SEAL'd Perfection The Complete Collection: A Navy SEAL Romance Read Online Free Page B

and I cast a glance behind me, wishing someone would materialize with a kitchen emergency and bail me out of the awkward question. “About what?” I finally asked, feigning innocence, as though I hadn’t been eavesdropping on their entire conversation.
    Carol cocked her head at me. “About the new man in town. Have you met him yet?”
    “Well—uh, yes, actually. He came in for breakfast this morning,” I admitted, shifting from foot to foot, my eyes flicking between the three ladies, not daring to stay focused on one for too long.
    Henrietta smiled at me and squeezed my hand. “And? What did you think?”
    “He was nice,” I answered tentatively. All three women were staring at me, their expressions begging for more details. “I don’t know what all the fuss is about,” I said, my voice firm with finality as I spun away and went back to the hostess station.
    The afternoon stretched on, and I picked up little bits and pieces as I went about my duties, but was careful not to engage in any of the chatter. If the rumor mill was to be trusted, Jace Winslow was from Chicago, had done a stint in the Navy, then went back to Chicago where he’d had a very successful, and sought out tattoo parlor.
    After a couple of years serving his booked out clientele, Hollywood came calling and produced a reality show that followed him around as he ran his business and partied. Then, about six months ago, he had a very public breakdown, and to get away from all the media coverage, he closed his shop and stepped out of the limelight. Until last week, when he signed a three year lease at the shop across from the diner, ready to start over and get his life back on track, complete with a new season of his show.
    I wasn’t sure how I felt about any of the new information. I mulled it all over, gathering as much information as I could—although, I couldn’t say why any of it mattered. I told myself it was just small town, idle curiosity, but somewhere in the pit of my stomach, I knew it had more to do with the piercing pair of blue eyes and the dark, mysterious, inked man they belonged to. There was something about him that was magnetic—I was drawn to him like a moth to a flame—and I couldn’t shrug it off.
    At four-thirty, I turned things over to the night shift team, and raced out of the diner to go see Jax for a couple of hours before I’d have to leave to go to night school. When I got to Hilda’s I knocked softly, knowing it was likely Jax would be napping, and she opened the door seconds later with a bright smile.
    “He’s still sleeping,” Hilda said quietly, ushering me inside. We both tiptoed past the beautiful sleeping form of Jax, crashed out on her couch, and went into the tiny galley kitchen. Hilda flipped on a burner and went about making a tea bag for me while the water warmed. It was something of a habit for us, whenever I got there before Jax was awake, we would whisper in the kitchen and drink a cup of tea.
    “While Jax was napping, I caught the end of the news, and you’ll never guess what I found out!” Hilda said as excitedly as she dared with the sleeping toddler in the next room.
    “Let me guess, it’s about the tattoo guy, right?”
    Hilda’s smile faded and I instantly regretting stealing the wind from her sails. “Sorry, girl. It’s just, that’s all anyone could talk about today at the diner. It was like wave after wave of customers and that was all anyone could think about. I think Carol must have blabbed that I’d met the guy—” Hilda’s eyebrows raised an inch, but she didn’t interrupt, “—and suddenly it was like I was on the five o’clock news. Everyone wanted to put me in the hot seat and ask questions. What was he like? Did he say anything about the show? What do you think about his tattoos? And, one person even asked what he ordered. Can you believe that? As if he’s some kind of Martian just because he has some ink!”
    I stopped my rant, and peeked my head around the side