My heart thumping, I peered over the half-wall that separated the waitress station from the dining area. Crap, itwashim. Worse, the blondes were still with him. How long had it been since he'd dropped me off at the Parkers'? Four hours?
What had the three of them been doing this whole time? Looking at Lawton's tousled hair, it wasn't hard to guess.
I lowered my head and studied them through my lashes as while I added straws in the drinks. The blondes looked noticeably happier than when I'd seen them last. Even in the crowded restaurant, their laughter rose above the din.
Lawton, in contrast, looked pensive and almost bored. He leaned back in the booth, rewarding the girls with a half-hearted smile as they jostled for his attention. Something in his demeanor suggested a sort of weary resignation, like he was determined to finish whatever he started, if only to get it over with.
"You lucky dog," Josie said. "That's your table."
Chapter 9
I felt myself pale. Was it? Crap. We didn't go by sections, but rather by a weird rotation thing dreamed up by Keith, the new night manager. It was a nightmare for keeping track of things, and it meant I had to cover twice the real estate, but Keith said it made it more interesting for the customers, because they got to see all the girls in action.
The way I saw it, Keith was a dumb-ass. But I was mentally calling him something else as I considered that his stupid idea would have me waiting on Lawton and his two guests, if you could call them that.
For some reason, I just couldn't do it. I turned to Josie. "You want it? You can have it."
Her face broke into a wide smile. "Seriously?"
"Oh yeah," I said.
She grabbed her order pad. "I'm getting him now, before you change your mind." A second later, she was heading toward the table, calling over her shoulder, "The next table's yours!"
The next table turned out to be a couple of overgrown frat-boy types, obviously fresh from some nightclub or other.
"Hey good-lookin'," one of them said as I plopped down into the booth to take their order.
"Hey lookin'," I said, flashing him a grin.
He laughed. "What?! I'm notgood-looking?"
From the look on his face, it was pretty obvious he knew the answer to that question. Yeah, he was good-looking in that all-American way, from the top of his sandy-colored hair to the tips of his expensive shoes. I'd recognized the brand before I sat down. They weren't tennis shoes, and they weren't cheap. He was dressed to kill, and he knew it.
In truth, the guys looked a few years past college age, but I'd have bet my boots, if I were wearing any, that they'd both been in a fraternity not too long ago.
I chomped my gum while I studied him, cocking my head to the side as if I were giving his question some serious thought. Finally, I winked at his equally good-looking friend, and said, "Well,someoneat this table's a real looker."
Grinning, the guy sat up straighter, until I gave an exaggerated toss of my hair and chirped, "Me."
I didn't believe it for one minute, but I didn't care. It was all part of the act, and if my tips were any indicator, I played it well.
The first guy burst out laughing and turned to his friend. "Oh buuuuurn," he said. A half second later, the friend joined in the laughter while I blinked stupidly at them, as if I didn't understand what was so funny. A couple minutes later, I was giving their food order to the kitchen.
From the corner of my eye, I kept watch on Lawton's table. While he was sitting at that booth, I was determined to avoid them. In my stupid getup, they might not even recognize me, but I wasn't taking any chances.
By the time they left an hour later, I'd gotten pretty good at ducking, hiding, and turning the other way just in time to avoid catching their attention.
A few minutes after they'd gone, Josie sidled up to me. "I almost feel guilty," she said. "Look how much he left me."
I looked down. The tip was generous to a fault. Shit. Maybe Ishould'vewaited on him.
But for some strange reason, the whole idea made me ill. Even if I weren't too embarrassed to play the sassy waitress with Lawton, the thought of serving the two blondes was more than I could stomach. I knew exactly how they would've treated me.
They would've run me ragged, and nothing would've been good enough. I'd been treated that way before, plenty of times, but the thought of being treated that way by them, and in front of Lawton – well, I just couldn't. Why, I didn't know.
"Here," Josie said, holding out a few bills. "Lemme give you a cut."
I wanted to say yes. I needed the money. But it wouldn't have been right. Besides, the frat guys hadn't exactly been stingy. Along with a fairly generous tip, one of them had given me his phone number, and asked for mine in return.
