Free Captivated by Megan Hart, Sarah Morgan, Tiffany Reisz Page A

too.
    “Hope it’s okay,” he said as they slid into one of the cracked red vinyl booths toward the back.
    Before Colleen had a chance to answer, the tiny woman with a towering dome of teased crimson hair came to give him a hug and a kiss. Without asking, she poured them both mugs of steaming coffee. “Hey, hon. Good to see ya. Where’s the little one?”
    “Laila is with her mom today. This is Colleen. Colleen, this is Nancy.” Jesse grinned as Colleen made the connection.
    “Nancy’s Hot Spot Nancy?” She looked around. “This is your place?”
    “Been for ’bout forty years or so. Yep.” Nancy poked Jesse’s arm. “The usual, hon?”
    “Steak and eggs. Sunny-side up. Hash browns. And a biscuit.”
    Colleen oohed. “I’ll take the same. And coffee, obviously.”
    “Sounds like a match made in heaven.” Nancy winked and headed off to put their orders in.
    “This place is great.” Colleen added cream and sugar to her cup and sipped. “Coffee’s good, too.”
    “I love this place. I started working here in high school. Nancy made sure I did my homework during the slow times and that I also picked up enough hours to help make ends meet when Laila was just born. I owe her a lot. She keeps trying to talk me into buying the restaurant, but I haven’t been able to get together the cash to make her an offer I wouldn’t be ashamed of.” Jesse pushed another sugar packet toward her, noticing she’d only used two.
    Colleen paused before picking it up, but then tore the paper and dumped the sugar into her coffee. “You want to own a diner?”
    “Yeah.” He looked around, then back at her. “Yeah, I think so. I’ve thought about a bar, but...yeah, I’d like to own a diner.”
    She smiled. “I’d never have guessed it about you.”
    “Now you know.”
    They stared at each other across the table without saying anything. They didn’t have to. It was easy being with her.
    They stayed at that diner for another two hours, covering all sorts of topics. They challenged each other to the tic-tac-toe games printed on the front of the place mats, each of them winning one game and Colleen taking the third. She’d polished off her entire plate of food, matching him bite for bite, which was impressive and a little intimidating, since she was only half his size.
    “This is one of the best dates I have ever had,” he told her sincerely when they were back in the car heading for her place so he could drop her off. Night had fallen, and the air promised more snow, even if the weather report wasn’t calling for any.
    Colleen twisted in her seat to look at him. “This was a date?”
    “Well...yeah.” He pulled into the spot he’d cleared for her, glad the plows had come through to open up the rest of the street, and turned off the ignition. He twisted toward her. “You didn’t think so?”
    She bit her lower lip for a second. “I wasn’t sure.”
    “I could’ve made it fancier, huh?” He gave her a hangdog look that fortunately made her laugh, which was what he was going for.
    “No. This was great. I had a great time. It’s also one of the best dates I’ve ever had,” she told him. She paused, then said, “It’s been a long time since I went on a date. I guess I wasn’t thinking of it that way. Because...well...”
    Because they’d slept together already? Or because he was a bartender who couldn’t afford an apartment that allowed dogs? Or because he’d taken her to a diner instead of a fancy Brazilian steak place? Jesse didn’t want to ask.
    “Come inside with me,” Colleen said suddenly, and then it no longer mattered what she’d meant.
    * * *
    Jesse was in her living room. Again. After a date, no less. Of course it had been a date. Why else would he have taken her to the shelter, then to eat? Colleen thought. It wasn’t like they were...friends.
    She already knew how he tasted and smelled and the sound of his voice when he cried out during an orgasm. Now she knew so much more about him,