A Chance at Love (A Ferry Creek Novel): (a billionaire romance novel) (20 page)

She was simply beautiful.

He walked and purposely let his
hand bump into a chair to make enough noise to garner Jess
’
s attention. She looked back and
her eyes widened.

Talk about blue eyes.

And her smile...

“
Hey,
”
she said.

“
Hey,
”
Sullivan said.
“
Taking a break?
”

“
Yeah,
”
Jess said.
“
Sorry I didn
’
t get a chance to really say
hello today. Kind of busy, thanks to you.
”

Sullivan smiled.
“
I
’
m
not used to drawing a crowd. Most of the time people aren
’
t too excited to deal with me.
”

“
Are
you a mean boss?
”
Jess
asked.

“
No.
Just a firm negotiator. I always get what I want.
”

“
That
’
s a little confident.
”

“
It
’
s not confidence when it
’
s truth.
”

Sullivan felt like a moron. This
wasn
’
t some woman looking
for a man to spot her some money or a lifestyle. Why the hell was he talking
like this?

“
Sounds
exciting,
”
Jess said.
“
You
’
re probably bored in Ferry Creek.
”

“
Not
at all,
”
Sullivan said.
“
I
’
m
amazed by it. How boring could it be if you
’
re
here?
”

Jess laughed.
“
You have no idea. Sometimes it
just grabs a hold of and won
’
t
let go.
”

“
Well,
what
’
s holding you here?
”

“
Truthfully?
This place.
”

“
The
diner?
”

Jess nodded.
“
Yeah.
”

“
Can
I ask why?
”

“
You
can,
”
Jess said.
“
Doesn
’
t mean I
’
ll
answer.
”

Jess pushed from the pillar and her
blue eyes were big and wide again. She smiled and it felt like someone clawed
at Sullivan
’
s heart. This
was a woman who would get him into trouble. Not with the law, not with Tyler.
But the kind that can break a man
’
s
heart.

“
I
have to get back to work,
”
Jess said.

“
Yeah,
me too,
”
Sullivan said.
“
I have business in Virginia to
tend to. Glad I can do it from here.
”

“
I
’
ll see you inside then?
”

“
Sure,
”
Sullivan said. Then, desperate
to keep talking to Jess, he asked,
“
Hey
Jess? What are you doing when this place closes?
”

“
I,
uh, I...
”

“
Why
don
’
t you stay for a few
minutes and we
’
ll get
something to eat. If you don
’
t
mind. I
’
d like to ask some
questions and I don
’
t want
to bother Bobby.
”

Jess looked cornered.
“
Yeah. Sure. Okay.
”

It wasn
’
t the enthusiastic response Sullivan maybe wanted
but he would take anything he could get right then. Jess walked away and
Sullivan laughed to himself as he took to the steps to the apartment.

Had he really just asked Jess out?
Better yet, was he going to really have lunch with her in a diner?

Parker had everything under control
in Virginia. The deal with the town was going through smoothly and Charles,
surprisingly, was complying with everything Sullivan wanted and Parker
suggested. Parker had sent over a few new listings on some old properties and
Sullivan took two of them right away. They would be quick and easy flips.
Towards the end of their video conference via laptop, Sullivan blurted out,
“
Look around here.
”

“
What
for?
”

“
Just
look for property,
”
Sullivan said.
“
Give me
Ferry Creek and a ten mile surrounding area. No. Make it twenty. Twenty miles.
”

“
Are
you kidding me?
”

“
No.
Just for the hell of it.
”

“
You
never do
just for the hell of it
, Sullivan. What
’
s going on down there?
”

Sullivan could hide anything from
anyone. He looked at the laptop screen and knew the look would be much more
powerful if he were in person with Parker.

“
Just
do what I said to do,
”
Sullivan said.
“
Okay?
”

“
You
got it, boss,
”
Parker said.
“
Twenty mile radius of
Ferry Creek. Didn
’
t know we
were expanding our purchase power here.
”

“
That
’
s because it
’
s not a
we
company,
Parker. It
’
s
my
company.
”

“
Noted,
”
Parker said.
“
On a side note, is everything
going okay down there? Personally? It
’
s
been a week now
…”

“
As
good as it gets right now,
”
Sullivan said.

That ended the business meeting.
Sullivan closed the laptop and tapped his fingers on it. He shook his head,
feeling foolish. With Jess in the back of his mind, he had asked Parker about
properties in and around Ferry Creek. Of course there would be properties.
There were properties across the country.

Sullivan heard an argument ensuing
out back. The first thing that popped into his head was Jess... and Darryl.

Then he heard Jess
’
s voice.

“
Don
’
t be an idiot. Get out of here
right now. Before you get into more trouble.
”

Sullivan took the steps two a time.
He jumped from the fourth step and turned, ready to do whatever needed to be
done.

