It didn’t matter. We both had jobs to do that required early morning hours and he didn’t owe me anything.
“Hi Max,” I said as evenly as I could manage. I hoped he didn’t hear the breathy way I said his name, or the longing that was plain to my ears.
“I figured I’d come back when the door was unlocked and I didn’t have to barge my way in.”
“Was the coffee okay yesterday?” I asked, looking for any excuse to talk to him. God, I was pathetic.
“Best cup I’ve ever had. And those muffins… God, those were delicious. I almost knocked this morning just so I could get some more, but I didn’t want to bother you. Again.”
I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face. Max was wearing its match, and looking at me in a way I couldn’t interpret. “I guess you’re looking for the same today then?”
Was I flirting with him? I couldn’t tell. I felt like I was, but how could taking his order be flirting? Then again, the throaty sound of my voice made me think I was offering up myself instead of my muffins. I had a muffin top, but I was pretty sure he wasn’t interested in that.
Max eyed the case carefully, considering his options. As he looked at the sweets, I looked at him. His short, dark hair curled over his collar and looked a little wet as though he’d just showered. The tan jacket he wore gaped down the middle leaving me staring at his broad chest. I loved it when men wore shirts that were fitted well enough that you could tell what they were hiding underneath.
The sleeves of his jacket moved as he ducked down giving me a mouthwatering idea of just how bulky his arms were. Arms that, in my fantasies, could actually hold me up.
What the hell was this guy doing to me? I’d known him a day and I was drooling over him and dreaming about him. That wasn’t me!
“I’ll definitely have a cup of coffee and two of those muffins, but I think I need to add a Salted Caramel cupcake too. That sounds delicious.” He smiled at me, making my own lips curl in response.
I filled his cup as he spoke and handed it over before bagging his muffins and grabbing a box for his cupcake. “Those are my favorite cupcakes too. And my favorite muffins.”
Max grinned when I handed over his cupcake. “If your favorite cupcake is half as good as your favorite muffin then I know I’ll enjoy it. Do you mind if I sit?” He nodded toward the barstools at the far end of the counter.
I shook my head and watched his ass as he walked the few steps to the stools. When he sat down he looked back at me and caught me staring at him. His cheeks turned pink, but he looked pleased that I was checking him out.
I busied myself with cleaning the counters, restocking the muffins, and waving goodbye to the O’Neill’s when they left. When I glanced at Max I saw him watching me. He smiled and said, “As good as yesterday. The coffee is a little different though.”
Taking his opening for what it could be I worked my way down to where he was sitting. Without anyone else there, I could talk to him. I told myself I would do the same with any other customer and it wasn’t just because he dominated my dreams.
“Yeah, I keep the good stuff in the back. Most of my customers don’t like coffee as strong as I do. You got my personal pot yesterday, which is always super strong. I basically live on coffee.”
Max grinned again. I was starting to wonder if he was the happiest person on the planet or if there was something wrong with him. He smiled constantly. It was a great smile though, one that lit up his eyes and showed off his perfect teeth. A dimple appeared on his right cheek that made him look that much cuter.
“I guess that’s what I get for showing up with everyone else. Maybe one of these days I’ll be able to talk you into another cup of your special coffee.”
He was staring into my eyes, sending my pulse skipping. I wasn’t sure how to answer him. A part of me wanted to run into the back and bring him a cup right then, but I’d already finished my pot and hadn’t had time to brew another one yet. “Maybe tomorrow you’ll get lucky. I don’t have any coffee ready right now. Usually I drink it throughout the day.”
“I don’t mind waiting,” Max said with a serious look.
He really wanted my special coffee. Too bad I wanted something else from him.
In the kitchen I brewed a fresh pot. While I waited for it to finish I contemplated my attraction to Max. Yeah, he was hot, easily one of the most attractive men I’d ever seen. His smile drew me in, making me trust him even though I had no reason to do so.
