Page 24 of Diving In

The young girl brought our coffees over a minute later, and as we sat with our piping hot mugs, my gaze landed on Cal again. Fortunately, he appeared intrigued by something on the menu.

He sat casually, one hand on his coffee and one hand on the menu. I couldn’t help but give myself a few seconds to take him inagain, and somehow this time was even better than the last.

His skin was the most perfect tint of sun-kissed. His body was large in stature but gentle in nature. His expression was kind, with the softest hint of seduction to it. And holy shit, the way he sucked on his lower lip while he scanned the menu, as if he were thinking about something—orsomeone—he’d prefer to have for breakfast.

I bit my lower lip, trying to ignore the quivering between my legs. My heart plummeted as he looked up and our eyes locked. He took me in without shame, a grin taking over his face as he realized I’d been staring at him.

Embarrassment invaded my cheeks until I was flushed and hot.

Trying to refocus my brain, which I was finding was nearly impossible in his presence, I looked up with a tiny smile on my face and asked, “You gettin’ the famous breakfast scramble?”

“Obviously. There’s no other choice,” he said.

“Are you two ready to order?” the waitress interrupted.

“Go ahead, Georgia James.”

My full name out of his mouth kept leaving me speechless, drawing me in in more ways than one. His voice was sensual in a way, almost as if there were a hidden message within his words. I was almost one hundred percent convinced that there was actual, living butterflies dancing around inside my belly. If it wasn’t butterflies, then I was for sure going to vomit.

“I’ll take the breakfast scramble, please,” I said, firing a little one-sided smirk in Cal’s direction.

“I’ll do the same,” he said, handing the waitress the menu while never taking his eyes off mine.

“So, have you figured out your plan while you’re here?” he asked.

“I’m not sure I really have a plan, which is completely unlike me to be honest.”

“You don’t say?”

I gave him a confused look. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing.”

“No, tell me.”

He sat quietly for a few moments, contemplating what exactly he wanted to say. “You just seem like you crave control. Like you might be hiding a need for it under all that confidence.”

Cal’s words hit the nail right on the head, but I did my best to hide that he was right. “Or maybe I’m just really this confident.”

He shrugged. “Maybe.”

“And you got all of that… how, exactly?” I questioned.

“I got all of that because I can read you like a book, Georgia James.”

“I’m picking up on that,” I admitted shyly. “How do you know so much about me though?”

Our waitress approached the table with two breakfast scrambles, interrupting our conversation.

As I unwrapped my silverware from the napkin, I glanced in Cal’s direction, still waiting for a response.

He peered up from his plate, the muscles in his jaw twitching. “I told you. Jack adored you, Georgia. He spoke highly of you, and often. You might not have talked to him that much, but he had his ways of staying connected to you and your life. I could count on one hand the times we were together when he didn’t mention you, your mother, or Fletch.”

At my silence, he kept going. “I spent a lot of time with Jack, so when he asked me to make sure you got the things he’d left for you, there was no hesitation on my end. I was quick to make that promise to Jack,” he finished, lifting his fork to his mouth but pausing as it approached his lips. “I also didn’t mind the idea that I might get to see you again in the process.”

“Sure, like you really cared about ever seeing me again. You never even noticed me back then. I was just Fletch’s little sister,” I told him.

“And that, Georgia James, is where you are wrong. So fucking wrong.”

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