“No, she was drunk when she came up there looking for me because apparently she hadn’t kicked my ass enough earlier in the day. But when she went over—that was all me.”

“My, my, Jessie Ann Ward. You sure are full of surprises.”

“You have no idea.”

Once she told him about Bertha—and wasn’t that a surprise—she got comfortable enough to tell him more about her and her friends and some of what happened over the past sixteen years. She held a lot back, though. There were still holes she didn’t seem ready to fill. Yet, how she and her four friends had lived this long, he had no idea. Between Phil shooting his mouth off at inopportune times; Sabina pissing off and physically threatening the wrong person—constantly; May walking down dark alleys by herself; Danny so paranoid by all of society he kept making the United States Secret Service nervous; and Jessie walking into buildings, cars, walls, telephone poles, small children, houses... whatever... they all should have ended up dead several times over.

Funny, he thought only cats had nine lives.

“You sure have been all over.”

“In the States, yeah. Chicago, Flagstaff, Detroit, Seattle, San Diego, and Aberdeen. That’s in Texas.”

“You planning on moving again?”

“No, I want the kids to have a stable place to grow up. I did the cross-country thing with my parents before they got sick. It was great and I learned a lot, but when they died—there I was stuck in Tennessee with no one. When they’re eighteen, they can do what they want and go where they want. But until then, their asses are staying right here.”

“Seems like you’ve got good control over it all.”

“I guess. But some days you wonder.”

“Wonder what?”

“How much more you could fuck it up?”

Smitty pushed his empty plate away. “You’re doing a great job, Jessie. You’re not fucking up a damn thing. Don’t let anybody tell you different.”

She rewarded him with a small smile. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He rested his elbow on the table and his chin on his fist. “So you’re coming by tonight.”

“And wouldn’t it be nice if you actually asked that?”

“If I asked, you might say no.”

Laying her hands flat on the table, Jessie studied them. “I don’t really know what we’re doing, Smitty.”

“Do you mean literally?”

“No.” She gaped at him. “I know what we’re doing literally.”

“Just checking.”

“I mean getting together for sex is one thing. But having lunches and talking about family and our Packs seems outside the realm of casual sex.”

“We were friends, Jessie. I want that back. The sex is just a bonus.” A really hot, makes my legs tremblebonus. “Why? Do you want more?” Did he just ask that? Had aliens invaded his body? What the hell was going on?

Even worse was her response. “No.”

If she’d done the “Of course not!” or “Whatever gave you that idea?” and then tried to argue the point, well... he’d know she’d want more. But that one simple word, given in that simple Jessie Ann way, said she wanted exactly what she was getting.

Good. That made it nice and simple, now didn’t it? And that empty feeling he got in the pit of his stomach when she said no all calm and casual was probably just from that last hamburger he ate. Nothing more.

“I gotta cash out, hon.”

Jess, busy laughing at something Smitty said, looked up at Trish. “You’re leaving early today.”

The waitress smiled, glancing at Smitty. “No, I’m not.”

Jess didn’t understand. Trish clocked out at four-thirty, right before the dinner rush.

Glancing at the clock behind the counter, Jess’s eyes grew. “Oh, good God! Look at the time!”

She frantically dug into her front pocket and pulled out a wad of bills. Since they were all rolled up, she had to unroll them to make sure she was putting out the right amount.

“Jessie Ann, I invited you. I’ll pay.”

“I can pay.”

“It’s too pathetic watching you with those crumpled bills. I’ll take care of it.”

“Okay.” She quickly slid out of the booth. “I can’t believe no one called me. I’ve already missed two meetings.”

Smitty grabbed her arm before she could get to her coat. “Breathe.”

“What?”

“Breathe. You stopped as soon as you saw the time.”

Feeling stupid, Jess took in a deep breath.

“Now let it out.”

She did, even though she kind of wanted to snarl at him. If it hadn’t been for him and how comfortable he made her feel, she would have remembered she needed to get back to the office.

“Don’t forget, Jessie. You’re the boss. If you don’t make a meeting, it’s up to your staff to cover for you.”

“Yeah, but—”

He gripped her lips with his fingertips. “Shush. I don’t know why you argue with me when you know I’m always right.”

She slapped his hand off her face and turned around before he could see her smile. “You’re an idiot, Smith.” She snatched her coat off the hook and shrugged it on. “I’ll see you later.”

“Tonight. You’ll see me tonight.”

Jess didn’t have time to argue. “Fine. Tonight.” Then she charged out the door, only to stop at the corner, spin around, and run right back in. Smitty still sat at their table, her watch in his hand.