I’d had plenty of relationships in the past. A psychiatrist could have a field day with my need to find love, my desire for a relationship. But men in my life were always temporary. From the first moments of my life that was the truth. Grams told me my father told my mother he didn’t want anything to do with me when she found out she was pregnant. He was a drunk so I know I was better off without him, but it still hurt that he wanted nothing to do with me.
Of course my mother wasn’t much better. She stuck around long enough to pass me off onto Grams, her mom, and vanished. Every so often I would get a birthday or Christmas card from her or a phone call, but it was never regular and always late. When I was in middle school she died of a drug overdose.
I never knew what happened to my father. And I really didn’t care.
In spite of that though, I was constantly searching for someone to fill that void. The void I wanted to believe my cupcakes filled, but knew they didn’t. I’d tried many times with many men.
But none of them ever fit.
And none ever looked like Max.
Maybe that was the draw. Maybe it was only that he was so gorgeous that I wanted him. Maybe it was that the last time I’d had anyone keep my interest was way too long ago.
Or maybe there was something different about Max.
Five
When Kendall arrived that afternoon I rushed off to meet Elizabeth. I was hopeful about the two sites she had to show me. If I loved either of them I would happily find an apartment to rent that was nearby. I would prefer to live in an attached apartment like I already did, but in the time crunch I was under I couldn’t be as particular as I’d been when selecting the original Bite Me! site.
When I pulled up in front of the first site, I was mildly interested. It was in a good area of town, on Icy Lane down the street from Sweet & Sassy and Thai This. There was pretty good foot traffic in the area and it could work. If the inside worked as well as the outside, it could be a very good candidate.
Elizabeth parked behind me and got out with a grin, her blonde hair swirling behind her in the wind. She always dressed stylish, making me feel like a slacker in my jeans and Bite Me! t-shirt. That day she was wearing a red trench coat with black pants and a black and red scarf. “What do you think of the location?”
I looked up and down the street. “It’s a pretty great site. There’s a decent amount of foot traffic here. My only concern is that there isn’t a parking lot. I have a few customers who won’t be able to walk far to get into the store.”
Elizabeth looked up and down the street. She tapped her finger against her lips. “Okay, well, something to think about. Let’s get inside and we’ll see what you think of the site before we eliminate it for parking.”
I nodded and followed Elizabeth to the door. She keyed in a code and opened the lockbox then unlocked the store. She pushed the door open and let me step inside ahead of her.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to go in any further than that.
The floors were dusty with a checkerboard tile pattern buried under the dirt. Half a counter stood across the small room with frayed edges making me wonder exactly what had ripped the piece apart. The walls were a bright green color that reminded me of Wasabi. And not in a good way.
“Wow.”
Elizabeth closed the door behind us, shutting out the sounds of the light traffic and the wind whistling down the street. “I know. But you can paint. You can replace the floor. You will definitely clean. Try to look beyond what’s left behind to what this plac
e could be.”
I took a deep breath and immediately regretted it when I started coughing. I’d never wished for a bottle of water more than in that moment. “Okay, if I can breathe, I’ll give it a chance.”
Elizabeth led me around, touting the benefits of the space. The kitchen was a decent size, but it wasn’t spectacular. I also wasn’t sure it would be big enough for my supplies. “It’s not as big as I was hoping.”
Elizabeth nodded. “I sort of figured that would be the issue. I know it’s not an amazing space, but I thought the size would eliminate it no matter how well you could see past the mess.”
I laughed. “Yeah, that’s my concern. I really think it’s smaller than where I am now. The kitchen I could work with, but the retail space is tight.”
We walked back into the front room and I paced it out. “It’s six feet narrower and three feet shallower. I was thinking of expanding and going smaller just isn’t going to work.”
“Okay,” Elizabeth said with a smile. “Let’s go see the other site.”
