Free My Song for You: A Pushing Limits Novel by Stina Lindenblatt Page B

have to get back to work.” Where his girlfriend was waiting for him.
    I opened the door and entered the building. He didn’t say anything, but I could sense him following me. I ducked into the staff room and quickly changed into a dry uniform. Since I couldn’t delay it any longer, I returned to the table where Jared’s latest girlfriend and her friends were, and picked up their empty dessert plates.
    He wasn’t there. His girlfriend jumped out of her seat and stepped around me. I turned around and before I could blink, her arms were around Jared’s neck, her body pressed against his damp clothing.
    “Where did you go?” she asked. “You didn’t even stop to say hi.”
    He didn’t?
    He opened his mouth to respond but didn’t get that far. Her mouth slammed into his. It was like watching a horror movie when you knew something bad was going to happen but you couldn’t look away. All you could do was watch the carnage. Except in this case, the only one to die an excruciating death was me.
    Jared grabbed hold of her arms, but instead of pulling her closer, he pushed her away. Not hard, but with enough force to separate them, and that included their mouths.
    “I missed you,” she said, loud enough for everyone at the table to hear. She smiled, but it was tentative at best.

Chapter 10
Callie
    I bolted to the kitchen, unable to escape fast enough. And yes, I might have stayed in there slightly longer than necessary.
    When I finally emerged with the desserts I’d been pretending to wait for, Jared was gone. The girls left soon after.
    “Callie,” Alice said, “Josephine called in sick. Beckie’s covering her shift tonight until the rush is over, but she can’t help me tomorrow. I need you to pull a double shift.”
    I itched to tell her no, that my child came first, but I couldn’t. I needed this job and I owed her. It was the least I could do after I had taken so much time off when Logan was hospitalized with meningitis. And let’s not forget the multitude of medical, physical therapy, and audiology appointments, plus the numerous school meetings that I had missed work for during the past two years.
    “Okay.” I hoped Sharon could look after Logan; if not, I was screwed.
    Beckie waved goodbye to me, a secretive smile on her face. “Have a good night.”
    “You too.” I hurried out of the diner and came to a sudden stop. Jared was standing on the wet sidewalk, watching the door. I glanced back in time to catch Beckie grinning. “What are you doing here?” I asked him. The sidewalk was empty of his girlfriend and her friends.
    He nodded at the diner. “One of the waitresses told me when you get off. I thought I’d walk you home.”
    “That’s not necessary. This is a safe neighborhood and it’s daylight. Nothing’s gonna happen to me. Besides, wouldn’t you rather be with your girlfriend?”
    “What girlfriend?”
    “The one who was kissing you.”
    “She’s not my girlfriend.”
    “Really? Because apparently she’s very intimate with your tongue and all the great things it did to her girlie parts.”
    He slowly shook his head. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
    I choked back a laugh. Did I seriously need to spell it out? “You went down on her.”
    He frowned. “She told you that?”
    “Well, not me directly. I was lucky enough to be serving drinks to the table when she bragged to her friends about your gifted tongue. Trust me, it wasn’t something I wanted to hear.” I began walking down the busy street. The rain had taken a break at some point while I’d been working. Too bad. Maybe it could’ve washed from my brain the image of him going down on her.
    Jared caught up with me. “I never went down on her or had sex with her.”
    “Are you sure about that?” I shrugged, doing my best to make him think I didn’t care one way or another. “Maybe you just forgot her.”
    “No, I haven’t forgotten her. Whatever she told her friends was a lie. Nothing like that