Her Irresistible Troublemaker (A Town Named Eden Book 3) (4 page)

“You took off like a bat out of hell and didn’t give me a chance to thank you.”

“Thank me for leaving?”

“Thank you for the window screens.” She took a sip of water and kept the glass pressed against her lips.

Jack wished he had a glass he could use as a stopper. “It was the least I could do.” He moved to make way for a waiter and then he moved again to make way for someone leaving the café. When he had to move a third time, Jack knew he could use it as an excuse to return to the counter and wait for his order. Besides, he suspected their conversation had reached a dead-end and the longer he lingered the more he’d feel inclined to say something else. “Is your date late?” He could have kicked himself for asking. She looked great but not exactly dressed for a date with a hot guy. Or was it a hot date with a guy?

Before she could answer, a waiter appeared with his order on a plate instead of the take-out he’d asked for.

“Enjoy,” the waiter said and hurried away.

“Hang on. I ordered a burger to go,” but he spoke to thin air. Jack looked around for an empty table. When he’d first walked in, the place had been busy, now it looked filled to capacity. Turning back toward Lexie, he bit the bullet. “Do you mind? I promise I’m hungry enough to swallow it in one bite.”

Her eyes darted around as if trying to hunt down a sure-fire reply that would discourage him from joining her. But then she surprised him.

“Sure. Go ahead.”

* * *

Lexie slid her gaze over to the counter and beamed a threatening I’ll-get-you-for-this glare straight at Rhys. The café owner smiled back. Oh, yes. He’d definitely mixed up the order on purpose.

The Monkey Bar Café was her home away from home. The time she’d spent in hospital recuperating had been made bearable by the constant supply of meals delivered every day if not by Rhys, then by one of his staff. Then, there’d been the occasional times she’d missed coming into the café because she’d been on a deadline. Rhys had called to see if she was okay. She could count on Rhys and everyone at the café for anything, but that was no reason for him to think he could go into a frenzy of excitement just because a man appeared to be paying attention to her. For all he knew, Jack could be an axe murderer or a stalker…

Chapter Four

Shove the food in your mouth, thank her, and leave.

Had he asked if he could share her table out of sheer necessity or because he’d listened to some distant prompt telling him to grab the opportunity and spend more time with Lexie Gardner?

Jack volleyed the thought around in his head but he knew no amount of reasoning could make sense of the impulse that had nudged him to approach Lexie and then ask if he could join her.

He’d be polite, eat his burger, and then leave.

He went into automatic pilot, taking the first bite, chewing it—

“You’re eating that without a drink?” she asked.

“I was too hungry to think.”

A waiter appeared and set a beer in front of her. “Better bring another one over, Rhys. My… table partner forgot to order one. Oh, and some fries too.” She put her magazine aside and poured some beer into a glass. “The fries here are too good to pass up and it wouldn’t look good for me to be seen drinking alone.”

Jack took his time chewing his food and deciding if her eyes were hazel or green. “Do you often worry about what people think?”

“It’s a habit I’m trying to break. Maybe I should start now and cancel the order for that beer.”

“I’d rather you didn’t.” He chuckled and took another bite of his burger.

She raised her glass in a mock salute, her eyes skipping from one shoulder to the other. “Hard going at the salt mines today?”

“Hard enough. Painting can be thirsty work.”

“I’m surprised you’re doing it all alone.” She took a sip of her beer and smiled. “I walked past a couple of times today and noticed the building site parking lot was empty.”

“I couldn’t expect people to give up their weekend.”

The admission made her frown. Jack ran through what he’d just said. Nothing too revealing.

“So you don’t like to impose on people.”

His brain woke up and he supposed he had the bite of burger he’d swallowed to thank for the surge of alertness. He could have called in a few favors, but he hadn’t. And while he didn’t really like to impose on people, he’d forced her to deal with her new view—like it or lump it.

He shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a complex character.”

“That sounds like one of those lines you hear on TV and can’t wait to try out in real life. I do that all the time.”

Jack took another bite of his burger. He had the feeling he’d need all the sustenance he could get to keep up with Lexie Gardner. When his beer arrived, he tipped some into a glass and took a pensive drink, his eyes fixed on hers.

The fries she’d ordered followed, along with her meal.

It took a moment for his brain to kick in again, but instead of asking if her date had bailed out, he took another drink and decided her eyes were more green than hazel.

