Meant to Be by Terri Osburn Read Free Book Online Page B

you ask me. She’d be worth the money to get her on permanent.”
    Sid and Joe both stood frozen, watching the tiny brunette work her way around the tables. If Joe didn’t know better, he’d swear she’d been waitressing all her life.
    “Where’s Annie?” Joe asked, keeping his eyes on Beth. He didn’t know where she got those cutoff jean shorts, but no doubt she’d set a record for tips by the end of the night.
    “Her boy’s down with an ear infection.” Tom slid two more beer mugs and a margarita down the bar, where Beth arrived to pick them up.
    “Three Bud Lights in the bottle on the tab for table twelve, and two iced teas for the elderly ladies in the corner. I also need to cash out table nine. I’ll pick up the check after I deliver these.”
    Without so much as a glance in Joe’s direction, Beth sailed through the tables once again, drawing every pair of male eyes in the room.
    “That’s Elizabeth? That’s Lucas’s fiancée?” Sid asked. “I thought she was a lawyer?”
    “She is,” Tom said over the ringing of the register. “Turns out she worked her way through college waiting tables.”
    Sid punched Joe in the arm.
    “What was that for?” he asked, rubbing his shoulder.
    “For making her sound like some plain Jane this morning. Now I see what you weren’t telling me.”
    “You’re crazy. I barely said anything about her this morning.” And if Sid hit him again he was going to strangle her with his apron strings.
    “And now I know why.” Sid turned back to Tom. “Bud Light when you get a chance. I’ll be in the pool room.”
    “Alvie Franklin is back there, and I don’t want you hustling him at pool again,” Tom said. “He’s too drunk to know what you’re doing, and if he breaks another cue, you’re paying for it.”
    Sid raised her hands in innocence as she walked backward toward the sound of clashing pool balls. Fat chance she’d follow his dad’s orders. A clearing tub in hand, Joe headed onto the floor. He’d cleared three tables before crossing paths with Beth.
    “Oh,” she exclaimed when they nearly collided. “I didn’t know you were here.”
    Joe ignored the weight of the full tub. “I didn’t know you could wait tables. You look like a natural.”
    Beth’s head tilted to one side. “Are you paying me a compliment or setting me up for some smart-aleck remark?”
    So much for trying to be nice. “Forget I said anything. Damn.” He tried to go around her, but she stopped him with a hand on his arm. The burn was instant, and she pulled back as if she’d felt it, too.
    “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.”
    Joe shrugged, pretending being so close didn’t affect him. “Where’s Dozer?”
    “In your backyard. Patty told me where to find the food by the back door, so I filled his bowl and made sure he had water before I left.” She bit her bottom lip. “I hope that’s okay.”
    “That’s fine. Thanks for keeping an eye on him.” Someone a few tables away called out, “Miss?” and Joe said, “We’d better get back to work.”
    “Sure,” she said, staring at him through big green eyes. “Back to work.”

    Beth tried to shake off her brush with Joe before reaching the bar. A long-lost memory came to mind. Five naive girls sitting around a college dorm talking about what they called the “spark factor.” The romantic notion that when the right guy came along, there should be fireworks and blinking neon signs.
    In the brief second their bodies had touched, there were fireworks galore, and not of the minor sparkler variety. She got
zip
along with some
zing
and a
kapow
. Alarm bells echoed in her brain. Touching Lucas had never sent a light show dancing through her bloodstream. No bottle rockets. No Roman candles. Not even a hint of firepower.
    She squashed her disloyal thoughts, focusing on her fiancé’s positive traits. Lucas made her smile. He was sweet and generous and took care of her. She never had to worry or solve a problem