Love and Lattes

by Heather Thurmeier

  As he glanced back toward the bookstore, he shook his head, amazed fate would play such a cruel trick on him. The girl he'd fallen for so quickly a few nights ago was now his employee. What was he supposed to do about that?

  The first thing to do was make sure than none of the other employees found out what had happened between them. Their fling had happened before they knew they were going to be working together, before he knew he was her boss. That fact wouldn't change the other staff members having a problem with their romantic encounter.

  Why did the new employee have to be Julia?

  Julia was different. He'd known since the moment he'd seen her standing at the bar. After talking and dancing with her—going to bed with her—he knew he wanted to see her again. It had been far too long since he'd found a girl he actually wanted to date more than once and twice, but all that changed with Julia. He wanted to see her as many times as he could. He wanted to take her to Calhoun's to sample their famous cheesecake, to The Last Chance Theater to see old John Wayne flicks. None of that was going to happen with her as his employee. Damn.

  He was tired of the girls who wanted to date him because they were hoping they'd be the lucky one to snag his money and his name. Even more than that, he was sick of the mothers who relentlessly forced their daughters—both willing and resistant—to hit on him every chance they got. He'd stopped going to charity events and gallery openings simply for the fact he hated feeling like the prize slab of beef at the Meadow's meat market. As much as he loved a good one-nighter, he was tired of always playing the field, constantly searching and hoping to find the right girl.

  Julia wasn't a one-nighter. She'd been interested in him for who he really was, not who she thought he was because of his last name. Hell, even when he'd pointed out he was the owner of the store, and therefore a Bloom, she didn't seem to care. Everyone always cared. Julia didn't even seem to recognize the name, and her lack of recognition made him feel more alive and free than he could ever remember feeling before.

  He'd been hoping he'd get to see her again and now that he had, he wasn't even able to do anything about it because she was his employee. Their forbidden relationship was like a steak dangling in front of a starving tiger. She was close enough to stoke the flames of desire, but still just out of his reach.

  Maybe he could fire her?

  Nope. He couldn't do that. It wasn't fair to her. She obviously needed or wanted the job; it wasn't his right to fire her for his own selfish desires. He needed to ignore his attraction to her, be professional, and get on with life—even if his life was plagued with longing for the one thing he wanted but couldn't have. Julia.

  * * * *

  "You must be Julia," the redhead behind the checkout counter said with a distinct hint of disdain in her voice. "I'm Rebecca, the day manager."

  "Nice to meet you." Julia took off the light sweater she wore over the branded store T-shirt she'd received when she was first hired and tied it around her waist.

  Rebecca looked her up and down with a scowl on her face. Rebecca's emerald green eyes evaluated every inch of Julia, making her feel almost as if she were standing there naked. "Jason warned me you weren't from around here. Boy was he right."

  Warned you? Like she was a threat or something? Julia tugged at the shirt Jason, the other—and she'd mistakenly thought, nicer—manager had given her after the job interview. She thought she looked just as good as Rebecca did. It wasn't as if the T-shirt was especially flattering on Rebecca's curvy frame either. But Julia kept her mouth shut and took a deep cleansing breath instead of defending herself. The last thing she needed in her first fifteen seconds of work was to annoy her new, rather snobby manager. So much for the staff liking her.

  "What gave it away this time?" She hoped making a joke and laughing would help ease the tension already brewing between herself and the manager.

  "I don't even know where to begin."

  Wow. Rebecca was going to be a really fun boss—an absolute joy to work for. She took another steadying breath and chanted in her head. She only had to suffer a few months until the semester ended and then she'd be able to find a more permanent position somewhere else. As far away from the bitchy people in Meadow Ridge as possible.

  "So, what should I do first?" She plastered on the happiest smile she could muster.

  "I'm going to have you start right into stocking books. That job's the best way to get to know the store's layout. The work's a bit tricky, but you're probably smart enough to figure out where everything is by the end of the day, right?"

  Ooh, nice. You could go pro with a backhand like that.

