Read Lone Star Burn: Taken by Surprise (Kindle Worlds Novella) for Free Online

when the door to the diner opened. She glanced up and nearly dropped the pot. She blinked, thinking for a moment she was hallucinating, but when she looked again…. Nope, what she saw was real.
    “Don’t drop that coffee, honey,” Rona murmured as she passed her. “But I know what you mean. We all think he’s a hunk.”
    For a moment, as she stared at Jack Ward, Jessie forgot to breathe. If he’d looked good in his sport coat and slacks as a Houston detective, he was mouthwatering in his sheriff’s khakis and— Wait! Were those boots he was wearing? What was he doing here in Fort Mavis? Dressed as deputy?
    And wait! Who was that woman with him, looking like she was glued to his arm? He certainly hadn’t let any grass grow under his feet after their breakup. He couldn’t see her since she was still behind the door into the kitchen, but she could watch him through the little window. She knew she should make herself go out there, but her feet seemed stuck to the floor.
    How could she face him, after the way she’d walked away from him? He’d been so hurt, and angry. She’d made the biggest mistake of her life. Too bad she hadn’t realized it before.
    “Jessie, are you okay?” Alton had come up behind her, and there was concern in his voice. “Is something wrong?”
    “Want me to take that?” Rona, back from serving an order, said at almost the same time.
    “No.” She hauled in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m good. No problem.”
    She wasn’t about to make a fool of herself in front of her employees first day at her new business. Gripping the handle of the carafe, she grabbed two mugs from the counter and marched to the booth where Jack and his female had just settled themselves. With extra care, she placed the mugs in front of them.
    “Coffee?” she asked.
    Jack, who had been studying his cell phone, raised his eyes. Jessie was gratified to see them widen in shock and the color leach from his face.
    “Why, yes,” the woman with him said. “Coffee would be great. Right, Jack?”
    Jack seemed frozen, unable to say a word or take his eyes from her.
    Jessie filled both mugs and handed them menus. “I’ll be back to take your order in a few minutes.”
    Jack had yet to speak when she walked away, satisfied that she’d gotten the best of this situation. She might not have been expecting to see him in this town, but he definitely hadn’t expected her.
    “Do you know him?” Rona asked when she was back in the kitchen. “You look like you saw a ghost.”
    “He reminds me of someone I used to know,” was all that she said.
    “Well, you looked like you was about to pass out. Want me to take their order?”
    “No, I’ll do it.” She had to face him sooner or later. At the moment, it seemed she had the upper hand, so she planned to use it.
    Pasting a smile on her face, she grabbed an order pad and marched back out to the booth. The woman with Jack leaned toward him, her fingers wrapped around his wrists. Jessie was sure the woman was giving him the third degree. She knew she would be.
    Neither of them was paying attention when she walked up to the booth, so she cleared her throat.
    “Well, Jack Ward.” She made her voice as bright and cheery as possible. “I thought that was you. What on earth are you doing all the way out here in Fort Mavis?”
    She could tell from the expression on his face he was still shell-shocked. The woman with him, a slender strawberry blonde, looked as if she was trying to decide whether to be gracious, friendly, just curious, or pissed off.
    “Uh, Jessie?” He stared up at her. “Is it really you?”
    “Sure is.” She was determined to be Miss Bright and Cheerful if it killed her. “I’m very surprised to see you here. I didn’t think you’d ever leave Houston.”
    He scowled. “I could say the same for you.”
    She shrugged. “Oh, well. You never know when an opportunity will come your way. You folks about ready to order?”
    Folks? If I said