Working Men Box Set

At Your Service-3

“Please, Jen.”

I’m afraid I sound like I’m begging but I want that number and she has it. Didn’t Cathy say to give it to me? So it’s mine. I want it now.

She shakes her head again. “Or you’ll never call him. I know you too well. Tonight you’ll think about it, but you won’t call because it’ll be late and you won’t know when he gets off work. And by tomorrow you’ll have talked yourself out of calling him and just throw his number away. So I’ll keep it for you. I’ll remind you to call him.”

“Jen….”

Right now I hate her because she’s right—that’s exactly what I would do. Or rather, what I used to do.

It’s different this time. Todd is different. I can’t not call him. With or without that number, I’m going to think about him all night long. If I’m lucky, I’ll dream about him, too, so he’ll still be fresh in my mind tomorrow. “Give me his number. I’ll call him, I swear it.”

“Here you go, guys,” Todd says, coming up behind me.

I duck at the way he grins like a damn cat because he heard that last bit, I know he did, and it doesn’t take a genius to figure out who I’m talking about.

“Thanks,” I mumble.

Jen laughs as he walks away. Of course she’d find this funny.

* * * *

When Todd brings the check, Jen asks if he has a pen.

“What for?” I want to know.

“You’ll see.”

Todd grins faintly, hovering to one side as I pull out my wallet to pay the bill. We both watch Jen scribble on a napkin, but she has her head down over the table and her hand up to hide whatever it is she’s writing so we can’t see it. Pointing at the money, I tell Todd, “Keep the change.”

“Thanks,” he says, picking up the bill. He looks like he wants to say something more, but Jen’s here and he doesn’t.

Maybe she was right; maybe he is shy. I force a tight smile, more than a little shy myself, and when he smiles back, I almost melt. He doesn’t have to talk—just keep smiling like that and he’s got my full attention.

But Jen is here, and she’s still writing. I have a pretty good idea what she’s doing so I clear my throat. “Jen?”

I say it like we’re in a hurry and have to get moving because I’m going to die from embarrassment if she gives him my cell phone number while I’m sitting right here.

Finally she hands Todd back his pen, but she holds the napkin against her chest so we can’t read it. “Thank you,” she tells him, smiling at me until he takes our money and leaves. Then she snatches up her purse and slides out of the booth. “Let’s go.”

I follow behind her. “Can’t we wait for him to come back?”

Then I remember I told him to keep the change, so why would he bother? He’s working and I already tipped him with the bill. He has no reason to return. From the corner of my eye I see Jen drop the napkin onto the table. I turn to read it but she pushes me towards the door.

“Jen…”

Then I see Todd heading back to our table, and I don’t want to go home now—I want to stay here and get to know him better and see that smile again. “Hey,” I call out. “Thanks.”

Todd looks up and smiles at me. “No problem.”

Before either of us can say anything else, Jen pulls me away.

Outside it’s getting dark, and I sigh in this pathetic, lovesick way that makes Jen laugh. “He was cute,” I announce.

Now that he’s not around, I feel like I should’ve said something more. I think of a dozen ways to say goodbye, and I should’ve given him my number but Jen has his, doesn’t she? That’s something. Even if I didn’t get it myself, at least she has it.

Opening her car door, Jen sinks down into the driver’s seat. “He likes you.”

It’s too late to tell her I wanted to drive home. I totally forgot about that—the only thing on my mind right now is Todd. Climbing into the passenger side, I fasten the seat belt as tight as I can to make sure I get home alive. “What did you write on that napkin?”

The engine purrs to life and she giggles as she backs out of the parking space. “You’ll see.”

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

We’re almost a mile away when my cell phone rings. She laughs again, and I look at her as I dig the phone out of my pocket. “Tell me you didn’t.”

She just shrugs.

The phone rings again, insistent in my hand. “Jen—”

“Aren’t you going to answer it?” she asks sweetly.

Glaring at her, I thumb open the phone. “Hello?”

From the smirk on Jen’s face, I know she wrote my number on that napkin, and she probably told him to call me—it’s been ten minutes since we left the restaurant and that’s something she would do, give him an exact time to call, just so she could be there to make sure he did.

Light breathing fills my ear. It is him. “Hey.” His voice is so much softer than it had been at the restaurant.

“Hi.” I’m grinning like an i***t. Jen’s watching so I turn and look out the window, away from her prying eyes. “Todd, right?”

“Yeah.” He laughs, and when I close my eyes, I see that sexy smile of his. “Danny. Your girlfriend gave me your number. Do you mind?”

“No,” I say, a little too quickly. “Not as long as you’re going to use it. And I told you, she’s not my girlfriend.”

“I’m on break,” he says. “I get off at eight. I know this is sudden—”

“It’s not,” I assure him. God, it’s not.

He laughs again. I love the sound. “Are you busy tonight?”

Am I busy? Does he even need to ask? “Are you asking me out?”

“If you’re interested.”

I wonder if he’s holding his breath, waiting for my answer. I know I stopped breathing when he said my name.

“Oh yeah,” I say with a grin, “I’m interested.”

THE END