Page 18 of Creed

“Not any with an ass as fine as yours.”

She rolls her eyes, but I don’t miss the hint of pink coloring her cheeks.

“What do you want, Seth? You want breakfast? Here’s your menu.” She slams it onto the table.

But it’s not the food I hunger for. I study her reactions carefully, calculating how much further I can push her.

I watch her take a deep breath, steeling her spine before she speaks again.

“Seth, I’m working. What do you want?”

I shrug nonchalantly. “Some breakfast... and maybe a little conversation. Is that too much to ask?”

“Yes,” she retorts immediately, but her gaze betrays her. Her eyes flicker towards the empty seat across from me before she can stop herself.

“Sit with me,” I demand, not missing the opportunity to spend even a few minutes with her before I have to leave town. Her eyebrows shoot up in disbelief, but there’s a hint of curiosity with the way her lips twitch like she wants to smile.

“No way. I can’t,” she protests, but there isn’t any genuine conviction behind her words.

“Why not?”

“Because this is my job, and I have customers to serve.”

I glance around, noting the now mostly empty tables around us. The morning rush appears to be over.

“I'm sure they can survive without their waitress for a few minutes. Humor me.”

A busboy emerges from the kitchen to clear the surrounding abandoned tables. He looks at us, confusion apparent. His brows drawing deeper together as she plops into the seat.

Maybe he has a crush on her and isn’t used to seeing her with someone.

I watch him grab the crumpled bills off the tables. Wordlessly, he hands the bills over to Lottie, then returns to the back, giving us some privacy.

“It’s good to see you again.”

“Cut the crap and tell me what you’re really doing here.”

“You kept it.”

She fingers the locket hanging around her neck. The one I gave her on her sixteenth birthday.

“So what? It’s pretty.”

“Nothing.” I let it go.

“What do you want to eat?” she pulls an order pad from the pocket of her apron and clicks her pen open.

“Why don’t you surprise me?”

She drops the pen and crosses her arms defensively over her chest. “This is some sort of game to you, isn’t it?”

“There’s no game being played here,” I respond quickly, irritated that she thinks I would purposely fuck with her. “I’ve got to head out of town for a bit. Wanted to see you before I go. That’s all.”

“Hmm.” She studies me a beat and the chime for the front door sounds. “I’ve gotta get back to it. I’ll put your order in.” She slides out of the booth.

As she turns to leave, I reach out and gently grab her wrist, halting her in her tracks. “Lottie. When I get back to town, let me take you to dinner.”

“I don’t…”

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