Twice Upon a Blue Moon Read Online Free Page A

check.
    “Yeah…” You couldn’t wait until I came back to your table to ask? Hazel rolled her tongue against the roof of her mouth. She’d made it this far without causing a scene, she could go a little further.
    Dylan slid his leather wallet out of his coat. Hazel suspected it probably cost as much as her rent. It even smelled new.
    She glanced away as she waited for him to hand over his Visa.
    “Did you have a good time?”
    Marco insisted on friendliness. Clients want to feel special. That’s why they come here instead of the Olive Garden across the street. It’s all about the dining experience.
    Hazel often wondered if he’d swallowed a marketing course book.
    “Yes, it was great,” Dylan replied, too kneejerk to be sincere.
    Hazel aimed her smile at the cash register. “Your buddies are like fish out of water.”
    “It’s their first time out of Century City.”
    “Ouch. Culture shock,” Hazel drawled. She knew where she stood with the Brentwood types—easily recognized outside their leafy green territory by the faint sneers they all wore when exposed to the common folk—but Century City mostly kept to itself. It was busy enough that its residents never really needed to venture out, except perhaps into equally hectic Beverly Hills.
    They certainly never traveled as far as Marco’s for the sake of a burger. Dylan must have deliberately taken them out of their natural habitat. And he had brought them here, to the hole in the wall where Sadie worked.
    “You’re not from around here either, are you?” Dylan ventured.
    “No.”
    “Me neither.”
    “You blend in well,” Hazel countered. “I look at your foursome and I can barely tell the difference.”
    Dylan winced and pressed a hand to his chest. “That bad?” He took his credit card back with a headshake. “Then I suppose there’s no point asking if you’d like to have coffee sometime.”
    “I don’t drink coffee.” Wait, what?
    No one was more surprised than Hazel at the answer, but Dylan’s jaw actually seemed to go a little slack, like he couldn’t believe she hadn’t shot him down.
    “Okay… Tea?”
    “In California?”
    “Water?” Dylan guessed. “Or—would you have dinner with me?”
    No way. Sadie was shooting her wary glances from across the room, probably wondering if she should interject. Other patrons were waiting for their orders, their checks. Urgency slithered under Hazel’s skin, throbbing like a headache.
    “Yeah, okay,” she heard herself reply. It was a strange, almost out of body experience, watching astonishment morph into pleasure on Dylan’s lips.
    “Tomorrow night?”
    Hazel grimaced. “I have to work… Monday? My shift ends at six.” She wanted nothing more than to excise that finagling, apologetic note in her voice.
    Why was she trying to accommodate him? She couldn’t be considering this with any real degree of interest. Agreeing to dinner isn’t the same as going. Dylan wouldn’t be the first guy she had stood up.
    Going to dinner isn’t the same as sleeping with him. Her track record over the past three years begged to differ.
    “You done?” asked one of Dylan’s buddies, clamping a hand onto his shoulder.
    He straightened. “Yes. Thank you,” he added, speaking strictly to Hazel.
    “Hope to see you back soon.” She couldn’t believe the words had come out of her mouth until he was out of the diner, one with the evening gloom.
    Sadie materialized at her elbow. “What did he want?”
    “To ask me out.” It didn’t occur to Hazel to lie.
    “Wow… What a creep.”
    “Thanks,” Hazel scoffed.
    Sadie smacked her lips. “That’s not what I meant… He didn’t even say hi to me. And now he’s asking you out, knowing I’m watching?” Sadie clucked her tongue. “Dick move.”
    Of course, why else would he do it?
    “Yeah.” Maybe Sadie was right. Maybe there was nothing more to Dylan’s offer than an attempt to punish Sadie. He wouldn’t be the first jerk who liked to slap