I wish I could say our meeting was one for the storybooks, a beautiful twist of fate, sparks flying and all that nonsense, but it wasn’t. I was a wreck. I was going on seventy-two hours with very minimal sleep. That’s how long Emily had been missing. The only things filling my stomach were caffeine and worry. I shouldn’t have even been here, but I’d tried to convince myself I could handle being at work. It was a disaster and I spent most of the morning on the verge of a break-down, until finally Cassie and Reggie, my assistant manager, intervened and kicked me out of my own shop. I couldn’t drive, because I knew the break-down was coming. It was all about to hit me, and I knew when it did, it would drop me. I took a walk to try and pull myself together. The only thing it accomplished was the early stages of hypothermia. I returned to the shop to escape the cold that was making my body shake with more than just tears, and numbing everything except the pain I wanted numbed. I had my head ducked low, hoping to make it to my back office before the tears, puffy eyes and drippy nose could scare off any customers. I wasn’t the only one in a hurry to get out of the cold, though. I collided with a brick wall on legs and probably would have ended up sprawled on my ass on the freezing sidewalk if the brick wall’s reflexes weren’t so sharp.
Steady hands made sure I stayed on my feet, and I immediately started apologizing for not watching where I was going as my eyes lifted to get a look at the stranger I plowed into. They were blurry with the tears I hurried to wipe away, but I got enough of a glimpse to know he was easily the most attractive person I’d ever laid eyes on. Sadly, I was sure he was not having the same thoughts.
He kindly reassured me that it wasn’t my fault, even though it clearly was. Embarrassed that he could see what a mess I was, I ducked my head and waited for him to go in, but he didn’t.
“You okay?” Suddenly it seemed he wasn’t in a hurry to escape the freezing temperature.
“Mmhmm,” I mumbled, still avoiding meeting his gaze.
“Hey,” his soft voice drew my eyes back to his. “You don’t have to hide your tears from anyone. They’re not a sign of weakness, and nothing to be ashamed of. So let them flow when you need to. It’s better than trapping them inside and letting them drown you.”
I nodded because I couldn’t manage to form words when his were turning me inside out. He pulled the door open and held it for me. I rushed inside and directly to the bathroom where I hid out until I was sure he was gone. I couldn’t even explain my reaction, but I’d felt exposed in front of him. He didn’t just look at me, he took the time to see me. I could have been crying for a million reasons, but it’s like he knew it was coming from somewhere deep inside of me. He reminded me that the awful pain wringing these tears from my insides wasn’t anything I had to be embarrassed by.
The next day I was behind the counter when he came in. He didn’t act at all surprised to see me there. He just walked up, ordered a plain black coffee and while I was pouring it, asked me why coffee was better than a woman. When I told him I didn’t know, he replied smoothly.
“Because coffee goes down easier.”
My mouth fell open and I almost dropped his cup, but I couldn’t help the laugh that escaped.
“Mmm,” he’d hummed, “even prettier when you smile.”
My laugh turned into a cough and then I cleared my throat and handed him his coffee, hoping my cheeks weren’t flaming.
“Sorry, but that’s the only coffee joke I know and I just wanted to see if I could get a smile out of you today.”
“It’s a terrible joke,” I said, but I was still smiling, so he’d succeeded.
The next day he came in and had another awful coffee joke ready.
“What do you call a cow that’s just given birth?”
“I don’t know,” I shrugged, handing over his coffee.
“De-calf-inated,” he grinned, and I just shook my head, but again I was smiling when he left, and that wasn’t something I’d done much of lately.
When he walked through my door the following day, I was prepared for him, and beat him to the coffee joke. “What do men and coffee have in common?” I’d asked him while pouring his coffee.
“Tell me.”
“The best ones are hot, rich and keep you up all night.” I bit my lip and held his cup out to him, waiting for his reaction. To my delight, he tipped his head back and let out a deep, rumbling laugh. Then he fixed me with what I was coming to think of as his signature grin.
