More Than This: Contemporary Christian Romance Novel

by Stallings, Staci

  That was the answer he was hoping to hear. “Then I’ll stay.”

  “So?” Mia asked when Liz made it back to the counter. “Did he propose yet?”

  “Shh.” The warning was nearly loud enough for him to hear. Liz leveled her gaze on her friend. “Don’t you dare do anything to scare him off, you hear me?”

  “Scare him off?” Mia’s face drew into a smile. “Wait. You really like this one, don’t you?”

  But Liz waved that off. “It’s not about that.” She pulled Mia to the side. “Listen to me. I’ve finally gotten him talking. I don’t want to mess this up. Got it?”

  “Gotcha. So are you going home with him, or is he going home with you?”

  What was the point? Liz rolled her eyes. “It’s not like that, okay? He’s a friend. A very good friend, and I want to keep it that way.”

  “Yeah, well, nothing says he can’t be a friend with benefits.” Mia looked back to where he was sitting in the corner. “Mm. Mm. Mm. That boy is hotter than a lifted car on the sales floor.”

  “Mi-a!” This was getting ridiculous. Not that Liz hadn’t noticed how hot he was. It had crossed her mind a time or two more than a million, but it was becoming clearer and clearer that he didn’t need someone to go to bed with, he really needed a friend, and she wanted to be that for him. Besides, she wasn’t into the whole sleeping together thing anyway. “Now you stop that. You hear me? Be nice to him.”

  “You’re one to talk. The poor guy has been sitting there for thirty minutes with no coffee, and he’s in your station.” Mia raised her eyebrows in case Liz had missed her meaning.

  “Ugh! You’re impossible.” However, Liz went, got the cup and the coffee and crossed over to take them to him. She liked his smile when she got to his table. “I’m sorry about that. You could have said something.”

  He looked surprised and happy. “I didn’t want to bother you.”

  “What? To tell me to do my job?” She set the cup down and poured the coffee. “So, do you ever sleep? You must be wired after six cups of coffee a night.”

  “Not much. As little as possible most nights.”

  “Oh, yeah? Why’s that?” Then the fact that she had stumbled into something he didn’t want to talk about smacked into her. “I’m sorry. None of my business.”

  “No.” He scooted the full cup over to his side. “Sleeping’s not on my list of favorite things to do.”

  “Oh, yeah? What is?”

  His gaze slipped to hers. “Drink coffee. Talk to cute waitresses.” He picked up the cup to take a sip. “You know, the usual.”

  She fought not to laugh. “You’ve really got to work on that sense of humor of yours. It’s bordering on insanity.”

  “Why? Because I like coffee or the cute waitresses?”

  The door jingled, and she looked back.

  When her gaze came back to his, she growled low and menacing in frustration that they were always being interrupted. “You want something else? I’ve really got to…”

  “I’m fine. Go on. I’ll be here.”

  And he was for the next three hours. Every tiny break Liz had, she managed a quick trip over to his table. Sometimes she brought coffee, sometimes she didn’t, but Jake had ceased to care one way or the other. The coffee was just an excuse, and they both knew it. He did, however, wish he had brought his computer. It would’ve given him something to do. As the clock wound around to 10:45, he knew it was time for him to make tracks.

  They were already cleaning up, putting up chairs, and wiping off tables. It took next to nothing for his heart to notice she was dancing again, and he hoped that meant good things. As the last customers vacated the premises, he stood and pulled his coat up with him. The dancing slowed and drifted away from her movement as she became aware of his approach. Truth was, he really, really did not want to leave. He stuck his hands in the pockets of his coat in case they did something stupid.

  The other waitress was somewhere in the back, and he had no idea how much time they had before she came back.

  “Leaving so soon?” Liz asked, and there was a hint of disappointment and a touch of teasing mixed in the question.

  “Oh, you know me, I’d stay, but five o’clock’s coming earlier and earlier these days.”

  “Maybe because you’re staying out later and later.”