“Sorry, I would’ve waited for your food to arrive but I figured the quicker I wolf this down the sooner I’ll be out of your way.”

“You might as well know—” She took a quick sip of her drink. “I’m here alone.” And, shrugging, she turned her focus to her meal.

“Sorry to hear that.” He could’ve tried to sound more convincing but the remark coincided with him tasting the fries and that set his taste buds off into a happy dance. “You were right about the fries, and… it’s his loss.”

She looked up and studied him. “Are you trying to make me feel good?”

“You sound surprised.”

She looked at him without blinking and then she laughed, the sound light and carefree. “In my eyes, you’re still the big bad wolf. I no longer have the sun shining into my bedroom in the morning.”

“Some people would be grateful.”

“And still, I can’t look on the bright side.”

He watched her dig into a burger twice the size of his. “Is that the ultimate burger to have when you’re down in the dumps?”

“What makes you think I’m—” She waved her hand as if to erase the remark. “I wasn’t stood up, if that’s what you’re thinking.” She drew in a deep breath and pushed it out slowly. “If you must know, there wasn’t a date.” She gave a firm nod of her head and after a moment, she resumed eating.

Almost, Jack thought, as if she’d waited to see if her admission had caused the earth to stop spinning.

Studying her over the rim of his glass he couldn’t help smiling. “Why did you say you had a date?”

She shrugged. “Kneejerk reaction fib.”

His eyes danced around her face. A tinge of light pink spread across her cheeks. Had he ever seen a woman blush? “You lied to me? I’m wounded.”

“You’re a big boy, you’ll get over it.”

His beer nearly went down the wrong way. “I don’t think I can ever trust you again.” He kept his tone casual, the remark sounding like something he’d say to his brother or one of his many sisters.

She chortled. “As if I can trust you. If I hadn’t caught onto your little deception last night,” she said wagging her finger, “You would have let me believe someone had broken into your building.”

“I thought we weren’t going to talk about that anymore. But since you insist on bringing it up, what were you doing looking at a building you hate?”

She dabbed the edge of her lip with a paper napkin and sat up straighter. “For your information, I’d been in the middle of casting aspersions on your character for going ahead with your project. The fact I saw the light on was pure coincidence.”

“You were talking about me? What were you saying?”

She rolled her eyes. “Every negative you can imagine and then some.”

“And now you’ve shown your redeeming side by letting me share your table and recommending the best beer and fries I’ve had in ages. What’s not to like about you? Which begs the question, what are you doing out and about by yourself on a Saturday night? You should be on that hot date—”

“I didn’t have—”

Her lower lip pushed out a bit making her already kissable mouth look even more enticing. “You didn’t have what?” His tone feigned innocence.

“I didn’t have a date,” she said lowering her voice.

“So why did you tell me you did?”

She gave a small shake of her head. “It just sort of came out.”

“You really did lie to me. Don’t tell me you had a case of date envy because Lulu had a date.”

“Can we not talk about Lulu, please?”

He couldn’t help smiling. “Did you two have a falling out?”

She held his gaze until Jack started to think he could sit with her all night long without saying a word. But from the taste he’d had so far, he preferred to engage her in conversation, even the sort that usually drove him batty.

“She can be a pain sometimes,” she finally said.

“You have my sympathy. I’ve got a few of those people in my life.”

She leaned forward. “How do you deal with them?”

“The usual way.” He shrugged. “Forgive and forget.” He seemed to be getting quite good at it. Then again, his father gave him a lot of practice. “So what did Lulu do?” he asked before he lost momentum and settled into silence.

She seemed to consider the question as if he’d thrown her the ultimate challenge. “It’s not what she did. It’s her impossibly breezy attitude to everything… and her suggestions.”

“Does she expect you to be more like her?” Just like his brother with his incessant badgering to stop letting the past dictate to him and start living a little in the moment.

She sat back and gave a shrug of indifference. “That suggestion’s been bandied around.”

His curiosity kicked in. She didn’t look at all uptight. “Sometimes it’s easier to hop on the road of least resistance. What’s the worst that can happen if you take her suggestions on board?”

“First I’d have to admit she’s right.”

“And your ego is getting in your way,” he said thinking he should wrap this up now, thank her for letting him share her table and get going.

She leaned forward again as if to grab his attention. “Her answer to any problem is to flirt.”

