Page 5 of Wine and Research
If he wanted attitude, he’d visit his sister. Remorse rippled through his chest. That wasn’t fair. Jenna was actually really sweet and had only recently started to grow a backbone. If shewas going to succeed in business and on her own, then she needed one. Far be it for him to give her shit over it. Jenna could use more attitude and determination.
Unlike a certain auburn-haired beauty.
It wasn’t her attitude you avoided, his mind insisted.
He ignored it and the annoyance seeping into her gaze. “Iced tea…please,” he added, and hit her with a smile.
She blinked and her brow dropped back into place. “I’ll get right on it,” she said, then hurried away.
But not before he’d noted color washing into her cheeks.
The smile was still on his face as he took his seat.
“Nothing’s changed between you two, I see,” Ryder commented from the booth across the aisle.
“The battle continues.” Ethan grinned from the same booth.
Both men had been in the guard for several years before Jeremy joined right out of high school with Scott and Nico, and even though the two guys had since left the military, they’d all formed an unbreakable bond, forged by war. They were good, solid friends. Ethan was part owner of a local resort with his three brothers, and Ryder was a whiz at construction. The man had recently finished building Jeremy’s sister’s flower shop down the street.
He glanced at them, but he wasn’t biting. He did, however, say hello to everyone in the booth after Elle dropped off the foursome’s food.
“Has your father had any more issues with his back door?” he asked, changing the subject and keeping his gaze off the retreating beauty.
Four days ago, Ryder’s father, Mr. Gablonski, had arrived at the restaurant to discover a series of scratches and gauges around the handle of the door in the kitchen that led outside. The place hadn’t been broken into and nothing was missing, but Ryder had wisely called him over to report it.
Unfortunately, Gabe’s security camera had been broken for almost a year and he’d never fixed it. Ryder had immediately remedied the issue by installing a state-of-the-art security system the same day.
Wise move.
Mr. Gablonski was old-school. It was a wonder the restaurant even had security, given that his servers still used a pad and pen to take orders. Not that there was anything wrong with it, but faulty security was a different story.
“Nope. No issues,” Ryder replied. “Anymore break-ins?”
There’d been two over the last three weeks. A sporting goods store and consignment shop had been hit, and Gabe’s, no doubt, would’ve been the third. Jeremy could only assume someone had spooked the perp before he or she could gain unlawful access to the restaurant.
“No.” Jeremy shook his head and remained quiet while Elle brought their drinks.
“Your specials will be right out.” She smiled but her gaze never found his before she rushed to greet customers filling the first booth along the wall.
He tried not to track her movements but failed. The way her tan pants showcased her sweet curves should be illegal.
“Your sister hasn’t had any trouble, has she?” Ryder asked, regaining his attention.
Scott stiffened then frowned. “Is someone harassing Jenna?”
Jeremy shook his head. “No. She’s fine,” he told Scott, then transferred his gaze to Ryder. “So is her shop. That’s why I pushed for her to get the better security system.”
“You didn’t just push, you paid for it,” Sophia said, shifting to peer at him from around Ryder. “You’re a good big brother.”
“Aww, that’s sweet,” Ethan’s wife, Phoebe said.
Not really something he knew about. Jeremy just wanted Jenna to be safe, and he wasn’t going to let lack of money be the reason she could become a victim.
He would always look out for her and his mother, no matter how much they insisted they were capable of taking care of themselves. If there was something he could do for them, he did it. End of story.
Another thing his father had taught him was that family came first, and family took care of family. A month later, Daniel Mercer had died and that lesson held a special meaning. At ten years old, Jeremy became the man of the house and had taken that role seriously ever since.
“Don’t you think that’s sweet, Elle?” Sophia asked.