  He nodded, loving her wit. “Could be.” He leaned on a booth being careful not to dislodge any of her hard work. “So, you going to be dishing up coffee tomorrow night?”

  “Can’t stay away.” She raised her spray bottle up as if it was a gun.

  Jake straightened up. “I didn’t do it. I swear.”

  “Yeah, right. I’ve got it on good authority that says you did.”

  He pulled his hands out and put them up as if she really might shoot. “I didn’t, but I’m thinking the interrogation could be interesting.” He hoped his wry smile and teasing tone would tell her he wasn’t being serious.

  “Interesting is one word for it.”

  Strange, he’d never seen her come back with a joke of her own. Maybe she wasn’t so touchy after all. He lowered his hands as he lowered his voice. “Oh, yeah? What’s another?”

  She raised her eyebrows and the cleaner. “You really want to know?”

  He had thought she was teasing, but suddenly he wasn’t so sure. “Uh, no?” It was a deliberate question because he wasn’t sure what the right answer was.

  The bottle dropped and she nodded. “Good answer.” She went back to wiping the tables off. “You got far to walk?”

  “No. Not far. You?”

  “Couple blocks. Gives me some exercise.”

  He nodded, leaning back on the booth, this time crossing his arms in front of himself. Leaving suddenly felt anathema to his being. It was weird how alive he felt here, and how very not alive he felt when he left her presence. “You got class in the morning?”

  “10:30. Wanna come?”

  “Uh, no. I don’t think so. I’ll leave the Comparative Physiology to you.”

  She checked him with an odd look. “Contemporary Philosophy.”

  He shrugged and moved two booths down, following her. “Same difference.”

  The look turned into a smile, and she shook her head. “How about you? You working on shape shifting tomorrow?”

  He put his tongue to the back of his teeth wondering how she had known that. Tilting his head, he regarded her. “I was thinking about it.”

  She nodded again. “Good to know.”

  Then, with a reluctant sigh, he looked at the clock. It was closing time. In fact, the other waitress had reappeared and was sweeping slowly behind them. The door was still unlocked and the neon light still on. He needed to let them finish up. “Well, I guess I’d better take off.”

  And then she stopped cleaning the tables. She leaned against one, looking at him as if he might disappear if she looked away. Her soft smile only made it to her eyes. “I had fun tonight.”

  “You were working.”

  “Yeah, well, I had fun working.”

  Tenderness for her touched his heart. “Me too.” Then he straightened and reached over to her. He had planned to just put his hands on her arms, but she mistook the gesture and came all the way in for a hug. The rightness of it drained all the way through him. He pressed his hands into her hair and onto her back, closing his eyes, liking how it felt to hold her next to him and how she smelled like apple pie.

  A moment and she backed up, seeming to remember her other friend whose sweeping had slowed to nearly nothing. Liz put her gaze on the tiles at their feet. The effort it took to get it up to his was obvious. “Take care. Walk carefully.”

  Jake nodded, lost in the midst of her. “You too.” One more look, and he forced himself to move though he truly did not want to. He walked out without a single look back, only waving to the other waitress. “Night.”

  She waved back but said nothing, looking positively shell-shocked. But he couldn’t think about that now. He was too intent on
keeping the memory of her in his arms and storing it in a place in his heart he would never, ever lose.

  Liz stood stock-still for a long moment after Jake’s departure finished ringing in the air, just holding the feeling of him close to her. When she finally came back to reality, she found Mia looking at her, staring, wide-eyed. Quickly Liz went back to work. “Don’t say it.”

  Mia dropped her chin and shook her head. “I ain’t saying nothing.” And she went back to her sweeping.

  Through every class on Thursday Liz wondered if he would in fact come back, but she need not have for just after seven he appeared once more, in the sunlight. Her heart bounced like a roomful of out of control crickets. Had breathing just been easy seconds before? How come she had suddenly forgotten how?

  “Hey, there,” he said, nodding to her.

  “H-hey.” Stop it, Liz. Stop acting like you’re in middle school. “You made it.”

