Shelby stopped wiping a tabletop to smile over at her friend and fellow waitress.
“It’s not so bad here,” she told Lila Sommers. “Besides, you’ll hear about your college application soon and, in no time, you’ll be way ahead of the game.” Shelby sighed. “A double degree. I can’t imagine how full of brains your head must be.”
“I’m not so bright that I can land a job with one of this town’s most eligible bachelors. Dex Hunter’s been coming here ordering cheeseburgers and fries forever.”
“I’m not sure about your interpretation of eligible. Being single doesn’t necessarily make someone the pick of the bunch.”
“Okay.” Lila began counting fingers. “Let’s move onto charismatic. Absurdly handsome. Dripping with money.”
“Which you know has nothing to do with why I took the job.”
This morning while they’d set up, Shelby had filled Lila in on the previous night, ending with how she’d made the mistake of looking at that video featuring Dex’s little brother. Until then she’d decided she wasn’t a good fit with his world. From jumping to conclusions over Bernice and that unfortunate embrace, to nearly falling in front of a vehicle, then being invited to a genuine movie script session…
Merely being in his orbit left her feeling gauche.
But, irrespective of her pedestrian style—or, as Dex had said, because of it—he wanted her to be his brother’s temporary nanny. Watching Tate play around in the surf, seeing that exuberant expression light his little face…She couldn’t help but want to give Tate the stability he deserved when he came out to visit his high-flying older brother. She also wanted to hear that gorgeous giggle again.
“You must want a batch of your own someday?” Lila asked, straightening salt and pepper shakers, pushing in chairs.
Children of her own? She’d love that more than anything. But she pointed out, “I have to find the right guy first.”
And, for the time being, she wasn’t looking.
“You never know. Dex Hunter might be that man.”
“Didn’t your mama ever tell you? It’s the charmers you need to watch out for.”
“My mom’s middle name is Man-Hater. Her advice is to stay away, period.”
“Guess she’s been burned.”
“Big-time—by my dad.”
“Oh, Lila, I’m sorry.”
“It’s between them.” Lila straightened her apron then flicked back her brunette ponytail. “Dad and I are cool. Now that he knows how much I want to do college, he says he’ll help pay my tuition.” She went to wipe the next table. “If I get in.”
Shelby thought of her own father, an anchor, a safe guiding light.
“I don’t hate men,” she said. “But I am steering clear for a while.”
“I wouldn’t have thought so the way you were looking at Dex yesterday. Nothing to be ashamed of. If a guy like him showed me that kind of interest, I’d melt like milk chocolate on a grill.”
Heat suffusing her cheeks, Shelby pushed in a final chair. “There’s work to do. Lunch rush’ll be pouring in soon.”
“Wouldn’t it be a fairy tale come true if you two fell in love, got engaged—”
Shelby snapped out her cloth. “No fairy tale happening here.” Given that she’d confided in her friend about that embarrassing predicament back home, Lila ought to know she wasn’t thinking that way. Or shouldn’t be. “I’ll work for Dex Hunter on a purely professional basis or I won’t work for him at all.”
“Great we got that all cleared up.”
At the sound of that amused, masculine voice and the sudden stunned look on Lila’s face, Shelby held her breath and slowly turned around. Dressed in jeans and a casual button-down, Dex stood before her, a teasing smile slanting his lips. He looked so laid-back, weight on one leg, shoulders angled, and yet those tawny eyes held that same intensity…the same knowledge and hunger that had left her legs feeling as wobbly as Jell-O last night when they’d parted.
None of that changed the fact she’d meant what she’d said. She wasn’t interested in romance. She wasn’t concerned about his broad, hard chest, his palpable sex appeal…that entrancing bone-melting smile.
Shelby mentally shook herself. What was he doing here anyway?
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “You’re perspiring.” Beads of sweat were glistening high on his brow.
“It’s a hot day.” He wound his already folded cuffs up another turn as if to prove it. “I just dropped by to say there’s been a change of plans.”
“Tate’s not coming?”
Mother hen Lila stepped in. “You do realize she’s resigned. The boss kicked the wall and said she could leave now except he’d be short for the lunch rush.”
“Tate’s still coming out,” Dex assured them both. “In fact, he’ll be here late tomorrow.”
“Last night you said a week.”
Dex folded into a chair. “I phoned Sydney this morning to…arrange some things. Cole, the brother stationed in Australia, is set to leave on a sabbatical. He wanted Tate’s trip signed and sealed before he left. My father agreed.”
“Suddenly you don’t look so happy about it.”
“I had some other news last night,” Dex explained as Lila laid a coffee before him then hung around to wipe an already sparkling table. “I need other accommodations until a minor problem’s sorted at my place.”
“Problem as in plumbing or a hole in the roof?”
“More like rodents in the basement.” His pensive gaze flicked up from his steaming cup. “I’ve organized a suite in town. I’d like you to help me get the place organized.”
One minute she was a waitress, next she was being whisked away to a hotel by a multimillionaire. She had to catch her breath. Shelby slid into the seat beside him.
Behind them, her boss’s unhappy voice ground out.
“Those chairs are for patrons only.”
Shelby jumped up. Mr. Connor’s usually nonexistent jaw was jutting. On either side of a bulbous nose, his small dark eyes narrowed. He addressed his remarks to Dex.
“She’s here to serve tables. You’re a good customer, but I have a business to run.”
Dex got to his feet. “Shelby was taking my order.”
Connor exhaled as if he’d heard it all before. “Look, we don’t run that kind of establishment. If you want to—you know—chat, there are other places for that.”
