next armload down in the wood box and brush the pieces of wood off my coat. “Come on, that will do for the rest of the night, and I know you have to be chilled because my legs are frozen. Surely that coffee is done by now.”

I leave my coat on and grab us both a cup out of the cabinet. “Do you like yours black or do you want creamer?”

“Either way is fine.”

“Grab that throw off the couch and follow me out back.” I hear his footsteps behind me. “If you don’t care to, open the door. I would prefer to drink this coffee, not wear it.”

I feel him press up against my back and the smell of his cologne wraps around me. I take a deep breath, enjoying him for a moment, and then remind myself at the same time that he isn’t here to stay.

I walk towards the big swing my dad had built for my mom and settle back in the seat still holding both cups of coffee. He throws the small blanket out over our legs as he sits down. I wait until he is settled in the seat before I hand him his cup. He doesn’t say a word, simply leans his head back staring up at the stars above us.

“I don’t think I have ever seen them this clear.”

“It’s one of the many perks of living out here away from everyone else. I have people ask me all the time if I get scared and to be honest, I really don’t. This is home. I enjoy the quiet and the solitude. I'm around people all day at work. When I come home it’s just me and the cows.

“So, Dage Playboy Hart… what’s your story?”

He sits there quietly for so long that I don’t think he is going to answer me.

“If you had asked me that question yesterday I could have given you a straight answer, but today…Well, let’s just say, this is the first time in my life my soul has quieted down.”

I don’t ask him anything else, I simply lay my head back and gaze up at the Milky Way shining above us. I didn’t understand how much I missed the simple presence of someone else being here with me until now. I glance over, admiring his strong profile and my heart hits my throat. When I realize how easily I could become the next notch on his headboard. Good thing he is only going to be around until tomorrow. We would be like two continents colliding, neither one fitting properly into the other’s world. Opposites attract, but they never last.

CHAPTER5

Icatch myself nodding off as the day is catching up with me. I nudge Dage, who hasn’t moved in a while now. “Let’s go in before we fall asleep out here.”

“Yeah, I should head out anyway. What time do you need me to be here in the morning?”

“I have to be there at ten. If you could be here a little after nine that would be fine.”

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