“I think you win. I’m not sure I can top that one.”
The jokes stopped after that, but every time he came in, he didn’t leave without first dragging a smile from me, until all he had to do was walk in the door and I was smiling. I’d yet to catch his name once in the past week, even though I’d tried. It was just that his smile had the ability to make me forget my own name. He came in at almost the same time every day. He’d flash that grin and engage me in some witty conversation while I made his coffee, and then after paying cash he would walk back out of my shop, leaving me and every female alike in a daze. Reggie too. Only then would I remember I forgot to ask his name again.
Cassie poked her head out of the kitchen at that moment, but I informed her, maybe a little too enthusiastically, that I had it covered. “I got it!”
I saw the grin she couldn’t hide before she ducked back into the kitchen. A blush spread over my cheeks, but this was my favorite part of the day. Even more satisfying than closing time.
“On that note, I better get back to work.” Will set his empty cup on the counter and shoved off.
I gave him a quick, “See ya later,” before I walked over to the register to greet my new favorite customer. It was almost unfair how easy on the eyes he was, like it had to be a hazard to women everywhere walking down the street, or driving. I wondered how many traffic accidents he had inadvertently caused with those long, thick legs, lean torso and well muscled arms, not to mention that perfectly sculpted backside that drew my eyes in every time he turned and walked out of the shop. The favors that man could do a pair of jeans. . . just mmmm. And, as if he wasn’t already sex on legs, God had to go and give him a face that would have certainly been the downfall of Eve if the devil hadn’t beat him to it with that apple.
Dark, intelligent eyes perfectly placed above chiseled cheek bones and a strong jaw, covered by a few days worth of facial hair and framed by strands of almost shoulder length hair that escaped the knot he had it pulled into, the same rich color as his eyes, like a mocha with swirls of caramel. And damn did I ever want to drink him up. It was as if he stepped off of some movie poster, all tall, dark and Thor-like, and right into my shop. Only this guy was very real from his amused smirk down to his ass-kicker boots. Shit, he was smirking at me, and his facial hair didn’t hide the single dimple on one side of his mouth. A mouth that only made me think inappropriate thoughts. Like what would happen if I leaned right over this counter, grabbed him by the shirt and led his mouth to mine. His grin continued to grow wider by the second. I had to stop staring and say something, like ask him for his order. Not that I needed it. He ordered the same thing every day.
I cleared my throat and made my best attempt at an easy smile that hopefully didn’t project my thoughts. “Hi. What can I get for you?”
“Large black coffee. The–”
“Dark roast?” I finished for him. Like I said; same thing every day.
“Ah, too predictable am I?”
“Nothing wrong with a man who knows what he likes and wants,” I replied, shocking myself with how flirtatious it came out.
I swear his eyes darkened for just a second before his expression relaxed and he leaned his elbows on the counter. “Well, just to keep it interesting, let’s change things up. What would you recommend?”
I bit my lip and tried to think of a drink that would appeal to him, but really he did seem like a black coffee kind of guy. Still, I tried. “How about a peppermint mocha?” They were popular this time of year.
His brow wrinkled. “Too sweet.”
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“Umm, how about a white coffee latte?”
“I prefer my coffee darker.”
I knew this already. “A regular latte?”
“Too much cream.”
I sighed, “An americano?”
He grinned and pushed up. “Sounds good. I’ll take a large americano.”
I frowned, “You know that’s basically the same drink you always order, but espresso instead of drip coffee.”
“What can I say? I’m a man who knows what he likes and wants.”
I chuckled and turned to make his americano. “You know, I think I read somewhere that people who drink their coffee black, with no cream or sugar, are more likely to be psychopaths.”
He laughed, “Now that’s funny. I think it’d be the other way around. All that sugar and syrupy crap can’t be good for a person on top of the caffeine.”
“Ah, but the sugar sweetens people up.”
