Sitting at her desk, Jess speed dialed her assistant. Bets worked on the floor right beneath this one. Normally Jess would have an assistant right outside her office, but Betsy was full-human, so she didn’t come to this floor without a special request. Jess knew the woman found it weird, but she got paid so much she overlooked it.

“Hey, Jess.”

“Hey, Bets. Anything I need to know about?”

“I’ve e-mailed you a list of client callbacks you should make.”

“Can you handle any of them?”

A long pause followed her statement. So long, Jess thought she’d lost her. “Bets?”

“I’m here.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I can handle most of the calls... if you want me to.”

“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want you to.”

“It’s not a problem, but usually you handle, well, pretty much everything.”

“I’m tired today. Too tired for bullshit.” It’s not like she got much sleep the night before. “So anything you can handle—”

“Not a problem,” Bets rushed in. Suddenly Jess wondered if she’d been holding the poor woman back. And if she had, why did Bets stay?

“I’ll send you an updated callback list for people who really need to hear from you and not your lackey.”

“You’re not my lackey, Bets.”

She chuckled. “Let’s see. You also got a call from Kenshin Inu.”

Jess immediately perked up. “Oh, Kenshin! How is he?”

“Sounds fine. He’ll be in town in the next couple of weeks and he says he’ll want to get together. I e-mailed you his new cell phone number.”

“I see it. Thanks.”

“And a Bobby Ray Smith called.”

“He did?” Jess frowned. She told him to text her. Why would he call? And why was she so damn happy he did?

“Did he say what he wanted?”

“He wants to meet for lunch.”

“Call him back and tell him—”

“And he said if you start, and I’m quoting here, ‘Fussin’ about it,’ to tell you that his daddy called.”

“His father called him?” That couldn’t be good. To be honest, Jess thought the man such a Neanderthal that he didn’t possess the necessary skill set to use a phone, much less dial out of the Tennessee region.

“I don’t really know if his father called him. I’m just repeating what he said. But I did enjoy his use of ‘fussing’ in a sentence.”

Jess went to look at her watch, and that’s when she realized she didn’t have it on. Christ, where did she leave it last?

“Jess?”

Panic flooded her system as she grabbed her backpack, tearing through it.

“Jess?”

“Give me a second, Bets.”

“He also said to tell you if you’re wondering where your watch is... he has it.”

She closed her eyes, horrified at how relieved she felt. No one should be that attached to an inanimate object. “Oh.”

“I won’t ask what that means. I’m sure it’s none of my business.”

“You’re right. When’s my next meeting today?”

“Not until three, so you’ll have some time. He’s waiting at the diner around the corner.”

“Okay. Is the meeting a call-in or face-to-face?”

“Call-in for the rest of the day. So you’re okay to change.”

“Thank God!” Jess kicked off the damn pumps again. “Thanks, Bets.”

“No problem. I’ll get back to you after I’ve spoken to the clients.”

“Good.”

Jess went to the small closet she had built into the wall and pulled out something much more comfortable to wear. Especially since she was only going to see Smitty. It’s not like she wanted to impress him or anything.

Chapter 14

Smitty looked up from the newspaper in front of him and blinked. How could anyone look so ridiculous and cute at the same time?

His eyes narrowed. It had to be that stupid parka. It was too big for her, covering her from head to knees. She had to be able to afford something better than that. But clothes had never been Jessie’s thing. Still, no matter what she wore and if she’d let him, he’d bend her over this table and fuck the living—

“Hi,” she said when she stood at his table.

He cleared his throat, unable to stand up at the moment. Hopefully she didn’t need that level of politeness his mother had taught him. “Hey, darlin’. Thanks for coming.”

“No problem. I needed a break from the office anyway. And I want my watch back.” He wondered how intense her panic had gotten when she realized she wasn’t wearing it. A six or seven on the Richter scale?

She unzipped the parka and pulled it off, hanging it from the coat stand against the back wall. She slid into the booth and immediately his waitress showed up.

“Heya, Jess.”

“Hi, Trish.”

“The usual, sweetie?”

“Yeah, that’ll be fine.”

The older woman laughed. A wheezing sound that suggested Trish had been a smoker since she turned twelve. “You are such a creature of habit.” She turned to Smitty. “What about you, handsome?”

“Whatever she’s having... just double it.”

Jess snorted. “Triple it, Trish. Thanks.” She smirked at Smitty. “Double it, my ass. You’d be eating again in an hour.”