Chapter Six
Sophia
I applied for the job that Alex had suggested and was shocked when I was hired that same day. The pay was nearly twice as much as what I was making back at the old diner and I knew that soon, I’d be able to afford my own place, no matter how small it was.
Not only that. After having worked there for almost two weeks, I was promoted to manager.
I soon realized that the only thing that I missed about being at that old place was Marsha.
On top of that, Alex had stayed true to his word. Every single day that I worked at that diner, he was there. Not to order anything, but to steal me away for my lunch hour. And, after making sure that I had at least eaten something properly, he proceeded to make my toes curl in several different ways. After my shifts, he would take me home and ensure that I was safe inside before leaving.
That is, on nights when we didn’t go back to that same spot for hours after my shifts had ended. I found myself wanting to spend more time with him, but I knew that I was being selfish. If we wanted to keep this as casual as possible, I was going to have to do with seeing him only when he allowed me to see him.
I knew that he was busy with running his ranch and dealing with whatever other business that he had to deal with when the day came to make a living, but that didn’t help the fact that I wanted him almost every second of every day.
And, when I finally did get to see him during the days that I worked, it was like the sun had come up after a long, cold night. He seemed to want to see me almost as often, but when I asked him to spend time with me on my days off, the answer was always the same. No. Along with some excuse about why he couldn’t.
I tried telling myself that I understood why that was, but for some reason, there was a part of me telling me that something was missing and that I didn’t have the whole story.
But everything about his personality contradicted what that voice in my head was telling me. He was kind, generous, sweet and just the most amazing person that I’d ever met. And here I was, trying to convince myself that something was wrong with him. How could I ever have been right? There was nothing about him that would back up that accusation.
“Your boyfriend’s here, Miss Sophia,” one of the girls at the register told me.
I looked up from the roster and felt a blush spread across my cheeks, so I looked away from her as quickly as I could manage.
“Look at Miss Sophia blushing like she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar,” the cook called from behind through the window that separated the kitchen from the front.
I could hear the entire staff snickering.
“Oh, shut up,” I said and laughed. Still, I brought the clipboard up to my face as I went to the back to sign out for lunch.
When I got out front, Alex was already waiting in the diner for me.
“You wanna eat here, or go somewhere else?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Think I see this place often enough to not want to eat here,” I replied.
He laughed. “Okay, so eating somewhere else it is.”
He then led me out of the diner and we drove down the street to where a new restaurant had just opened up. New businesses don’t pop up too often in Cedar Cove, but when they do it seems the whole town shows up in support. I was not in the mood for a crowd while I was still in my uniform.
“I’m not going in there,” I said as I leaned over him to look at the restaurant. “It’s way too fancy and I still have on my uniform.”
He looked at the place then back at me. “So?”
I arched a brow at him. “So, I’m not going.”
“You look fine, Soph. C’mon, you’re getting something to eat.”
“I look a mess.”
He sent his eyes up and down my body. “You look delicious. And my opinion is the only opinion that should matter, so let’s go.”
I sighed. He was right. His was the only opinion that I truly cared about if I was being honest, but …
I gave in. “Fine, but if I see someone who I know, you’re getting the bill,” I said as I hopped out of the vehicle.
I heard him chuckle. “I wasn’t planning on letting you pay either way.”
I rolled my eyes. This was always how lunch went. I would insist that I could pay on my own, and he would insist on paying. Then we’d argue and he’d end up paying anyway. It got to the point where I was just tired of the arguing, so I let him pay for the damn lunches if he wanted to.
When we walked into the restaurant, I was relieved to find that it was empty, save for Savanna Hanson who was to the very back of the room eating while on the phone. Her family’s florist shop, Crazy Daisies, was just down the street.
“Well,” I said as we were being led to our table, “seems like I didn’t have to worry after all.”
“I told you.” He pulled out the seat and let me sit before going over to his side and taking his own seat.
I looked around at the dimly lit place. Everything—down to the chairs and tables—looked expensive. “I’m still way too underdressed for this.”
He didn’t laugh this time. Instead, he just shook his head. “I wanna take you out sometime.” I stopped my gazing and looked at him. “Maybe to a fancy place like this. Maybe even fancier. I wanna see you all dolled up and looking even more pretty than you usually are.” He smiled but there was no smile on my face.
“Ale—I—That’s not what this is …” I gestured with my forefingers between us. He couldn’t possibly be asking what I thought he was, right?
“I know,” he said before taking a pause. “It’s just …you can consider it me asking to see you on a day when you’re not working.” He shrugged.
I held my breath. He was asking what I thought he was asking. As much as I wanted that, I couldn’t say yes to that right away. I knew that we couldn’t be more than what we already were. I wasn’t ready for that at the moment. I knew that I wasn’t ready.
I was about to answer when I saw two people walk into the restaurant. One with a large belly before her and the other with his hand protectively hugging her from the back. She was smiling wider than I’d ever seen her smile before. He was smiling wider than I’d ever seen him smile before. My face pulled into its own little smile. They looked happy. I was glad for them both. They deserved it.
When her eyes glanced around the diner, they caught mine and lit up.
“Sophia?” Her voice was high.
“Hi-ah, darling,” I said with a grin as I stood to hug her when she came over to meet us. Jake looked over to see where his wife was headed and found us in the corner as well.
“You look amazing,” Ally said.
I smiled back at her. “So do you! And I can see that little Jake or Ally is just about ready to come out, congratulations!”
She blew out a breath with widened eyes. “I would hope so. She’s almost as much a pain in the ass as her dad.”
Jake laughed and kissed her cheek. “Hey, Sophia.” He looked over to Alex and nodded his head. “Hey …”
“Alex,” Alex introduced himself and stood to shake Jake’s hand.
Ally seemed to notice him then too. She looked at me and turned her head away in a suggestive manner.
“Sophia’s boyfriend,” Alex added.
“Oh?” Ally raised her brows and widened her eyes at me, making my cheeks go full tomato red.
“Apparently,” I said and smiled at her.