He gave his head an amused shake. “Why don’t you throw in one of those cranberry orange scones you have in the case.”
“Good choice, a little bit of sugar to sweeten you up, but not too much,” I said, tamping the ground espresso beans in the filter.
“So you think I need sweetening up?”
I glanced at him as I made quick work of filling his cup with water from the machine. I couldn’t help but run my gaze over him once more. “I think you’re good just the way you are,” I swallowed and forced my attention to the shots that needed brewing. Out of the corner of my eye I watched his lips twitch. I tossed the perfectly timed shots in the cup and then put a lid and a coffee hugger on it. I set the hot cup on the counter and retrieved a scone from the case, sliding it into a small pastry sleeve. I rang in his coffee and scone, but when I looked up to give him the total, I found his gaze fixed on the news story that was still running. Not many local outlets were talking about anything besides the recent disappearances and homicides.
When his eyes returned to mine, they were dark, but not in a sexy, bedroom way. In a scary, broody and possibly dangerous way. “I hope you’re being careful when you’re out alone at night.”
I swallowed, nodded and gave him his total. He paid cash as usual and gave me a goodbye nod before making his way back out my door.
“Hate to see him go, love to watch him leave,” Cassie came to stand beside me with a wistful sigh.
“Tell me about it.”
“You get his name yet?”
“Nope,” I sighed.
“Don’t worry; I have every confidence in you. You’re due for sexy, fun, good times after Dickface.”
I let out a brief snort. Nathan was the complete contrast to my current walking, talking fantasy come to life. Nathan was buttoned up and polished sophistication. He was a three-hundred dollar bottle of wine and a four course meal at a five star joint. All class. At least on the outside. Thor with the chocolate and caramel eyes was a bottle of Jack, or maybe Johnnie Walker, followed by a long night of rolling in the sheets. Just thinking about it caused a slight shudder to course through me like someone tracing a finger softly down my spine. With a deep exhale, I tried to clear my mind of any such thoughts, and get back to work.
The rest of the day maintained a steady stream of customers in the shop and we did our part to keep them caffeinated. Supply and demand, the key to any successful business like mine, and in Bellingham there was no shortage of demand. Our doors had only been open six months and already we were seeing the kind of profits that would have us in the black much sooner than I anticipated. It helped that my financial backers went by Mom and Dad and had a zero percent interest rate on the small business loan I’d taken out to get up and running. As long as business kept up, I’d have that paid off in no time and really be able to start turning a profit.
The pride in my success was only dampened by Emily’s absence. More than my business partner, she was my marketing and advertising expert and a big part of the reason the doors here were ever swinging. She’d been in from the moment I pitched her my idea when it was nothing more than scribbles and doodles on the back of a takeout menu. For a business major and a marketing major who’d been wasting their degrees after graduation waiting tables at Nicki’s on the waterfront, it was our chance to strike out, to take a risk and do something that could be great, and it was. A year of planning went into our business designs before we ever signed the lease on this building, and it was months more of planning and preparing before our grand opening. It was all paying off, but without my partner and friend here, the success tasted more bitter than sweet.
At closing time, I had Nina, another of my girls, who’d come on shift to replace Cassie at three, hit the open light and we started collecting the trash bags.
“Hey Danny, we’re closing up shop for the night,” I called to our last customer. His eyes lifted from his laptop screen and he pushed his glasses up his nose, scanning the now empty shop.
“That time already?”
I let out a soft chuckle, “Yep, you’ve only been here for eight hours today. I swear you’re here more than most of my employees.”
He brushed his brown, shaggy curls out of his face and started packing up his laptop and the paperwork spread out around him. “Sorry, I hope I’m not in the way. I just like coming here. The atmosphere is good for my creativity.”