Jack forgot about wanting to leave and thought about trying to coax her into flirting with him. It defied all logic. It verged on lunacy. “Does it work for her?”

“Every time, but we can’t all be like her, in fact, Lulu McGee is... well, she’s rather unique.”

“I’ve yet to meet a woman who can’t flirt.”

She shook her head. “It doesn’t work for everyone.”

“Try it.”

She drew in a breath and gave her lips the slightest tug upward. When she slanted her eyes, giving him what he thought was a come to bed look, Jack swallowed and cleared his throat to say something, anything to interrupt the steady southward bound flow of his blood.

“That came through loud and clear.” He gave her a brisk smile and focused on steadying his breathing.

“I didn’t say anything.” She twisted a strand of hair around her finger.

“Now you’re teasing me. I’m definitely thinking you’re available and interested.” And, for the life of him, he couldn’t shut up. “Any minute now I’d ask if you’d like another drink—”

“You would or you will?”

His throat clogged up and something heavy settled in his stomach. He found her attractive but—

Until a few weeks ago, he’d been using Lexie Gardner as a mental dartboard. Besides, Juliette had taught him a thing or two about steering clear of demanding, complicated females. Jack grumbled under his breath. He should have thought of all that before asking if he could sit down with her.

* * *

“Just so you know, I’m a one beer person.” The words spilled out before he could—

What?

Let her down gently?

She hadn’t deliberately flirted with him. The conversation had led her there, and—

She didn’t like this one bit.

“If I hadn’t spent the day painting and inhaling paint fumes I might try to persuade you into nursing another beer.” He checked his watch. “In fact, I should get going. Thanks again for letting me share your table.”

She liked this even less. Her mind tried to unscramble what had just happened, what he’d said, what she’d said...

Had she put him off? And why did she care if she had? Goodbye and good riddance. Lexie tried to put some punch into the thought but couldn’t even manage to hold it in her mind. Apart from the fact she’d enjoyed the eye candy, she’d mostly enjoyed the conversation. She only ever had those types of spontaneous and unrestrained chats with friends she’d known a while. Usually people had trouble following her train of thought.

“If you’re ready to leave, I’ll drive you back.”

“That’s okay. It’s only a couple of blocks and I like to walk after my meals.” And think. She had a lot to mull over.

“That sounds like a good idea. I wouldn’t mind stretching my legs.”

Yet a moment before she was sure he’d wanted to sprint out of the café.

“All right. Fine.” Going into automatic pilot, Lexie grabbed her handbag and dug around for her purse.

“I got this.” He dropped some money on the table.

Not sure how she felt about him paying for her meal, she smiled. “Thank you, but anyone would think we’ve been on a date.”

“Just because we shared a table and a bit of conversation?”

“And flirting. Don’t forget the flirting,” she couldn’t help adding, only to regret it as soon as the words had spilled out. Lexie sighed. With every whimsical thought traipsing through her mind going straight to her tongue, she’d never be able to pull off the mystery woman act.

“I never actually asked why you needed to flirt.” He led her out of the café walking beside her with the ease of someone she’d known all her life.

Wanting to rebel against the easy camaraderie, she tried crossing her arms, but even the thought of doing so felt awkward.

“I’m not sure myself,” she said trying to steer clear of mentioning Lulu’s name again. “I guess I’ve been at the receiving end of the grown-up version of peer group pressure.”

“So what else do your friends expect you to do?”

“Go out on dates more often. Stop working so hard.”

“You have something against dating?”

“I’m a little over the whole process. In my experience, the results don’t justify the effort I put into it.” She sensed him looking at her as if she’d suddenly grown a cone head.

“I’ve never heard a woman sound so bored with the idea.”

Bored? She’d aimed for couldn’t care less blasé because she had so much happening in her life, and so much more that needed to happen. She’d done well to establish her weekly comic strip, but now she’d fallen into a financial rut and needed to find a way to increase her meager income. “I think I’m going through a phase. I’m just not interested in a relationship at the moment.” And why was she revealing this to a complete stranger? Worse. Why had she jumped from dating to relationships? The two were worlds apart.

“You can still date.”

She nodded. “Conditionally, yes. I wouldn’t mind going out without feeling the pressure of expectations and experiencing the pitfalls of disappointment.” Come again? Lexie did a mental double take. Frowning, she wondered how she’d managed to string so many words together. He smelled good, and there was something about walking beside a man with broad shoulders that turned her legs to half set jelly…