Changing Course (Wrecked and Ruined #1)(12)

"Hey, you're the one who keeps betting against Green Bay. Seriously Brett, they are 6-0. When are you going to learn? Though in light of my newly padded pockets, I will happily buy you breakfast."

"Gee thanks, you are just too kind," my voice drips with sarcasm. Damn, I hate losing, but Jess walks away giggling and I can't help but smile.

"What was that all about?" Caleb asks as he pulls up a chair across from me.

"Nothing, just losing my life savings to the football shark posing as a barista," I say loud enough for Jesse to hear, earning me yet another laugh from behind the bar.

"So when are you going to get off your ass and ask her out?"

"Who? Jesse?"

"Yes, Jesse, you dumb ass."

"Newsflash: I'm married!"

"You might still be married on paper, but you and I both know you haven't been married in a long time."

"I'm not talking about this right now," I wave my hand trying to dismiss the topic.

"It's been four years."

"Wow, thanks for the reminder, *. What would I ever do without your mathematical genius?"

"Whatever, you can be a dick all you want, but it only further proves my point that you need to get laid."

"Christ, Jones. Can you lower your voice?" I whisper yell, annoyed that he just announced my sexual status, or lack thereof, to the entire coffee shop.

"Oh come on, Jesse is hot in that girl next door, sexy librarian kind of way."

"Oh, Jesus." I shake my head while looking around making sure no one is listening to our conversation. “Well guess what, Jones. You're not married. Feel free to ask her out yourself."

"Nah, I'm still seeing Lisa. She would lose her crazy monkey shit if she thought I was even looking at Jesse."

"You need to cut that one loose. Preferably before you end up chopped into tiny pieces, buried under her floorboards."

"She isn't that bad. Besides, when she isn't using it to bitch at me about not taking her out in public, her mouth is spectacular! Seriously, she does this thing with her hand and her mouth..." he pauses, making a hand motion and kissing sound like an Italian chef before saying, "Benissimo." I groan at this ridiculous conversation.

I know better than anyone that Caleb is still hung up on Manda. In the four years since the accident, he has never been in another relationship. Don't get me wrong, he's had plenty of women to warm his bed, but never anything more. Last weekend, I drove past the cemetery and saw him laying on her grave playing with a little black box. I have no idea what's inside, and no desire to ask him about it either. I just know that box meant something to him and Manda, because he never goes to visit her without it. I ran into his sister the other day, and she told me he still goes to "talk" to Manda three to four times a week. I worry about him, but I understand how he feels. I can't seem to move on either.

"Come on, we have a meeting in fifteen minutes, and I know you didn't finish your paperwork from last night." I slap him on the arm heading to the door.

"Thanks for breakfast, Jess," I say holding up my coffee.

"No prob, see ya tomorrow."



Jesse

UGH, WHY does he have to be so hot? I watch him stride out the door, and I can't help but check out his butt as he goes. I'm sorry, but the man has a good looking rear end. I love when he wears his suit and tie for work, but my favorite is when he comes in on the weekend on his way home from the gym. All sexy and sweaty, with his shorts and tight t-shirt pulled across his perfectly muscled chest. I have got to stop checking him out every time he comes in here. One day he is going to catch me, and I won't be able to control the eleven shades of red my face turns.

Detective Brett Sharp is my idea of the perfect man. Tall, dark, handsome, nice dresser, employed, and since he is a cop, I'm assuming he doesn't have a criminal record. On second thought, he’s every woman’s perfect man. Which could be precisely why he doesn't seem to notice that I'm single, available, and very interested. I'm sure he probably exclusively dates six feet tall, blonde runway models. He's never brought anyone in with him before, or even ordered an extra coffee for someone possibly waiting at home.

I don't just sit around staring at him though. I'm going to make this dream a reality. I have been devising a plan for months to ask him out. Women can ask men out these days...right? Girl power or something like that. Well, one day, I overheard him talking to Caleb about how excited he was for the upcoming Bears season. So I called my brother and asked if he could get me tickets. His company has a big box they use to impress clients. The only problem is I know absolutely nothing about football. If you want to know the honest truth, when I asked my brother for Bears tickets, I thought they were for a hockey game.

My plan is to pretend I just happen to have an extra ticket, and ask Brett if he would like to go with me. The game is this weekend, so I'm really cutting it close. I would have asked him sooner, but I needed to make it believable that I would actually attend a game. I've spent weeks of studying nothing but football in order to pull off this ruse.

Two weeks ago, I asked my brother his prediction on the game so I could make a flirty little bet. Luckily my brother isn't as stupid as I thought he was when we were growing up, and I've won both bets I made with Brett. The forty bucks I've won only proves that this is an awesome plan. Tomorrow is the day I'm going to launch my stealth operation. I'm so nervous that I may need to come to work drunk in order to actually follow through, but regardless, I'm doing it.