Not Quite Dating (3 page)

“I can do it,” the older man said. But as he rose to his feet, he swayed against Jessie.

“It’s the moisture in the air. Swells up my old bones,” he explained.

Jessie wrapped her arm around his waist and helped him to the door, where he’d left his walker. Even then, she didn’t turn away.

“I can make it from here,” he told her.

“I’m sure you can, but I could use some air. All this bacon grease is getting to me. Walk me outside?” she asked him.

Mr. Richman offered a small smile as she opened the door and helped him to his car.

A couple minutes later, she walked back in with a contented grin on her lips.

“Hey, Jessie,” the other waitress called from the cash register.

“Yeah?”

“Your buddy didn’t leave enough money again.”

Jack watched Jessie’s eyes travel to the door. She shrugged and reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out her tips. “I’ve got it, Leanne.”

Leanne shook her head. “I don’t know why you cover him all the time.”

“It’s pancakes, Leanne. And he
doesn’t have anyone. Give the guy some slack.”

Jessie covered the rest of the man’s bill and walked away from the register.

Something inside Jack clicked into place. He absolutely needed to know more about Jessie.

Each time she returned to refill the coffee, Jack tried to engage her in some kind of conversation. She didn’t bite. Jack started to think that maybe she wasn’t interested, but the fact that she wouldn’t look him in the eye, and how her cheeks took on an adorable rosy color when he paid her a compliment, proved she wasn’t unaffected by his charms.

Jessie cleared their table and placed the bill in the middle. “I’ll take this whenever you’re ready,” she told them.

For a minute Jack was tempted to toss his credit card on the table and cover the meal to see if Jessie would look him in the eye then. Tom saved him the trouble.

“Guess you want me to cover this one, too, huh, Jack?”

“Hey, I drove,” he said.

“And we paid for gas.” Which actually was the arrangement; staying at the Morrison Hotel and Casino in Vegas was on Jack.

Tom, Dean, and Mikey tossed bills on the table and handed them to Jessie. “Keep the change,” Tom told her.

After Jessie walked away, Mike said, “Looks like you struck out with this one.”

“Man, I can’t believe my head is still spinning,” Dean said.

Jack dug into his pocket for the keys to the truck. “Here, Mike. Why don’t you see Tom off at the airport? Dean and I will stay for another cup of coffee.”

“You know, that’s a great idea. Getting in a car right now probably wouldn’t sit well with my stomach.” Dean looked a little green.

“When does your flight leave again?”

“Six,” Tom said.

“We best get you there. Airport security takes forever
to get through these days.”

They all stood and shook hands.

“See you back home next month,” Jack told his friend.

A strong pat on the back and Tom said, “Good luck, Moore.”

Jack sat back down after Tom and Mike left. Dean laid his arms on the table and rested his head in them. “Why did you guys let me drink so damn much? Maggie hates it when I drink too much.”

“We’ll get you sober before we drag your sorry ass home.”

Jessie did a double take when she noticed only two of their party leaving. Jack waved her over to the table.

“Your friends leaving without you?”

“Tom’s flying back to Texas, and Dean is in need of more black coffee before we release him to his fiancée.”

“Fair enough.” Holding a pot in her hand, Jessie poured another splash for both of them.

Before she could walk away, Jack flashed his winning smile. “So, Jessie, could I interest you in a night out?”

She cocked her head to one side. “Was that a pickup line?”

Miffed, Jack shook his head. “If you have to ask, I must be losing my touch.”

Dean laughed but kept his trap shut.

“I’m flattered, Jack. It is Jack, right?”

He nodded. “Why do I feel a
but
coming on?” Jack asked.

Jessie placed a free hand on the table and leveled her eyes with his. “
But
I’m a very busy woman. So unless you have a checkbook as big as your ego—and my guess is, since your friends spotted you for your meal and gas, you’re probably broke—I’m not interested.”

Dean blew out a whistle.

Jack was nearly too stunned to answer.

Jessie just kept on staring at him until he
uttered, “Well, I’ll be damned. I think that’s the first time anyone has ever said that to me.”

Jessie straightened her shoulders and lifted her eyebrows. “Well, at least I’m honest. You’re cute, cowboy, I’ll give you that. But cute doesn’t buy you a cup of coffee in this town. Now maybe in Texas it does. You might try a waitress back home.”

