Rachel arrived at the table a second later to take his drink order. “I’ll have what my mother’s having,” he told her.
“Oh.” Rachel glanced behind her and then back at him. “She hasn’t ordered anything yet.”
“Then I’ll have iced tea.” Damn. What in the hell was she up to? He’d suspected she hadn’t ordered yet, and Rachel had confirmed it.
Braydon looked up to see Rachel walking away, and that was when he saw her.
Jessie.
Rachel stopped, offered Jessie a friendly smile, and then pointed toward his table.
Yep. This was a setup.
And for the first time in his entire life, he was grateful that his mother insisted on being a matchmaker.
Even if she wasn’t at all subtle about it.
JESSIE OFFERED A sincere thank-you to Rachel after the waitress motioned her toward a table in the back. It was the only thing she could do as she stood frozen in place, staring in the direction Rachel had pointed her. Her brain was too busy trying to process what she was seeing to say anything else. There was Braydon, sitting at the table that Lorrie had supposedly been seated at a few moments ago.
Okay, so maybe she shouldn’t have been quite so stunned. Her first clue that something was off should’ve been when she had passed Lorrie on her way into the restaurant. Lorrie had been rushing for the exit, holding her cell phone to her ear, and with a brief interruption to her call, she’d told Jessie that she would meet her at the table but she needed to take the call. It should’ve also clued her in when Lorrie didn’t bother putting the phone back to her ear, instead dropping it into her purse as she darted toward the front of the restaurant.
For whatever reason, Jessie hadn’t thought anything of it.
In fact, she hadn’t thought that it was strange that Lorrie had called her that morning and asked to meet her for lunch. The older woman had informed her that she’d missed her during last night’s dinner and wanted to catch up. Seemed legit.
Since that was normal Lorrie behavior, Jessie had agreed to meet her.
And here she was, standing just a few feet away from Braydon.
“I see she hooked you, too,” he told her gruffly when she finally got her feet moving and approached the table.
“A setup?” she asked curiously.
“It would seem so.”
Jessie glanced over her shoulder and then back at Braydon. “She’s good.”
Braydon gestured for her to sit as he smiled. “And she’s gone.”
“Gone? She left?”
“I’m pretty sure that was her plan,” he answered.
Well, crap.
Jessie lowered herself into the booth across from Braydon, placing her cell phone and her keys down in front of her. She was nervous and she had no idea why. As soon as she saw him sitting there, her insides had started breakdancing, and they didn’t seem to be letting up.
Luckily, Rachel chose that moment to come back to the table, placing two glasses of tea in front of them. “What can I get y’all to eat?” she asked, flipping through her notepad briefly before looking up at . . . Braydon.
Jessie wanted to smack the woman. The way she eyed Braydon—as though she were slowly stripping him out of his clothes one piece at a time—made her want to jump in front of him so the waitress couldn’t eye-fuck him when she was done mentally undressing him.
“Just bring me a burger and fries,” Braydon told her, and Jessie peered over at him to see that he was staring at her. Which meant he’d probably just seen the eye daggers she’d shot at the unsuspecting waitress.
Great.
“I’ll have the same,” she answered, not bothering to look up at Rachel.
Rachel had just hurried off when Jessie’s phone vibrated on the table. She heard a familiar chirp at the exact same moment, and Braydon reached for his own phone on his belt.
Jessie retrieved her phone, then swiped her finger over the screen. A text.
She began to read silently as Braydon read out loud from his own phone:
So sorry. Something came up that I have to take care of. Lunch is on me though so enjoy.
Braydon chuckled and then put his phone back on his belt. “It was bound to happen sooner or later,” he said.
“What?”
“My mother interfering. I wouldn’t be surprised if Brendon shows up in the next few minutes.”
Jessie’s body went rigid. It was bad enough that she was face-to-face with Braydon and had no way to get out of it, but if Brendon showed up, she knew she’d be in a world of hurt. “Let’s hope not.”
“That’ll teach you not to come to Sunday dinner,” he teased, his words reflecting the humor but his eyes not nearly as amused.