Witness in the Dark (Love Under Fire #1)(7)

“I’m fine,” she said before he had the chance to ask. Maybe if she kept saying she was fine, it would come true.

“Are you sure you want to be here? I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to take off.”

“It’s Saturday night. You need me.” And she needed to be somewhere with people. Somewhere she wouldn’t be haunted by her thoughts. Moving on, she reminded herself.

Unfortunately, she was still able to think about things while she was refilling someone’s drink or dropping off an order. As usual, things got slow around nine, and she had even more time to think.

Anthony moved to the kitchen to give the staff a break, and she took over the dining room and counter. The bell above the door rang and a man came in to sit at one of the booths alone.

She headed over to greet her customer, who had pulled a menu from the holder. “Can I get you something to drink?”

He ordered a beer, and she hurried off to get it. It wasn’t uncommon that a good-looking man came into the restaurant, but this was the first time since her relationship status had changed.

She let out a sigh, remembering she was now single. At some point, she would have to go through the effort of dating again. Had she been with Lance longer than she should have because she hated dating? Surely, she should be more upset over the breakup than she was. Even with the other incident from the night before—which she was not thinking about.

The man ran a hand through his dark hair and smiled as she walked to his table. “Are you waiting for someone, or were you ready to order?”

“I’m alone. Unless you’d like to join me.” His blue eyes crinkled when he grinned, and two dimples appeared.

She might have said yes, but she’d already taken a break.

Who was she kidding? She wouldn’t have said yes.

“Sorry.” She indicated the black apron around her waist. “This doesn’t come off for another two hours.”

He nodded and considered the laminated menu. “I hear the cheesesteaks are good. That true?”

“Everything is good here.” She smiled flirtatiously. Not something she would normally do…but the guy was hot. Really hot.

Damn. She was so out of practice.

After dropping off his order with Anthony, she cleared the table her last customer had vacated, and gathered up the ketchup bottles onto a tray. Usually she took care of the refills at the table by the kitchen, but tonight she decided to sit at the table across from Mr. Blue-Eyes.

“I heard there was a lot of action here last night,” the man said.

She swallowed and wished she’d sat in the back, after all. “Yes.”

“Were you working?” he asked as he played with a stack of sugar packets.

Was he a reporter? Anthony had said there’d been a number of them visiting today. This man didn’t look like a reporter. Not with his leather coat and gray T-shirt. Rather than deal with having to recount the story, she shook her head.

Anthony shouted, “Order up,” and she went to get it, happy for the distraction.

She set the man’s food in front of him, then had to answer the phone for a takeout order. When things were settled, she came back to sit at the table across from his to finish the ketchup. She’d filled two bottles when he spoke.

“Are we allowed to talk, at least?” he asked before taking a big bite of his sandwich.

“Sure.” She shrugged like she chatted up hot guys every day. “Are you from around here?”

“No.”

She hid her irrational disappointment. The guy was way out of her league, anyway. What did it matter if he didn’t live here? He would eat his meal and go back to wherever he came from, and she would go home to Nikki and a bottle of tequila.

“Are you from here originally?” he asked.

“No.” She didn’t elaborate since he hadn’t. They weren’t on a date. They were just keeping each other company.

“My name’s Garrett.”

“Sam. Samantha.” She changed it up, thinking her real name sounded sexier…or at least more mature.

“Sam Samantha?” His grin was adorable.

She missed the bottle she was pouring ketchup into and it ran down her hand. She gave up on sexy, as she wiped off the mess. “No. Just Sam.”

“Well, Just Sam, what do you do when you’re not working at the place with the best cheesesteaks in the world?” He took another bite.

There wasn’t much to say. Her day job was rather dull, but since she’d paid a lot of money for her degree, she’d felt the need to use it. Still, it sounded rather boring.

“I’m an artist,” she said. It wasn’t exactly a lie. She’d wanted to be an artist, and she still messed around with her sketchbook.

He sipped his beer and studied her. “Really?”

She didn’t appreciate the doubtful tone in his voice, so she embellished a little. “Yes. I have a piece at the Hirshhorn Museum.”

Okay, maybe she’d embellished a lot. But it worked. That smirk fell right off his face.

He nodded his approval. “Wow. Your parents must be really proud.”

She focused on the ketchup. She didn’t want to tell him her sad story. Besides, she’d already veered off course with the truth. She would never see him again, so why not use the opportunity to reinvent herself a little? Didn’t she deserve a break from reality after last night?