“I’m not in Texas. Besides, it’s you I want to take out.”

“Again, I’m flattered, but no thanks.”

“You think I’m cute,” he said, which wasn’t the highest compliment he’d been given in recent years, but he’d work with it.

A smirk played on Jessie’s face. “You don’t give up, do you?”

“No. Not easily.”

“OK then, how about this…I wait tables in this dive at night so I can spend more time with my five-year-old son at home.”

Jack’s gaze flicked to her left hand. No ring. “If you’re married, why don’t you just say so?”

She shook her head and rolled it back. “Married, as if. Honey, I don’t even get child support. Not that any of this is your business.”

Not married, raising a son on her own, and having to work graveyard to do it. No wonder she was looking for a wallet and not love. Heather’s words hovered in his mind.
Every woman is going to be with you for your money, Jack
. But this woman, Jessie, didn’t have a clue about his wallet. And if she was so money hungry, why did she routinely foot the bill for her customers’ pancakes? There was more to this beautiful woman than she was letting on. Suddenly the challenge of winning her over besieged him.

Jessie started to turn away.

He stopped her. “Kids love me.”

Jessie’s jaw dropped. “Does he ever give up?” she asked Dean.

“Nope.”

“Do all the women fall for him?”

“Yep.”

She mumbled something as she walked
away.

“Dude, you’re barking up the wrong skirt,” Dean said after she left. “She’s just not into you.”

“No, she doesn’t
want
to be into me.”

“She has a kid, Jack. She’s smart to not wanna date men who are posing as losers.”

The gentle sway of her hips kept his attention as she walked away. In that moment he realized how long it had been since he had to pursue a woman. “
Posing
being the key word.” Jack scratched the stubble on his jaw and smiled beneath his hand.
Posing as a loser.

Jessie tossed
her keys on the kitchen counter and hung her purse off the back of a chair. The water was running in the bathroom, indicating that her sister, Monica, was getting ready for her day. At twenty-one years old, Monica was more grown-up than most. Her last year at the community college nursing program had started in September. Jessie had vowed to help her out as much as she could. Monica stayed with Danny at night while Jessie worked, and Monica lived in the apartment rent-free.

Monica worked about eighteen hours a week as a nurse’s aide at the local community hospital to help with food, but for the most part, Jessie took care of the bills. The two of them had made a pact years ago. Monica would go through school first, with Jessie’s help, and then when she was finished, Jessie would do the same.

In the beginning, Jessie thought maybe nursing was something she’d enjoy doing. Lord knew the profession paid well, but the thought of working with the sick and injured all the time didn’t sound appealing.

Jessie actually liked the service industry. Not that she wanted to become a career waitress or anything, but maybe some type of manager position in a fancy establishment. Maybe catering events, or organizing big parties. The thought of being a wedding planner had a nice, clean feel
about it. Not like nursing, with all the blood and body fluids.

Jessie did manage to take one class each semester online to help her out once she started back full-time. She had a year to figure out what she wanted to do for a living.

Of course, dating a rich guy couldn’t hurt.

Jessie considered the overnight crowd at the diner, especially him…Jack. The guy with the sexy, cute smile and never-give-up attitude. He hadn’t left the restaurant until after five in the morning. When he did, he climbed into the worn-out truck in the parking lot and sputtered on down the road. Before he left, he promised to return.

Jessie hadn’t encouraged him, didn’t even reveal her schedule when he asked. By the end of the evening, she and Jack’s conversation had been reduced to snarky comments and witty comebacks.

If she were being honest with herself, she’d have to admit her shift had flown by and left her with a smile on her lips. It didn’t suck to know someone actually acknowledged her as a woman and not just a mother.

The soft patter of feet tapped down the hallway of the apartment. Danny sported his race-car pajamas and hair that stuck up in several places. He rubbed sleep from his eyes when he said, “Good morning, Mommy.”

“Morning, buddy. How’d you sleep?” Jessie knelt down and pulled her son into her arms for a hug.

Danny gave up one arm to join her hug, but continued to scratch his eyes with the other. “Good,” he said with a big yawn. “Auntie made us sundaes last night after you went to work.”

“Did she? Were they good?”