  A small nod. “That I did.” He stood as if trying to figure out what to do next.

  “Um, would you like some coffee?” The question was halting as if she hadn’t asked it a million times since taking this job.

  “Sure. I’ll just be…” He nodded toward the corner.

  “K.”

  Jake sure wished he knew how to do this. He always felt so awkward. It was even worse because she was surely used to smooth guys who knew the ropes and every move in the book. He’d never read the book. The thought jabbed into his brain like a dagger. Don’t, Jake. Not here. He slid into the little chair and put his laptop on the table. At least he would have some plausible something to do rather than look like the pathetic stalker he was becoming.

  “So, you shape-shifting tonight?” she asked with a smile as she poured his first cup of coffee.

  “Gonna try. Not that it will do any good.” He spun the laptop toward him and opened the lid. That was the easy part. It was what came next that scrambled his courage. “You just get in?”

  “About an hour ago. It’s been pretty slow.”

  He nodded. “Well, if you need a place to take a break, I’ve got a corner here all to myself.”

  “You sure I won’t be bothering you?”

  How could she even ask the question? “If you can put up with me, I think I can survive it.” He made sure to smile to soften the statement in case she didn’t catch the humor.

  Her smile teased her lips. “That’s good to know.” The bells jangled, and she jerked her attention that way.

  Before she could say anything, Jake said gently, “Go. I’ll be here.”

  “Looks like loverboy’s back,” Mia said when Liz made it back to the counter. “You taking an early break again?”

  But Liz was in no hurry. He would be here. She didn’t have to worry about him leaving. “No.” She couldn’t stop the smile. “Whenever’s fine.”

  “Whenever?” Mia lifted her eyebrows. “Wow. Someone’s sounding very sure of herself.”

  Liz gave only a little smile. Sure might be overdoing it, but okay was in the realm of possibility.

  “So are you getting anywhere with the shape-shifting project?” Liz asked as she made it to his table sometime after nine. It would be awhile before the next crowd showed up. She brought her book in case she ended up reading, but she hoped she didn’t get to.

  He let out a soft, barely audible snort. “Not anywhere I want to go. How’s coffee sales?”

  “Eh. It’s been better. Good night for studying.” She lifted her book. He tilted his head as if to read it, so she chose to help him out. “Practical Applications in Educational Psychology.”

  Jake backed up, looking almost wounded. “Wow. You don’t go for the easy stuff like basket weaving 101, huh?”

  “Nah, I tested through those.”

  He looked confused and then defeated so she quickly moved to explain that.

  “I’m kidding. I did test out of a couple of English classes.” She shrugged. “Saved me a ton of money.”

  Understanding laced with something she couldn’t read rained down his face. “So you’re a good reader then, huh?”

  Liz wasn’t sure how to answer that. “I guess.” She shrugged. “Except when it’s about stuff I’d rather not read.”

  “Like Proactical Prosetics.”

  She laughed. “Practical Applications.” She stressed each word and then laughed again.

  “Yeah,” he agreed. “That.”

  A moment to decide how far to let him in and she sighed. “I don’t know. I guess it’s interesting.”

  He looked interested as he pulled forward on his elbows. “You guess?”

  “I don’t know,” she said again, her enthusiasm flagging. “It’s for my education classes. It’s one of those ‘Why do I have to take this?’ kind of classes. Just tell me what I need to teach the kids and let’s get on with life.”

  “I thought you weren’t going to teach.”

  She shrugged and flopped the book onto the table. “Just keeping my options open.”

  “Oh. So, what’s it about? The class, I mean.” He settled backward, looking immensely marvelous and like there wasn’t a single other thing in the world he would rather be doing.

  “Well, some of it is about testing— you know standardized tests versus verbal versus written. What types of questions work, what types don’t. That was pretty interesting. Now we’re into different styles of learning— how people learn the best, and it just seems kind of like, ‘How do you even do this in a classroom?’ I mean, you’ve got 30 kids and one teacher, and that teacher is not only supposed to teach all of the content but she’s supposed to teach each kid the way they learn the best— without even really knowing what that is.”

