Hopefully His

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

“That guy’s here again.”

Tyler Larson froze just as he held the paper cup under the orange juice spout. “The hot guy?”

His coworker, Janice Choi, smirked. “Yeah.”

Tyler thought about it. “Which one? The one who owns the car dealership?’

She shook her head. “Nope.”

He bit his lip. “The one who wears the cowboy hat?’

“No! Geez, you like too many guys.” She rolled her eyes. “The one in the scrubs.”

Tyler’s mouth fell open. “My sexy doctor?”

“You don’t know he’s a doctor. He could be a nurse or a technician.”

“A brain surgeon.” Tyler shook his head. “A cardiologist. Saving hearts every day.”

Janice snorted. “More likely breaking them. Why don’t you go ask him his name? Strike up a conversation.” She nudged him toward the coffeepot.

“Mr. Jensen’s here for his to-go order.” He waved the paper cup.

“I’ll take care of that. You go check on your hottie.”

“I’m not his waiter.”

Janice took the paper cup. “You are now. I’ll switch with you for that one. He’s at table thirty-five.”

Tyler nodded and attempted to swallow back his nervousness. He could totally do this. He was not shy. Never had been. He headed over to table thirty-five.

Crap.

Janice didn’t say he had someone with him. He could see the back of the head of the other man’s sitting across from his hottie. Looked like he was wearing scrubs, too. He couldn’t recall Dr. Hottie ever bringing someone with him before.

Tyler got a few feet from the table when he noticed Dr. Hottie, blond and classically handsome in a “soap opera doctor” sort of way, wore a gold band on the ring finger of his left hand.

Double crap.

“Hi,” Tyler said brightly as he stood before them. “My name’s Tyler and I’ll be your server.” He smiled at Dr. Hottie, then turned his attention to the guy with dark hair, dark eyes, and dark sexy stubble across his too sexy jaw sitting opposite Dr. Hottie and almost dropped the coffeepot. “Jack?”

Tyler knew he couldn’t be mistaken. The guy had to be Jack Ridgley. As in the guy who broke Tyler’s heart his first year of college. He’d had a huge crush on the older college student and they’d had a one-night stand. Only Tyler hadn’t realized until he woke up alone that it had been a one-night-stand. Jack was gone and Tyler had never seen him again.

“Tyler?” Jack frowned, like he was trying to remember exactly who Tyler was. Bastard.

“Tyler Larson,” he supplied helpfully.

Jack shrugged. “Sorry? Not really sure I remember you.”

Okay, and didn’t that sting like a son of a b***h. But there was nothing Tyler could do about it. So he plastered on his professional smile.

“Coffee?”

“For me, yeah,” Dr. Hottie said.

“And you?” Tyler asked with a raise of his eyebrows.

“Hot tea, please.”

“I’ll be right back with those.” Tyler walked away without a backward glance and went behind the diner’s counter. “He’s married,” he hissed at Janice.

“Your hottie?”

“Yes. I should have known. The hot ones are always straight and taken.”

“I’m sorry, Tyler.”

“And that’s not even the worst of it,” Tyler said, waving his hands dramatically. “He’s there with someone else who I know. And who doesn’t know me!”

Janice frowned. “Say that again.”

“The guy across from Dr. Hottie, who is also a doctor by the way, once f****d me seven ways to Sunday back in college and now he claims not to remember me.”

“Seven ways to—”

“You’re missing the point,” Tyler interrupted. “He had his d**k in my ass, more than once that night I might add, and now it’s like, sorry, sucker, don’t remember you.”

Now she rolled her eyes. “Guys pull that s**t all the time. I bet you five bucks he knows exactly who you are.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, he’s just trying to act macho or whatever. You want me to take the table back from you, sweetie?”

“No,” Tyler said sullenly. “May as well have the pleasure of f*****g up their order myself.” He grabbed two empty mugs, the coffeepot, and a metal teapot filled with hot water and headed back to their table.

He poured coffee into the mug he set in front of Dr. Hottie and then set the tea stuff in front of Jack I Don’t Remember You Ridgley.

He turned his back pointedly to Jack and flashed his winning smile at Dr. Hottie. “What can I get for you?”

“Egg white veggie omelet with fruit instead of the potatoes,” Dr. Hottie said.

Tyler wrote it down and then reluctantly turned back to Jack. “And you, sir?”

“I’ll have the same but with no cheese.”

Sounded disgusting and boring to Tyler, but whatever. “Be right back.”

Tyler clipped the order onto the spinning order taker, whatever it was called, and then he leaned back against the counter and scowled.

Janice came back behind the counter. “You sure you don’t want me to take that table back? You can take my twenty, two sweet little old ladies.”

“No, really. I like the idea of glaring at him the rest of the time he’s here. Maybe he’ll get the hint and never come here again.”

“More likely you’ll get a crappy tip.”

Tyler scoffed. “Bet he’s a lousy tipper anyway.”

A while later, after he’d brought them their food, Tyler came back to their table to drop off the check. “Will there be anything else?” he asked Dr. Hottie.

“No, we’re good,” Jack said to his back.

Tyler flashed a vague smile at both of them and set the check down. “Pay the cashier when you’re ready. No rush.”

After they’d left, Tyler went to the table. He lifted the five-dollar bill they’d left on the table and underneath it was a folded square of white paper. Only three words were written on it.

I remember you.