I nodded and followed Elizabeth outside. I told her I’d follow her and got in my car. She wound through the streets of Winterville, past Winterville High School where Addi taught and over to Snowflake Street near St. John’s where Sam and Brady got married. It was a quieter part of town, but still a nice area. When Elizabeth pulled into a small driveway between two buildings and I followed. In the back was a tiny parking lot that would hold about twenty cars, at the most.
I parked next to Elizabeth and got out. “There’s parking,” Elizabeth said with a grin.
I smiled back at her. “Yes, there’s parking. But what did you tell me at the other place… Let’s not make a decision based on parking?”
Elizabeth laughed and nodded to the back door. “How about we start in the kitchen this time?”
“Lead the way.”
I followed Elizabeth to the door and waited as she unlocked it and let us in.
The kitchen was huge. Much bigger than the last one and even bigger than the one I was working in at Bite Me! There were connections all over that would allow me to have more than one work station if I ever hired someone to help me out.
“What do you think?”
I spun and looked at her. “It’s big enough. What about the store front?”
Elizabeth wrinkled her nose and I knew I wasn’t going to like the answer. “Well, let’s go look at it. I’ll reserve any comments until I know what you think.”
I smirked, knowing Elizabeth knew exactly what I was looking for, so if she wasn’t saying anything, I wasn’t likely to be thrilled, even if the kitchen was pretty good. I pushed through the door to what would be the storefront.
And stopped.
“This is it?”
Elizabeth shrugged. “If you were willing to do carry out only, this could work. I know you have seating inside now, but I wanted to show this to you.”
I shook my head. There was a counter that could stock plenty of product, but there was nowhere for customers to sit. Not just a small area, but absolutely nowhere. From the front glass to the counter was about four feet, barely enough space to have two people stand.
“I can’t do it. Every Tuesday my friends get together at Bite Me! There’s 17 of us when their husbands all show up. I can’t fit four people in here, let alone 17.”
“I know. There’s just not much out there right now. This is a horrible time for real estate so there isn’t much available. Six months ago I could have shown you two places a day for a week or two.”
I sighed. “I can’t wait until next spring. I have four weeks. And no options.”
~*~
The rest of the week revealed no additional spaces for me to move to. I had no idea what I was going to do, and I was quickly running out of time.
Even though my career and everything I’d built was vanishing, I couldn’t deny that it gave me a little thrill when Max came back every day that week, even Saturday. He always ordered the same thing, including a cup of my coffee from the back, although I managed to get him to try a few different cupcakes. When he came in Saturday morning he refused to try anything else because he liked the Salted Caramel the best.
Having him come in made my week marginally better, but I still told myself I couldn’t get involved with him. I had too much going on with Bite Me! to be worrying about a man, even if he was a delicious hunk of man that I wanted to cover in frosting and devour like the best cupcake in town.
On Sunday I had to admit to myself that I missed seeing him, but it was only because he was easy to talk to. Being a business owner he related to how much of myself I’d thrown into my business. He was envious of me having Sunday off since he didn’t get a day off if it was snowing. He bought two extra muffins and an extra cupcake Saturday so he could get through Sunday without me, his words, and I almost let myself believe he meant me, not my baking.
Monday morning I woke up smiling, ready for Max to stop by again.
When I got downstairs that morning I flipped the lights on out front just in case Mandy showed up before I opened then got to work, or in case Max stopped by. Before I knew it the sun was out and it was time to unlock the front door.
Within a few minutes of turning the lock Mandy and Xander came in bundled in coats, scarves, and gloves. “Thanks for letting Mandy camp out with you, Charles. It means a lot to me.”
I smiled at the anxious look on Xander’s face and knew what Carrie said the other night was true. He was a nervous wreck about the baby. Xander was crazy about Mandy and their baby was going to be spoiled rotten, and it was going to be beautiful.
“It’s going to be fun. And you know I’ll call you at the first sign of anything. Plus, I will be happy to close up and rush her to the hospital if needed.”
