Page 32 of And I Love Her

“No problem. We’re short one cook, so I need to get back to the kitchen. I’ll have Tina come take your order.” After making sure they were settled, Grant headed back across the room.

Jake looked at Callie in disbelief. “Did he—?”

“Grant isn’t one for prying into other people’s business.” She bit down on her lower lip. “But that’s not the case with other residents. I’m sorry, Jake. I shouldn’t have insisted on you not wearing the…costume. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“I’m not.” Despite his wariness, he realized it was the truth. If anything, he was more comfortable in Bliss Cove than he’d been in a while. “Turns out it feels good to be me. A me who likes being with you.”

“Should I have used another name to introduce you? Do you have an alias?”

“No. I also like the way my name sounds in your voice.”

Her lips curved, drawing his attention to a speck of blue M&M shell at the corner of her mouth. He reached out to brush it away, unable to prevent himself from sliding his finger over the soft fullness of her lower lip. Callie startled, her eyes widening.

Jake held up his finger to show her the blue speck and made a mental note to always have a bag of M&Ms on hand. Just in case she wanted one.

Lowering her head, she studied the menu. “Artichoke soup is still the specialty here. Grant inherited the recipe when he bought the place.”

“So he’s the new owner?”

“Grant Taylor.” She nodded, casting a glance toward the bar where Grant was speaking to a young, red-haired waitress. “He’s had the women of Bliss Cove in a tizzy ever since he moved here. He’s dated and apparently was involved with a woman up in Santa Cruz last year, but he turns down all the offers he gets from the local single ladies. My guess is he wants to avoid complications.”

“How do you know so much about him?” Jake opened the menu, deflecting an unexpected stab of jealousy.

“Gossip, usually from Destiny and Aria, or Mrs. Higgins at the Outside Inn.”

“Mrs. Higgins? She’s still running the place?”

“She was going to retire after she lost her husband, but she said keeping the inn going ended up being the best thing she could have done.” Sorrow crossed her face. “We had to remind my mom about that when she wanted to close Sugar Joy after Dad died. She was also thinking about moving away, but now she’s so glad that she didn’t.”

“Have you ever thought about living somewhere else?”

“Why would I want to live anywhere else?” She sounded genuinely surprised. “I love it here.”

“Yeah, but you said your sister might be leaving again, and a lot of the people we went to school with have moved away.” He scanned the dishes listed on the menu. “You never had the urge?”

“No. I lived away when I was in grad school, but I always hoped I’d come back here. When I was offered the position at Skyline, it seemed inevitable.” She shrugged. “This is where I’m meant to be.”

“Hey, Callie.” The red-headed waitress stopped by the table, taking a pen and order pad out of her apron pocket. “Where have you been hiding lately?”

“The usual places. My office or my mom’s trying to keep her from overdoing it. How’ve you been, Tina?”

“Great. Just working and saving up so I can move to Oregon. Todd’s been there for three months now, and he loves it.” The girl slanted her gaze to Jake. “Are you new here?”

“No, I—”

“Tina, this is my friend Jake.” Callie pushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “Jake, this is Tina, a former student.”

“Nice meeting you, Tina.” The tension in Jake’s shoulders eased as he extended his hand to her. He had the sudden sense that he didn’t need to worry about his anonymity as much as he’d expected he would have to. The idea was more than a relief—it was an acknowledgement that his instinct to return to Bliss Cove might have been right.

“Nice to meet you.” Tina shook his hand. “Excellent work dragging Callie out for a change. We all used to think she was like a dragon holed up in her lair, only emerging to breathe fire at her students every now and then.”

“Ah, a fierce scholar of Greek mythology.” Jake shot Callie a grin. “The world could use more women like her.”

Tina winked at Callie. “And men like him.”

“I’ll say,” Callie murmured, her cheeks turning that appealing shade of pink.

“What’ll you have to drink?” Tina flipped open her order pad. “We have a whole new bunch of ciders.”

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