“We didn’t have any nuts to sprinkle on the top, but they tasted good anyway.”

Danny pulled away and climbed up onto
the stool at the kitchen counter.

Jessie removed bowls from the cupboard and brought a box of cereal off the top of the refrigerator. “I’ll buy some nuts before we do our Christmas baking. Next time you can have nuts on your sundae,” she told him.

He yawned again. “OK.”

While Danny took a few minutes to wake up with his bowl of cereal, Jessie stepped to her bedroom to slip into a nightgown.

The bed was tousled since Monica slept in it on the nights Jessie worked. Otherwise, she took the sleeper sofa bed in the living room. They really could use a three-bedroom apartment, but that was a luxury they couldn’t afford. It was hard enough rubbing her tips together to pay for what they had.

Monica slipped into the bedroom, wearing her student nurse uniform. The stark white outfit would hang on most people, but not Monica. Her slim build and naturally blonde hair accented the clothes. “Oh, good, you’re home,” she said as she sailed around the room picking up her clothes from the night before.

“Day shift showed up on time for once,” Jessie told her.

“That’s good. I need to be at the hospital at eight thirty sharp.”

Jessie glanced at her watch. “Can you still take Danny to school?”

“Yeah, that’s not a problem.”

Good. Danny had started kindergarten a couple of months prior, which afforded Jessie a few hours of uninterrupted sleep. Sleep was heaven. Only on her days off did she manage more than about five hours.

“You work again tonight, right?” Monica asked.

“Right. Off tomorrow.”

“What about Thanksgiving?”

“I couldn’t give up the shift, Mo. Time-and-a-half
pay is needed this month if I’m going to give Danny any Christmas at all.” Jessie would have to work graveyard on both Wednesday and Thursday nights, leaving a small window of time to sleep and enjoy the holiday.

Monica leaned against the dresser. “You know Mom is expecting us at her place at two.”

Jessie rolled her eyes. “Yes, I know. Has Pat come back, or are we taking him off our Christmas card list?” Pat was her mother’s latest boyfriend.

Renee Effinger, Jessie and Monica’s mother, three-time divorcee, no longer married the many men in her life. Instead, she dated them, let them move in for a few months, and then kicked them out when she tired of their crap. Pat had actually left her around Halloween. Renee hadn’t seen it coming, and ever since his departure, she moped around her singlewide mobile home playing the jilted woman. Too bad the woman didn’t follow her own advice and marry a rich man. No, Renee Bradly-Mann-Smith-Effinger fell in love three times in her life, all with losers, dreamers, or wannabe men.

William Mann, Jessie and Monica’s real father, married her mother after she found out she was pregnant. The marriage lasted through Monica’s first birthday. Jessie was three the last time she saw her dad. She held no memories of the man. Only a few scattered pictures shed any light on the person who fathered her.

Damn if Jessie hadn’t fallen into the same path as her mother. As much as she hated to admit it, Renee and she were a lot alike.

Jessie’s high school boyfriend, Rory, stuck around long enough to take her to her senior prom. When Jessie confirmed she was pregnant, she actually wanted Rory to step up and take responsibility.

What a waste of a dream that turned out to be. Rory bolted the day after he earned his high school diploma and never looked back. Some days Jessie hated him for it; others, she was glad he didn’t stick around
to screw up Danny’s life. A part-time dad who didn’t care was worse than none at all. A couple years after Danny was born, Jessie met loser number two. Jessie’s last boyfriend, Mathew, had convinced her to let him move in with her to “help out” with the expenses and then left with her full month’s rent in his pocket after two months. Jessie swore then she’d only date guys who had their shit together.

“Pat’s gone for good,” Monica told her while she put on a pair of stud earrings.

“How can you be sure?”

“Mom said his friend came over to her house and took all his things. I’m guessing that means he’s not coming back.”

Jessie toed off her shoes and sat on the edge of the bed. “That’s too bad. I actually liked this one.”

“I did, too. Oh well. You know Mom; she’ll have another guy by Christmas…New Year’s at the latest.”

“No doubt she will. Listen, Danny asked if he would see Grandpa Pat on Thanksgiving.”

“Oh no.”

“Yeah. I told him that Pat wasn’t his grandpa but just a friend of Grandma’s and that Pat was visiting some of his family for the holidays.” Monica was sharp.