  Jake was absorbing. She could tell by the intent, interested look on his face, so she continued.

  “Like some kids learn best visually.”

  He nodded, his face stone-hard with seriousness.

  “And some kids learn best auditory— with their hearing. Then others learn best by doing. Picking up something and doing it with their hands. Kinesthetic with manipulatives. And the teacher is supposed to incorporate all of those into every lesson. Then there’s the whole left brain-right brain thing which is just more mumbo-jumbo about different ways kids learn and how you’re supposed to do all of that too.” She put her hand on the book on the table and shook her head. “Makes me question why I signed up for an education minor in the first place.”

  “So do you want to change?”

  “I don’t know what I would even change it to. Business?” She shivered. “Engineering.” She raised her eyebrows. “Yikes. Not for me. I don’t know. I just thought, ‘Teacher’ you know. Get the books. Stand up there and explain what’s in them. I could do that. But the more I think about it, the more I’m not so sure.”

  Jake wanted to ask a million other questions. He’d never known there were different ways of learning. He figured there was one way and he was pitiful at it so what was the point? However, before he got the chance to ask more, she lifted her chin to indicate his still open computer.

  “So I’ve told you my pathetic life-story. What world-changing thing are you working on?”

  Trapped. He suddenly felt cornered. “Oh, well… I…” He put his head down and ran his hand over the back of his head. “It’s not really that big of a thing. Just a… story.”

  “A story?” Why did she suddenly look so interested? “Really? Oh. You’re a writer then? So, what’s it about?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Just this girl who’s a crime fighter, and she’s on this island trying to piece this case together. It’s not very good.”

  “Really? Wow.” She sounded genuinely impressed, which frightened Jake further. “How long have you been working on it?”

  “A year or so. I have a couple of others, too but they’re not really that good either.”

  Now she looked even more impressed. “You’ve written more than one?”

  “Yeah. A couple. But really they aren’t very good.”

 
A moment stretched between them. It was probably time for her to go.

  “So. Do you…” Her gaze came up to his, searching. “…ever let other people read your stuff?”

  His eyes went wide as his heart hammered to life. “Like editors and stuff?” His gaze was suddenly searching for anywhere to be that didn’t include looking at her. He shook his head and shrugged. “I’ve tried, you know. But they don’t like most of the stuff I write.”

  Her gaze dropped as her fingers found a napkin holder to play with. “I wasn’t really thinking about editors. I was kind of thinking about…”

  He waited, but she didn’t continue, so he said, “About…?”

  When her gaze came up and embraced his, it stunned him with the sincerity and hope. “Me?”

  “You?” It was like a bomb had gone off in the center of his heart, and Jake swallowed the disbelief. “You want to read my stuff?”

  The shrug was small, barely there. “Yeah. I’d love to if you don’t mind.”

  Bells from the door sounded, and she jerked around and then stood. “I’d better get back to work.” She spun his cup to check it as she did. “I’ll be back with a refill.”

  “Oh. Y-yeah. Okay.” He could hardly catch back onto reality. Had she really just said she wanted to read what he had written? That couldn’t be. Could it? And if it was, what should he do? He couldn’t give her something that wasn’t perfect. She read. She was a good reader. She would know how stupid he was to even think he could write. No, he decided as he watched her take care of the new customers. He would come up with some excuse, something so he could turn back time and not tell her anything about his stupid writing. Letting her read what he’d written was a great way to destroy whatever it was they had going, and he definitely didn’t want to do that.

  Chapter 6

  They had left on good terms. At least Liz thought they had. She had been so sure he would come on Friday, but when he didn’t, she couldn’t figure out why not. Mia told her it was probably nothing. He had something to do, something else. But what could that something be? She struggled to make herself believe it had nothing to do with her, but deep down, she knew it did. She had obviously said something wrong, something she shouldn’t have. Or maybe she hadn’t said something he wanted to hear.