Curves and the Rancher

Curves and the Rancher
(BBW Romance - Coldwater Springs 3)

by

Jenn Roseton

Copyright © 2013 by
Jenn Roseton

All rights reserved

No
part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by
any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the
copyright owner and publisher of this book.

This
is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are
the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously.

This is a sexy
contemporary romance novelette.

“
Take
this over to Luke, hon.
”
Betty, the
gray haired and matronly waitress who ruled the diner,
gestured to the plate sitting on the
counter.
“
I
’
ve
got to take my pie out of the oven.
”

“
Sure.
”
Cassie smiled at her new boss and picked up the plate of eggs over
easy. She threaded her way to the man sitting alone in a leatherette
booth. On the overhead speakers, a country singer crooned softly
about love lost and found again. Pictures of mountainous landscapes
adorned the faded blue walls.

She
’
d
only been working at the diner in Coldwater Springs for two days.
Never realizing before what a tough job waitressing was, she was
grateful Betty had taken her under her wing.
In fact, she
thought hopefully, she might even be able to get her confidence back.
She
’
d already started to feel a
little more like her old self--

“
Ohh!
”
Cassie stumbled on the old vinyl flooring, the china plate flying
through the air and landing upside down on the customer
’
s
lap. Gripping the Formica table to steady herself, she stared in
shock at the bright yellow egg running down the customer
’
s
denim jeans.

Her gaze slowly traveled
up from his lap to his face. His light brown hair barely brushed the
collar of his red checkered shirt. She bit her lip as
his
compelling, dark brown eyes met hers met hers for a split second
before he looked down at the gooey food on his crotch.
At any
other time, she would probably have felt a little flutter at meeting
a man in his early thirties with such clean-cut good looks, but she
was too mortified to register much beyond the mess she
’
d
made.

She shrank back, blinking
away the tears that threatened, her hair swinging around her face
.
“
I
’
m
so sorry. So sorry.
”
Drawing
shallow breaths, she waited for his reaction.

He grimaced.
“
Can
you grab me some napkins?
”
Looking
up at her, his expression gentled.
“
It
’
ll
wash off
.
”

Cassie grabbed a handful
of napkins from the neighboring empty booth and handed them to him.
“
I
’
m
so sorry,
”
she repeated, unable to
take her eyes off the mess on the man
’
s
jeans.

“
You
okay, Cassie?
”
Betty appeared, her
concerned gaze switching between the two of them.

“
I
’
m
sorry, Betty.
”
She wished the floor
would open up and swallow her whole. She couldn
’
t
believe what a klutz she was. Maybe Phillip was right. Maybe she
was fat and hopeless.

Betty put a comforting
hand on her shoulder.
“
Go take your
break now, Cassie. I
’
ll clean this
up.
”

“
But--
”

“
Go
on now.
”
Betty patted her back.
“
I
can handle things here.
”

Her lip wobbled and then
she nodded, turning away and hurrying to the tiny employee
’
s
room at the rear of the diner. She heard Betty behind her.

"Sorry about that,
Luke. Cassie hasn't been waitressing long."

Before she slipped
inside, she turned to look back. Betty handed Luke more paper
napkins.

She couldn
’
t
do anything right! Any minute now, Betty would tell her she was
fired.

###

On Saturday, three
days after what Cassie privately referred to as the egg incident,
Luke came into the diner mid-morning. She blushed when she saw him
stride inside, and she hid behind a booth, hoping he wouldn
’
t
see her, and that he wouldn
’
t sit in
her section.

To her surprise, she
hadn
’
t been fired on Wednesday.
Instead, Betty told her that kind of thing could happen to anyone and
had given her a slice of freshly baked cherry pie.

Cassie
’
s
mouth watered as she remembered the taste of the pie and looked down
at herself ruefully. Her plump figure didn
’
t
need any more pie, no matter how delicious it tasted.

