Free LUKE by Linda Cooper Page A

booth. “And he hates leaving her outside alone. If she makes you uncomfortable, I can ask him to put her back outside ...”
    “No!” Ashley spoke up. “It’s alright. I think she’s adorable.”
    The waiter smiled. “I’m sure Jacob will appreciate that.” He left us with our menus after asking us what we’d like to drink.
    “He’s cute,” Ashley commented the second he was out of earshot. I glanced at him, my head tilting to the left as my eyes locked on his rear.
    “Yea.” I swallowed dryly as I forced myself to look away and turned my attention to the menu.
    “But you can have him; I like the other one better,” Ashley said, letting out a deep sigh as she turned to the menu in her hands.
    I glanced at him. He was kneeling on the ground, his dog in front of him. Light brown hair that fell to his shoulders, a muscle shirt and black jeans. He had tattoos covering his arms. His green eyes locked on our table. No, on Ashley.
    “He’s checking you out,” I muttered into the menu.
    “Is he really?” She sounded so excited but kept her eyes fixated on her menu.
    “I’m pretty sure of it.” I stole another glance at him. Yup, he was still looking at her. He pushed himself to his feet, said something to the waiter and then headed for the door.
    The waiter turned his attention to us; two glasses of water in his hands, he came over to take our order. His eyes locked on mine as he pulled a notepad out of his pocket. For a fraction of a second, I caught a glimpse of a tattoo on his wrist, as well as several scars.
    “I’ll um, take the double cheeseburger, please.” Those gorgeous blue eyes. They made me want to fucking melt right then and there. He nodded and turned to Ashley.
    “I’ll have the same.” She grinned. We both watched as he walked away before she leaned towards me. “Do you think if I ordered his friend he would call him back here?”
    I laughed. “You never know. You could try.”
    “I might just do that.” Her eyes gleamed.
 
    ***
 
    I waited until Ashley was out of my sight before turning around and heading back to the diner. With Ashley’s birthday a day away, I couldn’t think of a better present for her then the hunk she’d been ogling.
    The waiter looked up as I entered the diner.
    “Is everything alright?”
    “Yes … um, this is awkward but …” I could feel my cheeks already burning with embarrassment. “I was wondering if your friend is single.”
    Oh God, I couldn’t believe I’d just said that out loud.
    “Oh um ...” did he sound disappointed? “Yes.”
    “Great!” I was sure I saw disappointment flash across his face. “It’s not for me,” I explained quickly. For some reason, I felt the need to make that clear.
    “It’s for your friend?” He raised an eyebrow.
    “Yes … um,” I could feel my cheeks burn hotter. “Oh, this is embarrassing, but it’s her birthday tomorrow and as far as she knows no one is doing anything for it, but … well, I was going to take her out to dinner as a surprise.” I paused, trying to figure out where I was going with this. He raised an eyebrow. “Your friend seemed interested in her and she was … quite interested in him, I guess I just couldn’t resist trying to play matchmaker.” I looked down at the ground, scared to see the reaction on his face.
    He was quiet for what felt like ages though it was probably only a couple seconds.
    “I’ll give him a call.” I stole a glance up at him. He was looking at his watch. “He’ll be working right now, so it will have to be tonight. Maybe I can call you later, once I have an answer?”
    “Yes!” My heart skipped a beat at the thought of him calling me. “That would be perfect, thank you so much.”
    His eyes fixed on mine. I felt a surge of heat.
    “Anytime, I’ll just need your number.”
    “Of course.” I scrambled to find a piece of paper in my purse. The entire time I could feel his eyes on me, and I was pretty sure I loved it.
 
    ***
 
    “You