Page 65 of Family Jewels

I paused and studied him, trying to decide if he was being sarcastic. Had he figured it out? He was obviously intelligent, and it wouldn’t take many brain cells to figure out that most people didn’t let urine-soaked men lie in the middle of their office.

But the waitress saved me by returning with our dinners. She gave me an odd look, then said, “The manager says to tell you that your meal’s on us tonight. After what happened the last time you were here.”

Levi’s eyes narrowed as he looked up at her. “What happened last time she was here?”

The waitress gave me an apologetic look—so much for helping me avoid an awkward conversation—and ran off.

He turned to me this time. “What happened the last time you were here?”

There was no way I was going to tell him I’d been kidnapped from the restroom ten minutes after my then-boyfriend had proposed. I hadn’t been to Jaspers since, partially because my whole life had tipped on its head that night and partially because I’d holed up at the farm, licking my wounds. “Let’s just say some things are better discussed on a second or fifth date.”

A grin spread across his face. “So things are going well enough that we can plan a second date?”

Well, crap. I hadn’t meant to say that. I finished off the last of my wine. “This chicken looks really good.”

Levi turned his attention to his sirloin steak, but thankfully the waitress’s announcement hadn’t made the silence tense. After about a minute, he asked, “How did you end up in the landscaping business?”

I gave him a teasing smile. “With a name like Rose Gardner, it seemed like destiny.” I stabbed a piece of broccoli on my plate. “The short version is that my sister wanted to open a nursery, and she needed my help to do it. We opened last September, and one of our very first orders was to re-landscape the New Living Hope Revival Church, but part of the deal was that we had to install the plants. It all kind of evolved from there. My partner Bruce Wayne and I split the landscaping business from the nursery in December.”

“Wow,” he said as he grabbed his glass of water. “That’s all fairly recent.”

“Most new businesses take two years to make a profit, but we just had our first month in the black.” I was proud of what we’d accomplished, especially since Bruce Wayne and I had wondered if we were destined to fail in a fiery ball of flames only a few short months ago.

He gave me a dubious look. “Did you say your business partner’s name is Bruce Wayne?”

I laughed. “His father is Clark Kent.”

I was about to tell him more about the business, but the woman who walked through the doorway caught my attention. Something about her looked familiar, and then it hit me.

She was the woman in Rayna’s vision.

I set my fork down, my gaze still on the woman as she disappeared into the bar. “Excuse me for a moment, Dr. Romano.”

“Levi,” he said, but it was an automatic reply. He was looking at me with about a dozen questions in his eyes. He watched as I stood and headed for the bar, but to his credit, he didn’t ask any questions.

After seeing the woman’s hot tub attire in my vision, I wasn’t surprised to find her wearing a gold sequined tube top, a pair of low-rise, skin-tight jeans, and four-inch fake leather above-the-knee boots. Her blonde hair was teased tall enough to look like an inviting home for a family of mice, and she wore enough dark eyeshadow to warrant a part as an extra in a vampire movie. I had no idea what her name was, but I had a sneaking suspicion what her profession might be.

“Is this seat taken?” I asked as I slid into a bar stool in front of her, thankful we were out of Levi’s line of sight.

“Actually, I’m waiting on somebody,” she said, looking around me. Presumably that somebody was a man.

“How about I buy you a drink and keep you company while you wait?” I asked.

She licked her lips. “I guess that would be all right.” She waved a hand to the bartender. “He’s cute.”

She had a point, although the guy walking around the end of the bar looked a good ten to fifteen years younger than her. He glanced at the woman and then back at me, doing a double take. I was sure my innocent-looking pink sundress was a strange contrast to her attire.

“I’m gonna have a Long Island iced tea,” she said. “Luke . . .” she added, squinting at his name tag. Then she tilted her head and looked at me.

“I’ll take a glass of wine,” I said. “Pinot grigio.”

Luke nodded, then headed back to his station without a word.

The woman watched his butt as he walked around the corner, then turned to me and narrowed her eyes. “Whaddaya want?”

“Who says I want something?” I asked.

“It’s the only reason a stranger buys a drink for someone. So whaddaya want? But I gotta warn ya, I don’t swing that way.” She gestured her fingers back and forth between us.

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