“I knew this would eventually happen with all the men Mom has in her life. I guess I need to be more careful with who I allow her to bring into his life.” Jessie hated to have to avoid seeing her mother when she had a new man in her life, but in order to save Danny’s long-term feelings, Jessie didn’t have a choice.

Once Danny had started school, he’d asked about dads and grandfathers. Neither of which he had.

“Mom?” Danny called from the kitchen.

Dragging her tired limbs off the bed, Jessie walked into the other room to see what Danny needed.

“What’s up?”

“Do you remember about the party
at school tomorrow?”

Jessie laughed. There were two flyers littered with pilgrims and pumpkins hung on her refrigerator about the party. Danny was superexcited about it. “Of course I do.”

“Good. The teacher asked if some of the moms could bring treats. Can you make those pumpkin cookies again like you did for Halloween?”

Jessie ruffled her son’s light brown hair with a smile. “Of course I can.” She’d just have to cut an hour out of her sleep and make it to the store to gather the ingredients and make said cookies before her next shift.

She would also have to skip sleeping on the day of the school party until after Danny returned home from school. With one day off between then and Thanksgiving, Jessie figured she’d manage only a handful of hours of sleep combined.

“Let’s get you dressed so Auntie can take you to school.”

More awake, Danny skipped to his bedroom and started pulling clothes from his dresser. Within ten minutes, the two of them had left and Jessie fell into bed.

“Oh boy, what is
he
doing here…again?” Jessie asked Leanne the minute the bell on the door leading into the diner rang and Jack sauntered in from the cold. He caught her eyes, smiled, and tipped his hat in greeting.

“I told him you were working,” Leanne said.

“Why did you go and do that? Don’t encourage him.”

“I think he’s cute. And so do you, don’t even try and deny it.” Leanne pulled a hot plate from the window and left Jessie’s side.

“Hey, darlin’,” Jack said while sliding into the swiveling seat at the counter.

“What are you doing here,
Jack?” Jessie folded her arms over her chest and ignored the beat of her rising pulse.

“Checking on you.”

“I thought I made myself clear last night. Not interested.”

Not offended in the least, Jack grinned and offered a glimpse of the dimples that framed his lips. “Why, I’d love some coffee, Miss Jessie, thanks for offering.”

Jessie grumbled while twisting to retrieve a cup and the coffee.

She served him quickly before rushing off to take care of an order. The diner was busy this early in the evening with the late dinner crowd. Hopefully she could ignore the cowboy at the counter enough so he’d just go away.

Didn’t happen. Even after she ignored him for nearly an hour, Jack just smiled and waited until she couldn’t disregard him any longer. “I would love a piece of pecan pie to go with this coffee.”

“Do you want that à la mode?”

“Now you’re talking my language.”

Jessie went about preparing his pie, feeling the weight of his stare on her back the entire time.

When she set it in front of him, he rubbed his hands like a kid. “I love pecan pie, don’t you?”

“At two thousand calories a slice, I don’t indulge very often.”

He shoved a forkful in his mouth and spoke around his food. “You don’t look like you need to worry about your figure.” His gaze raked up and down her frame. Not exactly the desired response she wanted.

“Every woman worries about her figure.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. I’ve been told many times that skinny women don’t think about it much at all.”

“They’re lying.”

His brows turned up. “Really?”

“Really. Every woman would love to eat
all the steak and pecan pie there is out there, but they know if they do they’ll be fighting the flab by the time they’re thirty.”

“Makes me wanna tempt you with my aunt Bea’s homemade pecan pie even more. It’s the best. This isn’t bad, but it has nothing on Aunt Bea’s pie.”

Jessie smiled despite herself. “And where is this Aunt Bea of yours?”

“Texas.”

“Does that mean you’ll be driving home for the long weekend?”

“You mean for Thanksgiving?”

“Yeah.” She poured him more coffee.

“Nope, not this time. Maybe for Christmas.”

“Do you go home often?”

He took his time answering. “Sometimes.”

Vague answer. Not that she should care.

Jack finished his pie while Jessie wrapped up two of her tables. Only a sprinkling of customers littered the restaurant when Jack suggested that Jessie sit and take a short break.