Harleigh gave me a knowing look. “Yeah, I do. And it’s creepy. Especially for Ashton. It was different when it was Grant coming into the diner. He was always like that. He liked to shove his relationship in my face and try to make me miserable.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I remember how he did that all the time. But that’s not how it is with Ashton. He comes in by himself and just sits there watching me.”
“I mean, how could any guy not just want to come in and stare at your beauty?” Desiree asked with a smile.
I managed a chuckle. The girls were doing everything they could to make light of the situation so I wouldn’t be so preoccupied with it. Both of them were very familiar with what it was like to be unnerved by their past and have it deeply affect their lives. They didn’t want that for me.
It was a moment when I was so grateful to have friends like them.
I detoured the conversation away from my ex, and we were back to giggling and light-hearted gossip when the door opened, and Brett and Aiden came in. Carter walked in behind them with two other men. I let my eyes linger on Carter for just a few seconds before forcing myself to turn my attention over to the other men. I didn’t want anybody else to notice how much he drew me in just by coming into the room.
“Hey, ladies,” he said, and I had to take a sip of my tea to cover up the way he made me flush. “How are you doing?”
“Good,” Desiree and Harleigh answered almost in unison.
I thought I said something, but it was entirely possible I didn’t.
“That’s good to hear. I wanted to introduce you to a couple of my buddies. This is Deacon, and this is Everett,” he said.
“That’s right,” Harleigh said. “You’re the ones starting up the logging company with Carter.”
Desiree looked at her in surprise, then over at Carter. “You are already starting up your company? Like now? I remember when it was just in the planning process.”
“Well, that was over a year ago,” Carter said.
“Wow,” Desiree said. “Time really flies. I bet you’re excited that all that work is finally coming to fruition.”
The three men all nodded, grinning at each other.
“We definitely are,” Carter said. “But we need some help. We’re desperately looking for at least someone to run the office. There’s no way any of us will be able to do it with as much work that needs to be done.”
Harleigh looked over at me, then pointed with her thumb as she turned back to Carter. “Lauren is looking for a new job.”
I shot her a look. My best friend had been trying her best to hook Carter and me up for a while now. Despite my massive crash, I’d been trying to ignore her efforts. Putting a lot of focus into getting into a relationship just didn’t seem like the best choice for me right then.
Harleigh noticed the look I gave her, but it clearly it didn’t communicate to her that I wanted her to drop it because she gave a shrug.
“What? Come on. You were just telling me the other day about how much you need a new job, and they need to hire someone. It’s a win-win situation,” she said.
“I don’t need a new job,” I said. “I was just saying that the shine of working at the diner has dulled a bit, and I don’t really love it like I used to.”
I was downplaying that conversation a bit. What I actually told her was that there were moments at the diner when I just wanted to start throwing French fries at people and tap-dance on the tables before quitting. But that was at the end of a particularly stressful weekend, and I might have been just a little on edge at the time.
“Well,” Harleigh said, “with your ex showing up all the time, it probably wouldn’t hurt for you to get out of there.”
“Your ex is stalking you?”
Carter’s voice was the only thing that pulled my glare away from Harleigh, who was doing her very best to pretend she didn’t notice. I looked over at him.
“I wouldn’t say stalking. He just comes by the diner and happens to sit in my section every time,” I said, trying to sound as casual and dismissive as possible.
“Even when you can’t seat yourself?” Carter asked.
“Oh, he only comes when it’s seat yourself.”
“So, every day for lunch?” he asked. I nodded a little, realizing how that sounded. He mirrored my nod. “Do you want me to come by and handle it for you?”
“We can all come,” Deacon offered. “All three of us can show up when he’s there, and maybe that will convince him to stop.”
“I doubt that. But I’m not worried about it, really. Thank you, though,” I said.