Instead of looking relieved like I’d hoped, Xander paled a shade and his eyes snapped to Mandy. She rested a hand on Xander’s arm in a soothing gesture. “Baby, it’ll be fine. I’m in good hands with Charlie and you know I’ll call you the second I think anything could be happening. I want you to be there, so please don’t worry.”
Xander glanced at me then looked back at Mandy. He gripped her head fiercely and kissed her hard on the mouth, lingering over her lips as he whispered words I couldn’t hear. It was something sweet judging by the smile on her face and the tears in her eyes as she nodded and kissed him again, sweetly, lovingly. A pang of jealousy shot through my heart at the closeness they shared, the love between them.
Mandy was a lucky woman.
Xander thanked me again then reluctantly left Mandy and I alone. “He adores you,” I stated the obvious.
“The feeling’s mutual. I really appreciate you letting me hang out here. He would have gone nuts if I was home alone and I’d gone into labor. Knowing I’ll be with you or him made him feel so much better. Even if he didn’t seem that way,” she added sheepishly.
I dismissed her concerns with a wave of my hand. “He’s fine. He just doesn’t want you to have the baby without him. It’s sweet how much he loves you.”
“He does. I’m lucky.”
“Very lucky. All of you are.”
“You will be too, Charlie. You’ll find someone who looks at you the way our husbands look at us.”
“Yeah, yeah. I’m not counting on it. You guys are lucky, but I have too much going on right now to worry about men. I still haven’t found a new site for Bite Me!”
“What are you going to do?”
I shrugged. “I have no idea. I’m getting nervous. I don’t want to be closed, but the longer it takes the longer it seems I’m going to be. I’m starting to worry it’ll be a permanent closing.”
“I’m sure you’ll find something. I can’t imagine not coming here every week though.”
I nodded and looked around at the place that was my home. I’d painstakingly selected every little thing that went into Bite Me! from the pale pink colors on the wall, the display case in the front, even the counter and stools. The tables and chairs and eve
ry mug I owned were things I picked.
My eyes teared up thinking about packing it all away or selling it. I didn’t want to see Bite Me! go under, but I wasn’t sure I was going to find a way to save it.
“I just hope I can save it.”
Mandy patted my hand, but before we could get further into our discussion some customers walked in. Mandy settled onto one of the barstools and I handed her a red velvet cupcake with a wink. She tucked into it while I handled my first customers.
I kept Mandy company between customers. The O’Neill’s came in at nine-thirty and I excused myself again from Mandy to help them.
“Oh, Charlie, thank you so much for your help over the weekend. The party was wonderful. Everyone loved your cupcakes, as usual,” Mrs. O’Neill gushed.
“I’m so glad to hear it went well. How is Molly doing?”
“She’s doing well. A little morning sickness, but nothing too bad. Unfortunately she’s having trouble eating too many sweets right now, but other than that she said she’s okay. She’s due in July so it’s still early.”
Mrs. O’Neill glanced down the counter to Mandy and smiled at her. “Oh, dear you’re lovely.”
I smiled at Mandy’s obvious shock and introduced them. Mrs. O’Neill sat down next to Mandy and asked her endless questions about her pregnancy while Mr. O’Neill paid for their breakfast.
As they finished up Riley and Connor walked in holding hands. They ordered their muffins and took the chairs Mr. and Mrs. O’Neill vacated. Riley hugged me over the counter when I joined them to chat for a few minutes.
“Glad you two could join us,” I teased Riley, remembering Carrie’s suggestion from the week before. Riley blushed and glanced at Connor, who appeared clueless, but the look told me they took a little time that morning for some fun before they came in.
I laughed and Mandy and Riley joined me, with Connor looking utterly confused. “What did I miss?” he asked.
“Nothing babe. Absolutely nothing. Just sit there and look pretty,” she teased him. It had become a joke between them that he was too pretty for her so she’d tell him to look pretty. Riley was gorgeous with her rich brown eyes, dark blonde hair, and extra curvy figure. She had an edgy sort of look with the piercing in her lower lip and a butterfly perched on an anchor tattooed on her left forearm.
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