Page 15 of Escape

She offered a shy smile in return. “You, too. You look… You’re all grown up now.”

My eyes roamed over her from top to toe, and there wasn’t a single thing I didn’t like about what I saw. She was still several inches shorter than me, with her shiny, dark-brown hair. Though it was pulled back from her face, I guessed it fell to about just a few inches past her shoulders. Her skin was flawless, her almond-shaped eyes even bluer than I remembered.

She was just… pretty.

God, she was pretty.

The corners of my mouth tipped up in a smile, something unexplainable moving through me. “Yeah, I guess we both are.”

Her face flushed, the tinge of pink I’d forgotten about displaying itself on her gorgeous cheeks.

Recognizing that she wasn’t going to be the one to continue the conversation, I took the lead. “How have you been?”

Pain slashed through her features, but as quickly as it was there, it was gone. “I’ve been okay. What about you?”

“Things have been going well,” I answered, trying to ignore all the signs she’d given me in a matter of minutes that indicated she hadn’t been okay at all. “I wish I would have known you were working here. I would have stopped in sooner.”

“Is this your first time?” she asked.

I gave her a nod in response. “Yeah.”

“Well, then, what can I get for you?”

I didn’t know whether to take her redirection as a clue that she wasn’t interested in discussing anything about our personal lives, or if she felt it was necessary to do her job without wasting time.

Since I was still in shock at the sight of her again after all these years, I lowered myself back into the booth and said, “I was thinking of going with the Belgian waffle and eggs.”

“Excellent choice. How would you like your eggs done?”

“Scrambled.”

“And you have your choice of white or wheat toast,” she said.

Josie hadn’t taken her attention off of me. Despite holding a pad in one hand and a pen in the other, she didn’t write anything down. I wanted to believe it meant she was feeling the same as I was and was confident that she wouldn’t forget a word I said. No matter what happened here today, I didn’t doubt I’d spend the next several days recalling every last thing about this interaction with her.

All of it.

From the way she looked and the sound of her voice to the way she tried to hide her emotions and how good it felt to hold her in my arms.

If I didn’t think I’d be kicked out or pegged for a creep, I might have decided on the spot that I wouldn’t be going back to work. Would it have been crazy for me to stay here all day just so I could find bits of time to catch up with her?

“I’ll go with white toast,” I finally replied.

She jerked her chin down slightly with understanding and asked, “And would you prefer the bacon or the sausage?”

As soon as she asked, my lips twitched. Did she recall the conversation we’d had during school when we had lunch together for the first time? “Bacon. Always the bacon.”

Something changed in her expression, her features softening. I could have sworn I also saw a hint of longing and desperation in her eyes. Even if I didn’t know what that look meant entirely, there was no question in my mind that she remembered what happened all those years ago.

“Right. And did you want any coffee, tea, or juice?”

I’d normally get myself water. Not today. “How about some orange juice?”

Josie offered a curt nod and said, “I’ll be right back with your drink, Huck.”

“Sounds great. Thanks.”

After taking the menu from me, Josie turned and walked away. I wasn’t ashamed to admit my eyes dropped to her ass and watched her go.