“
Cassie.
”
Betty appeared, expertly juggling three breakfast specials in her
hands.
“
There
’
s
a cup of coffee for Luke on the counter. He
’
s
sitting in your section.
”

Her heart sank. She
didn
’
t want to be responsible for
pouring hot coffee over the man.
“
But--
”

“
You
’
ll
be fine, hon,
”
Betty said
reassuringly.
“
Go on, now.
”

Cassie nodded and walked
over to the counter. In her five days of working at the diner,
spilling the eggs on Luke had been her only incident.
“
One
and only,
”
she muttered fiercely to
herself. Picking up the coffee, she carefully made her way over to
Luke
’
s booth and set the mug down on
the Formica table.

“
Coffee?
”
Embarrassed about spilling hot eggs on him the other day, she peeked
up at him from beneath her lowered lashes.

“
Thanks.
”
He gave her an easy smile and she found herself tentatively smiling
back.

“
I
’
m--
”
She drew in a breath and smoothed her hands nervously down the large
apron which covered most of her curvaceous figure.
“
I
’
m
sorry about the other day.
”

He chuckled wryly.
“
Don
’
t
worry about it.
”

Relief made her smile a
little more confident, and she noticed just how good looking he was.

“
Betty
said you haven
’
t worked here long.
”
He kept eye contact with her, interested in her answer.

“
That
’
s
right.
”
She couldn
’
t
think of anything else to say. She
’
d
always been shy around guys, and now, thanks to Phillip, she was a
little wary of them too. Besides, this man - Luke - wouldn
’
t
be interested in her life story - or how she wound up in Coldwater
Springs.

Two curvy girls around
her own age walked in, stopping at the counter to place their order.
The brunette laughed at something her blond companion said, then they
threaded their way to an empty booth in Cassie
’
s
section.

She turned her attention
back
to the man sitting in front of her.
“
May
I get you anything else?
”

He smiled and shook his
head.
“
No thanks.
”

“
Okay.
”
She didn
’
t understand why, but she
was both relieved and sorry he didn
’
t
want anything else. She offered him a little smile and walked to the
counter.

Arnold, the grizzled
middle-aged cook, gestured to the two steaming cups of coffee and
plates of cherry pie.
“
For Sarah and
Libby.
”
He nodded in the direction
of the booth where the two girls talked animatedly.

Cassie loaded up a tray
and walked over to their booth.
“
Cherry
pie and coffee?
”

“
Hi,
”
said the dark-haired girl.
“
I
’
m
Sarah.
”

“
And
I
’
m Libby, her cousin,
”
the blond chimed in.
“
You must be
Cassie.
”

“
I
’
m
not wearing a name badge. How did you--
”

“
News
travels fast.
”
An impish grin lit up
Libby's face.
“
How are you finding
it here?
”

“
I
like working here.
”
Cassie realized
she was speaking the truth.
“
Coldwater
Springs seems like a nice place.
”

“
It
is,
”
Sarah assured her, before she
and Libby exchanged a satisfied smile.

“
So
what have you done to Luke Jackson?
”
Libby enquired.

“
What...what
do you mean?
”
Cassie frowned.
Surely they hadn
’
t heard about the
egg incident.

“
This
must be the third time he
’
s been in
here this week. Usually he only comes in for breakfast about once a
month when he
’
s getting supplies.
He
’
s sitting over there.
”
Libby gestured to Luke
’
s booth on
the opposite side of the diner.

“
I
haven
’
t seen him since I...since he
came in three days ago.
”
Cassie
wrinkled her brow. She
’
d worked the
afternoon shift yesterday instead of her usual morning shift.

The blonde girl
’
s
eyes sparkled.
“
I have it on very
good authority he came in on Wednesday and Friday. And he
’
s
here again today.
”

Cassie tried to fight the
rising tide of pink creeping over her cheeks. Libby
’
s
suggestion was laughable. Who on earth would want to come back to
the diner after having hot eggs splashed on him by a clumsy waitress
unless he really was hungry or thirsty?
“
I
don
’
t know what you mean.
”

“
I
don
’
t see any other new waitresses.
”
Libby stifled a giggle. "Especially one with cute auburn hair
and blue eyes."

“
Libby.
”
Sarah glanced at her cousin.

Libby sobered.
“
Sorry,
Cassie. My boyfriend told me he
’
s a
good guy, and he happens to be single.
”