“Have a girlfriend?” she teased. Jake smiled but it was obvious he was waiting on a real answer. “No. I don’t really date.” There was no really to it. She hadn’t been on a date since the night of Casey’s conception.
Jake leaned back against his desk and crossed his arms over his chest with a thoughtful look. “Why is that?”
“Time mostly. My plate is pretty full right now.”
And case in point, Casey called out, “Hey, Jake, want to see what I can do?” She didn’t wait for him to answer before showing him her best cartwheel, which wasn’t much, but pretty damn good for an almost five-year-old.
“Very cool.” He sounded sufficiently amazed to get two more and Casey radiated pride.
“I can do it better with one foot. Want to see that?”
Paige stepped forward before she ditched the prosthesis Jake had just spent his time adjusting. “Let’s leave it on for now.”
Jake straightened. “Is it still bothering you?”
“No.” Casey walked away to look at something else.
“She’s walking evenly,” he said to her, still keeping an eye on Casey.
“Yeah. It doesn’t seem to be bothering her at all now.”
“Looks like I have the magic touch.”
She bet he did have a magic touch. He came over to lean against the table next to her, close enough to get a faint whiff of aftershave.
“I can teach you how to make adjustments. Even if she’s not clearly communicating what feels right, there are certain things you can look for. I mean, I don’t mind doing it, but it might be helpful in case you need to match a different shoe. Of course I have no idea how many different kinds of shoes a five-year-old wears. Obviously, she’s not wearing stilettos, but—”
“Who’s not wearing stilettos?”
They all turned toward the voice of a large, good-looking man with mocha skin filling the doorway. He wore the same black shirt with the company logo and a wide smile. His tan shorts revealed a double amputation and his dark eyes practically twinkled. She instantly liked him.
“Hey, Simon.” Jake straightened and put some space between them.
“This is Paige and her daughter, Casey.”
Simon glanced at Jake, amusement dancing in his dark eyes. “I see you moved.” She just caught Jake’s scowl before Simon turned and held out his hand to her. “Hi. Simon Moke. I don’t think we ever met officially.”
“No. Nice to meet you,” Paige said, taking his hand.
“I was looking at her daughter’s prosthesis, just making a small adjustment,” Jake said.
“Really?”
Another look passed between the men, and an awkward beat of silence followed. Right. They were done. No reason to linger. Though she wanted to. “Thank you,” she said, turning to Jake. “I really appreciate this.”
“You don’t have to thank me,” he said softly, sounding like he didn’t want to be thanked.
“Well…thanks, anyway.” She didn’t know what else to say to this man who made her feel so shaky inside.
“Casey, what do you say to Jake?”
“Jake, is it?” Simon raised an eyebrow.
Jake stuck his hands in his pockets, looking decidedly irritated with his coworker. Simon, on the other hand, appeared on the verge of laughter. Inside joke?
“Knock, knock.” Another man, older and decidedly frazzled, appeared in the doorway, his focus on Jake. “Sorry, but we need you in lab four. If you can. I mean, I think you’ll want to.” He waved the clipboard in his hand.
“I’m sorry,” Jake said, looking at her. “I don’t know how long this will take.”
“No problem. Sounds important.”
“I’ll walk them out,” Simon offered.
Her gaze met Jake’s one last time, and a long pause hung in the air like maybe there was something else to say, but she didn’t know what it was.
Casey had an appointment at Shriners coming up, so if she needed anything more, she could wait for that. He might come back to the diner. He might not. They shared another long look and she turned, nearly smacking into the doorframe.
Casey waved. “Bye, Jake.”
“We’ll take the scenic route,” Simon told them cheerfully as they went one way and Jake went the other.
She couldn’t help herself from glancing back over her shoulder. Her heart took a giant leap in her chest when her eyes met his. Because he’d looked back too.
Casey walked beside Simon on her newly adjusted prosthesis, her step hitching a few times as she paid more attention to him than what she was doing. “You have two legs,” she said, amazed.
“Yes.”
“And they make noise.”
“Yes. My right knee is electronic, you can hear the air compressor. Cool, huh?”
Casey nodded. “What happened to your other legs?”
“I stepped on something I shouldn’t have.”
“Oh. I didn’t step on anything.”
“So, you know JT?” Simon led them into an elevator and pushed a button.
“Jake? Well…I don’t really know him.” Not as well as she wanted to. “He offered to help with Casey’s prosthesis.”
“Did he?” His mouth turned up at the corners. “Well, that’s great. JT’s a good guy. He’s also an expert at what he does.”