Guilty as Charged by Harlow James

Author:Harlow James [James, Harlow]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-10-02T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Sydney

“Hey, Sydney. The usual today?” Hattie greets me behind the deli counter of Russo’s once I make it to the front of the line.

“Yes, please. Vegetarian sub, extra dressing.” My mouth is salivating just knowing I’m about to sink my teeth into the fresh baked bread and mountains of veggies.

“You got it.”

I watch Hattie assemble my sandwich, adding extra pickles and tomatoes since she knows they’re my favorite, and then I meet her at the register to pay. Just as I hand her my debit card, a familiar voice pulls my attention to the right.

“Seems you and I had the same idea for lunch today.”

My head twists in the direction of the voice, and I’m taken by surprise when I see Javier in his construction uniform, sitting all alone eating his sandwich. His jet black hair is hidden beneath his bandana and his sculpted arms are hidden beneath a long-sleeve orange t-shirt. Except I know what those arms look like underneath, and the thought instantly makes me hot.

“Hey. Yeah, I guess great minds do think alike.” On a tilt of my head, I stare at him as I feel the corners of my mouth start to rise into a pleased smile. I didn’t anticipate seeing Javier today, but now that I have, the butterflies flying around in my stomach are making me giddy.

“Here you go, Sydney,” Hattie says, pulling my attention back to her as she hands me my debit card and my order.

“Thanks, Hattie. See you next week.” I grab my tray and turn to find a seat as Javier makes the decision for me.

“Come sit.” He waves me over as I close the distance between us on shaky legs. He’s inviting me to share a meal with him out in public, which is both alarming and confusing.

Isn’t this clearly against the rules of our arrangement? Won’t the two of us being seen together start to raise suspicion from people all over town? My family is very well known, and I can’t speak for Javi, but something tells me this meal we’re about to share could become juicy gossip.

Standing in front of his table, staring down at him, I ask, “Are you sure? Why are you alone anyway? Don’t your co-workers usually join you for lunch?” My heads twists on my neck trying to search out his friends.

“Sit down, Sydney.” The harshness of his reply almost makes me want to turn him down just to spite him, but the woman inside of me who is starting to yearn for this man in more ways than one listens and sits down softly in the chair across from him.

The customers in Russo’s Deli continue to mill around us while I ruminate on how my day has turned around drastically. Javier stares at me from across the table, finishing his bite before he finally responds.

“Trilch and Cory wanted to go to Max’s Cantina down the road for burritos. I wasn’t feeling Mexican food today, so I came here.”

“Oh. Well, I’m always

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