Page 6 of Summer Waves

“Jacob Nez! Are you dating Tabitha!” I gasped. His cheeks turned dark red. My mouth nearly dropped to the table. “Oh. My. God.”

“It’s not a big deal. I mean, we’re grown adults. I know you don’t want me to date any of your–”

“I’m so happy for you, Jacob,” I interrupted with a smile.

“Wait. What?” he asked, confused.

“Tabitha deserves to be happy. If your ugly butt makes her happy then I’m happy,” I smirked. Jacob rolled his eyes and laughed.

“Thank God.” He let out a deep breath. “We’ve been scared to death that you’d kill us.”

So many dots were being connected. It explained why Tabitha never went into detail about her mystery guy. Or why Jacob was always at the eatery when I came back from my bank runs. He was there to see Tabitha not mooch for food. Never in a million years would I have thought those two would hit it off and start dating.

“How’d you two even hook up?” I asked without thought. It wasn’t any of my business, but curiosity was going to drive me crazy until I knew the answer.

“I saw her walking home from work one day. I had just got done surfing and offered her a ride home. We ended up talking forever in my truck, exchanged numbers, and voila six months later we’re dating.” He said it as though it was no big deal.

“So, all these women you’ve been sleeping with were actually Tab–” I closed my eyes and groaned. “Don’t answer that. I donotwant to know thefuckinganswer to that.”

“What happened to no cursing in public?” Jacob teased.

Chapter Four

Giovanni

“Not going to lie, Jacob,” I said, leaning back in my office chair. Jacob sat on the opposite side of my desk facing me. “You really surprised me.”

“Oh?” he asked quietly.

“I figured you’d be late to work or take extra breaks. Something.”

“But I haven’t,” he said defensively.

“Relax,” I chuckled. “That’s why I called you in here.” His eyebrow rose. “I called you in here to tell you that you’ve done a great job the past two weeks, and I’ll call that sister of yours.”

“She says she believes me. Has since day one.”

“So… you don’t want me to call her?”

“No. I mean, you still can or maybe I can invite her here to the restaurant for lunch or dinner. Then you can tell her if you don’t mind,” he replied.

“Cut your hair and I’ll let you be her waiter,” I grinned. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail. He still wasn’t budging on the haircut

“That’s so wrong,” he laughed and shook his head. “You fight dirty.”

“What can I say,” I shrugged. “I’m a Russo.”

Jacob stared at me long and hard. I could see the wheels turning in his mind. He wanted to make his sister proud, but he loved his hair just as much or more.

“What if someone else is her waiter, but you stop by the table?” he finally asked.

“You really love your hair, don’t you?”

“Actually, my girlfriend is the one who really loves it,” he chuckled slightly.

“Ah. I thought you were a ladies’ man like Tony.” Jacob rolled his eyes in response. “Just saying,” I held my hands up in surrender.

“I’ve turned over a new leaf,” he shrugged. “Well, I’m trying to anyway.”

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