“Like I said,” Evan told her, “looks good on you.” Her face warmed. “So does the blush,” he added with a wink.
She covered her face with her hands and blushed some more.
Chapter Fourteen
It always amused Ellis when something like a regular, perfectly normal Wednesday was intensely busy at the diner. There was rarely any rhyme or reason to it. It just was, and it happened every so often.
Kitty was running around at double her usual speed, pro that she was. Cal was flipping eggs and pancakes and mixing biscuit dough like his life depended on it. The two other waitresses didn’t stop moving, and Ellis stayed out front to help, wiping tables, filling water glasses, getting people seated. She didn’t mind at all because if she was out front, she was able to steal looks and send winks to the hot redhead at the corner table who’d glance at her over the rim of her sexy glasses whenever she got the chance.
“You two are ridiculous,” Kitty whispered at her behind the counter as she scooped pie onto plates. “All flirty and having eye sex with each other.”
Ellis burst out laughing. “Excuse me?”
“And also, you’re adorable and I’m jealous.”
“That I’m not eye-sexing you?” Ellis winked.
Kitty barked a laugh. “Maybe twenty years ago, honey.” Then she bumped her with a hip and left to deliver her pie, and Ellis had to give props to the customer, because who didn’t want pie for breakfast?
As usual, things started to clear out a little after nine, nine thirty, until there were only Cherry and four other regulars left. The two retired gentlemen who met every Wednesday for coffee and gossip. The bearded guy with his AirPods in and the strawberry-blond woman that always had a book. She had today’s propped up enough to see, the new Nora Roberts.
“Hi,” Ellis said as she warmed up Cherry’s coffee, then plopped into a seat across from her. “I’m the manager here, and I was hoping to get some feedback from you on your experience today.”
Cherry slid her glasses off her face—something Ellis was shocked to find an undeniably sexy maneuver—set them down, then propped her chin in her hands, making a big show of choosing her words. “Well, I’m not gonna lie. The food is terrific. Those biscuits?” She gave a little full-body shudder. “To die for. The service is great, always. But today? My favorite thing today was the eye candy.”
“Eye candy, you say?” Ellis cocked her head to one side.
“Yes, that sexy blond chick that flitted around pretending to wipe tables, but who was actually just out here to flirt with me? You know who I mean?”
“Hmm. Sounds vaguely familiar.”
“Definite eye candy, that one. And very much appreciated. Made my morning much more pleasant. If you could pass that along to management, I’d be grateful.”
“I’ll be sure to send that directly to the owner,” Ellis said and knew she was sporting a goofy grin.
“She should get a raise.”
“I’ll bring that up, too.”
“And make many, many more appearances.”
“Noted.” It was Ellis’s turn to prop her chin in her hand, and they sat that way, and it was something about them she was beginning to love—that they could just look at each other without words, and it wasn’t weird or uncomfortable. She wasn’t always great with silence. Maybe that was from all the time spent with her nonverbal sister, but she always felt like she needed to fill in the silences with her own voice, even when she didn’t have anything to say. With Cherry? She didn’t feel that. With Cherry, the silence was companionable. Easy. Plus, she liked to just look at her.
“Are you busy Friday night?” Cherry asked quietly, after they’d gazed at each other for a long moment.
Ellis shook her head slowly. “Nope.”
“Would you go on a date with me?”
“Yup.”
“Well, that was easy.” Cherry’s laugh was soft. Pretty. She picked up her coffee and took a sip.
“I’d go anywhere with you.” The words were out before Ellis could think about them, filter them, catch them. Surprisingly, though, she didn’t panic. She pressed her lips together, but then gave a small shrug. After all, it was true. And it didn’t seem to surprise Cherry at all. She just kept smiling that smile.
“Same,” she said.
“Do I get to know where we’re going?” Ellis asked after a moment of delicious eye contact that made her seriously consider dragging Cherry by the hand to the back room of the diner and kissing her face off.