“
Just
give me a minute,
”
a voice
said.

Sullivan knew the voice.

“
What
’
s going on?
”
Sullivan asked.

Richie turned and Sullivan saw the
blood.

“
Oh,
damn,
”
he whispered.

“
Damn
is right,
”
Richie said.
“
I
’
ve
got orders in there piling up.
”

“
Okay,
calm down,
”
Sullivan said.

“
Don
’
t tell me to calm down.
”

Sullivan stiffened and put a hand
out. He looked at Jess who stood behind Richie. She shook her head quick.

“
It
’
s okay,
”
Sullivan said.
“
What
happened.
”

“
He
cut his finger,
”
Jess said.

“
Just
a cut,
”
Richie said.

“
It
’
s not just a cut,
”
another voice said. It was
Bobby coming from the back with a towel in his hand.
“
Let me see it.
”

Richie put his hand on the table.
Bobby took the bloody paper towel from Richie
’
s
finger and it was obvious that Richie would need at least a stitch or two in
his pointer finger.

“
You
have to get to the hospital,
”
Jess said.

“
Like
hell,
”
Richie said.

“
I
already called Tyler,
”
Bobby said.
“
He
’
s coming to get you. You have to
listen to him. He
’
s police.
”

“
It
’
s a freaking cut, Bobby,
”
Richie said.

“
You
’
re not going to bleed into food,
Richie,
”
Bobby said.

“
What
are you going to do? Close the diner?
”

“
I
’
ll cook,
”
Sullivan said. All eyes turned to Sullivan.
“
I
’
ll
do it. Right now.
”

Richie scoffed and shook his head.

“
Sullivan,
”
Bobby said.
“
This isn
’
t cooking a burger...
”

“
Is
that a no?
”
Sullivan asked.

Bobby looked at Jess. Jess shrugged
her shoulders.

“
What
else are you going to do?
”
Sullivan asked.
“
Aren
’
t I supposed to be part of this
diner, too?
”

Sullivan didn
’
t necessarily mean for the
comment to come out as it did, but it worked.

“
Okay,
”
Bobby said.
“
Get to work then. Jess, get back
in there. I
’
ll stand with
Richie until Tyler comes.
”

Sullivan walked into the kitchen
and grabbed an apron. He put it on and tied it. He caught Jess staring at him.
He looked at her and smiled.

“
Everything
okay?
”
he asked.

“
I
can
’
t believe this is
happening,
”
Jess said.

Sullivan knew he had his chance now
to make an impression on Jess.
“
Just
keep the orders coming.
”

Jess left the kitchen and Sullivan
went to work.

He was able to quickly
differentiate between Peggie
’
s
scribbling handwriting and Jess
’
s
bigger, more bubbly handwriting. He couldn
’
t
believe he was actually happy each time he saw Jess
’
s handwriting. Whatever the hell was going on with
his feelings for Jess he needed to get squared away soon. Hopefully once they
had lunch. Because it all felt absurd.

Sullivan navigated the kitchen by
the seat of his pants. He was able to find everything was ease thanks to Richie
and what appeared to be an obvious obsession with cleanliness and organization.
Whatever Bobby was paying Richie it wasn
’
t
enough at all. The man had everything perfectly in place. Sullivan would kill
to have someone like Richie in his company. Even if he was a little off.
Sullivan thought about how Richie had snapped at him and knew it was due there
were demons deep within the man.

The orders came and Sullivan
cooked.

Bobby came back after sending
Richie to the hospital.

“
Everything
okay?
”
Bobby asked.

“
Perfect,
”
Sullivan said. He wiped his
forehead and smiled.
“
Just
perfect.
”

“
Of
all the things I never thought I
’
d
see,
”
Bobby said.
“
First, I have a brother. Second,
he
’
s rich as anything. And
third, he comes to the diner and cooks.
”

“
Don
’
t forget it,
”
Sullivan said. He pointed a
spatula at Bobby and laughed.

Two more orders were put up and
Jess stood at the window, smiling.

“
This
is it,
”
Jess said.

“
Excellent,
”
Sullivan said.
“
Oh, before I forget, what do you
want to eat?
”

“
What
do I...
”

“
Our
lunch,
”
Sullivan said.

“
Oh,
yeah, how about a turkey club?
”

“
You
tell me,
”
Sullivan said.
“
What are you hungry for?
”

Jess blushed and then stepped away
from the window. Sullivan leaned forward to watch her walk away. He completely
forgot about Bobby standing next to him.

He let out a breath and then looked
to his right.

Bobby had an eyebrow raised.

“
Do
you want anything to eat?
”
Sullivan asked.

“
No,
thanks. But I would like to know why your eyes are following one of my
waitresses around.
”

“
Just
getting to know the town,
”
Sullivan said.