Page 15 of Burn With Me

I know when he spots me because a smile takes over his face as he walks up to my window.

“Are you aJurassic Parkfan?” he asks, and I just look at him and blink.

How can he know that?

“You have a tan Jeep with theJurassic Parkplate in the front, and your sunglasses areJurassic Parkthemed,” he points out.

Finally, my brain catches up. “Oh, yeah, it’s one of my favorite movies. If a 1992 model wasn’t mostly rusted, I would have gone true to the original model, but I like the four-door option because of Penny.” I realize I’m rambling as I open my door and get out. I close my door and turn to look up at him. “I guess it’s just us. Pam just called and told me something happened with Sam’s moving truck.”

“Yeah, Sam let me know as I pulled in,” he says with a knowing smirk. “After you.” He gestures with his hand to the door.

I feel his hand lightly on my back, and as a reflex, I stiffen.

I’m not ready for this. I suck in social situations, and I have to keep telling myself that this is not a date, even if it’s starting to feel like one.

This is not a date.

The worst part about anxiety is that I’m not mad about the situation I’ve found myself in. I know I need to just suck it up.

I feel his breath next to my ear as he opens the door.

“Breathe, Amelia, it’s going to be okay,” he says, and I instantly take a deep breath.

“Atta girl,” he says, and for some reason, instead of pissing me off that he can calm me down so quickly, I relax.

We walk up to the hostess stand and see that it’s Abby. An easy smile takes over my face. She’s one of my favorite people in this town. From the first time I walked in here, she made me feel so welcome.

“Hey, Am! How are you doing today?”

“Great! Thanks! How’s everything going?”

“Good! Staying busy. Is it just the two of you today?”

“Yeah,” I confirm.

“Would you like a table or a booth?” she asks.

I look at Luke because I don’t care, but I know some people do.

He looks down at me, then back to Abby and says, “We can take a booth.”

“Perfect!” she says in her customer service voice, and I wonder how she’s always this on at work, no matter what’s going on around her.

“You can follow me just this way.” She grabs two menus and shows us to our booth.

As we follow her, Luke’s hand goes back to my lower back, and I fail at holding back the shiver I get from his touch.

“Here you go,” she says. “Antonella will be your server and will be here for your drink orders soon.”

“Thank you,” I reply as I put my phone face down on the table with my sunglasses on top.

“How was your first shift?” I ask, bouncing my leg up and down as my anxiety starts to creep in again, and I try to keep my hands from fidgeting.

“Actually, it was good. We had a couple of calls, but it was a slow enough day that we were able to get a feel for the firehouse and the people we work with on our shift. It’s also nice that we’re only doing twelve-hour shifts here. The twenty-four hours on and forty-eight hours off are exhausting and catch up to you after a few years. What about you? How was work today?” he asks.

“Busy. I’m in talks with the contractor I work with to add on to the farm, and I had a meeting with a couple of the local farms in the area. I was also able to set everything up for our Wednesday deliveries to some of the local restaurants,” I say excitedly.

I might be busy and my days may be full of meetings, but the fact that I’m working with local farmers to start a co-op and work directly with restaurants, families, and local grocery stores makes me proud of the work I’m doing.

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