Page 47 of Tell Me Something True

While waiting for her food, Tabitha sipped her drink, scrolled her social media feeds on her phone, and politely, but quickly and firmly, shut down each of the three guys who approached her during that time and offered to buy her a drink.

She wasn’t looking for a hookup, a future date, or a relationship.

And it had nothing to do with a certain dark-haired cop who still starred in all her fantasies.

The waitress delivered her food and Tabitha set her phone down, sanitized her hands, then cut her burger in half and divided her fries into two equal piles before digging in.

The manager at the hotel was right. The burger was delicious. She chatted with Hayden and introduced herself to the waitress—Greer—while she ate.

When she was done, she pulled out her credit card to pay, but Hayden waved it away. “On the house.”

“I’m not sure your boss is going to like that.”

“It was his idea. Or it will be, once he realizes what a dick he was.”

“If you’re sure…”

“Positive. Consider it a welcome to town, from The Cockeyed Chameleon to you. And if there’s anything you need, let me know and I’ll see if I can hook you up.”

“Thank you,” she said, putting her card away and pulling out some cash, tucking the bills under the edge of her glass for a tip. “There is something you might be able to help me with. The movers I hired to load my stuff and drive the rental truck here had a job booked in North Carolina in the morning, so they took off. But I don’t get the keys to my new apartment until tomorrow. Do you know of anyone I could hire to unload the truck?”

“Maybe. Hey, Reed,” she called to the young man at the other end of the bar. “This is Tabitha,” Hayden told him when he joined her. “She wants to know if you’re interested in making a few bucks.”

He slowly raised his eyebrows, the tip of his tongue touching his upper lip as he gave her a slow, up/down look before his lips curved in a cocky grin. “What do you have in mind?” he asked with so much innuendo, you’d have to be an idiot not to get his meaning.

She probably should be horrified that this man-child thought she was interested in him sexually, but when she and Hayden exchanged a look, they both burst out laughing.

The kid, Reed, scowled, looking so put out and embarrassed, they laughed even harder.

“Isn’t he adorable?” Hayden slung her arm around his shoulder. “Isn’t he just the cutest thing ever with his big boy tattoos, this patchy stuff on his baby cheeked face” —she patted his cheek where he did, indeed, have a very patchy, golden beard— “and his delusions of grandeur?”

“Get off,” he muttered, shrugging her away, but there was no heat in his tone. “You’re killing my game.”

“His game,” Hayden howled, laughing so hard, she had to bend over to catch her breath. “You think you have a chance with her?” she asked, gesturing to Tabitha, then patting his chest. “You really need to stick with your own age bracket. His game,” she repeated as if to herself, still chuckling. “Oh, kid, some days you truly kill me.”

His scowl made him look very much the badass, but he couldn’t hide the affection in his eyes as he glanced at Hayden. Or the blush staining those scruff-covered baby cheeks

“I need help moving my stuff into my new apartment,” Tabitha said, taking pity on him. “I can handle most of it on my own, but I’ll need help with the bigger items like the couch and bed and dresser.”

He eyed her, his blue eyes assessing, something in his gaze familiar. Unsettling.

She shook that thought off. He was just wary. Wondering if she had an angle he was missing.

One she could use to take advantage of him.

“When?”

“Tomorrow morning.” She was picking up the apartment key from the downstairs tenant. “Nine.”

He lifted his chin slightly. “How much?”

She didn’t want to take advantage of him, but she was also on a tight budget, what with all those pesky student loans she now had to repay.

But she really, really didn’t want to try to haul her furniture up to her second-floor apartment by herself.

“Two hundred dollars.”

“Yeah. Sure.”

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