“You know we don’t mind having you here. You’re keeping me in business.” I smiled. He’d started coming in not long after we opened and never left. He had to be in his late twenties, and worked for one of the big tech companies in Seattle. Whatever he did for them, he could work remotely. Most days he did that from the shop. This wasn’t the first time I’d had to give him a shove out the door at closing time. He could lose himself in his work for hours, only coming up for refills on his quad shot, white chocolate, caramel mocha– extra caramel. I didn’t know what would kill him first, the caffeine or the sugar.
“Thanks, Nora.” He swept the last of his stuff into a messenger bag. “See you ladies tomorrow.”
I followed him to the door. “Have a good night, Danny.” I locked it behind him and helped Nina finish up closing tasks.
“Where are you parked?” I asked her, grabbing the large, combined trash bag.
“I’m out front, but I’ll walk with you out back to take the trash out.”
We gathered our coats and purses and I set the alarm before we left through the back door. I dumped the bag in the dumpster, and Nina and I walked to my car so that I could drive her around front to hers. With a couple bars and taverns around, and with everything going on, I didn’t like the idea of her cutting through the alley alone. Once I’d dropped her safely at her chariot, home was calling my name.
It was only a ten minute drive from the shop to the house Emily and I rented on Fairhaven, just off the water. It was a cute blue house, set back from the road in the privacy of trees. At night, it almost gave it an eerie feel, made all the more so knowing I would be walking into an empty house, no roommate waiting for me. It didn’t help that I realized as I pulled down the drive to the detached garage, I’d forgotten to leave the porch light on when I left this morning.
The outer door of the enclosed porch was left unlocked and as I stepped through, fumbling with my house key, I almost tripped over something on the floor. I didn’t need the light to know what it was, considering it wasn’t the first time I’d come home to a bouquet of roses on the porch. I let out a frustrated breath and got the front door open, before grabbing them up and carrying them inside with me. I locked the door behind me and went through the house to the kitchen, flipping on lights along the way. I tossed my stuff down on the counter and eyed the red flowers with disdain. My eye caught on the note that was attached. Well that was new. He’d never left a card before. I snatched it up, reading the simple words printed.
I’m sorry.
With an annoyed snort I tossed it in the trash and then swept the flowers in after. As if flowers and “I’m sorry,” made up for being a liar and a cheater.
&
nbsp; Right on cue, my phone started ringing and I wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Nathan’s smug face looking up at me from the screen. With an angry swipe of my finger I brought the phone to my face.
“What do you want, Nathan?”
“Just to talk to you. You’ve been ignoring my calls.”
“Then maybe you should take a hint and stop calling. I don’t have anything to say to you, and I don’t want to hear anymore of your excuses or apologies.”
“You’re making more out of this one mistake than you should.”
I laughed dryly. “First of all, you don’t get to tell me how I should feel about your mistake, and secondly, we both know you didn’t fuck her just the one time, so save it. I told you I’m done listening to your bullshit.”
“Nora, is that language really necessary?” His annoyed tone grated on me and I had the urge to reach through the phone and slap him.
“Yes. It fucking is. You can’t talk your way out of this one, Nathan. I’m not a jury member you can convince to believe the lies you spew.” As a rising star defense attorney in the Seattle area, he was making a name for himself as a smooth talker, but I was done falling for it; done being blinded by his charm.
I heard the frustrated sigh on his end. “I’m not lying to you, and we can talk about it more when I come up there this weekend. I’ll be in town on Saturday. I know you usually take the day off, so I’ll pick you up at six-thirty. I’ve made a seven o’clock reservation at Giuseppes. We’ll discuss your concerns about our relationship then.” His arrogance and condescending attitude were enough to send steam shooting out my ears. I had to draw in a deep breath before I spoke again, through a clenched jaw.
“Don’t bother coming. We no longer have a relationship to discuss, so it would be a waste of your precious time to drive all the way up here just to have me slam the door in your face. And while you’re at it, quit sending flowers.” With that, I ended the call and set my phone on the counter.
Red Red Rose Page 2
