TooHottoTouch by Samantha Cayto Page B

Zoë. They must have started
pretty young, just as she had.
    She nudged Joanne, one of her waitresses, aside in order to
greet the man herself. “Hi, welcome to Pavlia,” she said with as much cheer as
she could. “What can I get you?” Okay, maybe she should have copped to knowing
who he was right off the bat, but she felt a little cowardly.
    The older Conroy leaned his elbows on the counter without taking
a seat. He had an envelope in his hands. “Ah, thanks, but I’m not here to eat.”
He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’m Sean’s father, actually. I
was hoping to see him.”
    Zoë eyed the envelope before responding. God, she hoped
there was no bad news inside it. “Oh hi,” she said with more false cheer. “I’m
Zoë Contos, the owner. I guess I should have recognized you. Sean takes after
you quite a bit.”
    The man ducked his head shyly in perfect imitation of his
son before he raised his gaze to her again. He looked pensive and wary. “Oh
sure. Sean’s talked about you.” He cleared his throat nervously. “His mother
and I really appreciate your giving him this job. It was kind of you.”
    Zoë waved her hand, dismissing the compliment. “I needed a
dishwasher and Sean’s done a great job. I hate to lose him, actually.”
    “Yeah, well, he has plans, you know.” Holding the envelope
up, he added, “He’s starting class soon to become a mechanic. This came in the
mail and I thought maybe he should see it right away. I’m working a site not
too far from here.” His voice trailed off and he dropped his gaze again.
    Okay, that was odd. What could possibly be so important that
it came in the mail? In these days of the internet, surely Sean had done his
application and other correspondence online. Did his father really think he
needed to rush paperwork over to the diner? Probably not. The more likely
scenario was his father had grabbed an excuse to come over and check her out.
And that’s what he was doing. It wasn’t too blatant, but he stared at her out
from under his eyelashes. Fine, have a good look at the older woman bagging
your son . Which was a mean thing to think, but she couldn’t help it.
Part of her irritation was at herself because she was older and really not the
right woman for a guy still trying to get his shit together. If Nick had been
dating an older woman, Zoë would have found a way to check her out too.
    Conroy had a right to be worried about his son, in
particular given the events of the last year. Sean had said his father wasn’t
much for showing emotion. That didn’t mean he didn’t love his son and worry
about him. He probably still saw the fragile young man who had threatened to
kill himself and not the strong, confident man she saw more and more every day.
The least she could do was give him some reassurance. She pasted a smile on her
face and said, “Sean’s a really great guy. I know he’s excited to go back to
school.”
    “Yeah, he is. It’s good to see him planning his future
again. He’s had a hard year, as I’m sure you know.” When she simply nodded, he
continued. It was clear he wanted to convey some message. “But the thing is, he
has his whole life ahead of him. His mother and I can imagine for the first
time in a long time that he’s on the right path. He’ll get trained, get a real
job, maybe settle down. You know, get married, have a family.”
    Ah yes, she knew. Hadn’t she been thinking and worrying
about the same things the last several days? She wasn’t sure if Sean had told
his parents that he was dating his boss. The look in his father’s eye confirmed
that the older man at least suspected she was the woman his son spent so much
time with. And she was decidedly not the right woman for his boy in his mind.
She couldn’t fault his feelings. He was right when all was said and done. Part
of her had always known it.
    She had allowed herself to get caught up in the thrill of a
guy she couldn’t keep her hands off of and