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she’d planned, having brunch at a trendy café and trying her first group exercise class at a new gym before heading to work. She’d tried to put his face out of her mind, to stay busy, but by the time she’d clocked out at the diner, she’d lost herself to a different kind of hunger. To curiosity.
    So she’d dressed herself up again, put on her make-up and her mask.
    For the better part of an hour, she’d waited for him, sitting in his chair and nursing a drink that tasted like sex to her now. The bartender had paid her more than her fair share of attention, and she’d just begun to resign herself to moving on, to seeing if she could scratch that itch with someone else, when she’d felt his heat at her side and heard his breath.
    She’d taken Josh home again, and it’d been even better than the first time. He’d known exactly where to put his hands, how to push into her to make her scream, and when he’d made her come with just the pressure of his hips…
    Why hadn’t she let him stay? Why?
    She still didn’t entirely know. Vengeance, maybe? Some petty fear in her heart born of how he’d walked away so easily the night before? Maybe she’d wanted to show him that she could walk away, too.
    Or maybe just because nothing could ever, ever be simple.
    Ellen slapped both her hands on the counter and hung her head. Why was it that she could never let things be simple?
    Ignoring the cook’s funny looks, she pushed off the counter with a sigh and reached for her apron. She’d just gotten it tied on when her manager burst into the kitchen. When he spotted her, he hitched his thumb toward the doors that opened out into the dining area. “Your first table’s up.”
    “Got it.”
    She took a second to check her image in the little mirror hung up near the punch-in clock. She’d kept it subtle, but she’d brought a little of the new Ellen with her, even to the diner. Her hair hung in loose curls, and she’d put on some light make-up. Her top was a little lower-cut, her jeans tighter, too. She grabbed her order pad and pencil and put her game face on before pushing through the doors.
    What she saw made her pause.
    Sitting there, at a booth against the window, framed in light, was Josh.
    For a minute, all she could do was stand there and gape. He wasn’t supposed to be here, wasn’t supposed to be intersecting with her real life. She wasn’t ready for him. She wasn’t the person she had been when she’d been with him.
    Could she be that bold girl from the bar? Here? Now?
    Just as she was getting ready to turn right back around, he looked up, glancing at the front door and the counter before his gaze connected with hers.
    God, he looked good. She’d fucked him twice, seen him as up-close-and-personal as humanly possible, and yet never in daylight. She’d never taken in the hint of red to his dark brown hair or the rosy color of his mouth. And those eyes…
    “You gonna stand there all day?” Another server was standing at the register, popping gum.
    “Sorry, just…” Ellen didn’t bother to finish her sentence. She looked across the room at Josh before checking the seating chart. Sure enough, he was hers.
    A little thrill ran up her spine. She liked the sound of that.
    With one more smile at the girl at the register, Ellen made her way over to his table. He watched her all the while, and with every step she took, his smile broadened. Hers felt just as wide.
    “Well, hello again.” She put one hand on her hip and cocked her head.
    “Good morning.” He picked up his menu and shifted his eyes to its pages, smirking all the while. “You sure don’t make it easy for a guy to have breakfast with you.”
    “I’m sure I have no idea what you’re implying.”
    His gaze darted up to hers. Low and sexy, in a voice she felt deep inside, he whispered, “I think you do.”
    The sound of her order pad hitting the floor was her first sign she’d dropped it. With her cheeks burning, she bent down to get it,