  Rebecca slid a tall stack of books across the counter toward her. "You can start with these; come back for more when you're done. If you need a cart, there's one over there." She pointed to the small wall space beside the counter, against which sat a large cart overflowing with books.

  Julia suspected she was looking at her work for the day—possibly the week. Good thing she'd decided against heels and had opted for comfortable flats instead. "I'll just take this for now."

  "Whatever. That's your problem now."

  Rebecca began ringing through a customer standing at the counter. Dressed in a crisp tailored suit with his salt and pepper hair trimmed short and tight, he looked distinguished. As she rang his purchases into the register, he slid a black credit card out of his wallet.

  Rebecca's hand faltered for a moment before reaching for the card and letting her fingers gently graze the back of the customer's hand. Julia watched as Rebecca's eyes flickered to his. Did she just bat her eyelashes at him?

  "Mr. Albertson," Rebecca actually cooed, obviously reading his name off the card. "It's so nice of you to stop into the store. Perhaps you'd like a personal guided tour next time you visit us?"

  "I'm afraid I'm not in the area too often."

  "I'd be happy to show you around the neighborhood tonight if you'd like. I know all the most intimate places a guest in the area may not get to explore." Rebecca leaned forward slightly, her ample cleavage pointed directly at her customer.

  He raised an eyebrow and held her hand for a moment before taking his card back. "That sounds very intriguing."

  Julia scooped the heavy books into her arms and retreated from the conversation, suddenly feeling awkward and intrusive. What Rebecca did with customers was her business. Julia had no desire to get involved.

  She read the first title on the top of the pile: How to Design the Garden of Your Dreams. Sounded perfectly lovely, but not for her—she hated gardening. Sure, everyone enjoyed gazing at pretty flowers growing in artful arrangements in flowerbeds and a beautifully manicured lawn. If she was the one who had to tend them, pick the weeds, and water them regularly, they were likely to be shriveled and sun-baked by the end of the first week.

  Sighing, she remembered she wasn't shopping for herself. She was working—with a boss so hot she wanted to tackle him to the floor in the middle of the reference section and have an encore presentation of their first night together.

  Stop. Forget about him being anything to you other than a boss.

  She sighed, resigning herself to knowing Chase and she just weren't going to happen. The sooner she got over him, the better off she'd be. Forcing herself to concentrate on work, she trudged through the store still looking for the right section.

  Julia rolled her shoulders back and stretched her neck from one side to the other, urging the tiredness out of her sore muscles. Her next trip would definitely be with the cart. Of course, she'd probably have to dump half the books onto the floor just so she'd be able to push the cumbersome trolley.

  As she wandered around the store, she realized how different the layout was from the usual giant bookstores she was accustomed to. Instead of the large open floor plans, this place had multiple small rooms, and each contained a different genre or reference section. Not to mention the store was three floors high and had a rooftop terrace café. Good thing the place had an elevator or she'd need a personal tra
iner just to make it through a whole day of work without collapsing.

  Julia finally found the gardening section on the first floor. She needed to ask Rebecca for a map so she could find her way around. Or maybe she should leave herself a trail of breadcrumbs. It would take her all day to learn the layout of the store. Good luck to the customer who asked her where something was—she might accidentally send the poor soul to erotica when they were really looking for science fiction.

  She scanned the rows of book spines trying to decide where the book in her hand should go on the shelf. Was this section organized by author or title? She was used to navigating the Dewey Decimal system the campus library used, but this system was trickier to figure out.

  Shrugging, she shoved the book into the shelf between two other how-to books. If the book still wasn't in the right spot, at least it was close enough. She glanced down at the next book on top of her pile: Nourishing Your Inner Vegan. Awesome. Another random section to find.

  "I need a book on children's gardening projects for Nanny," a stern voice said behind her.

  Julia turned to see a woman with features so chiseled she could've been made out of marble. The customer stood staring directly at her with wide, expectant eyes.

  "I haven't got all day." Her voice was sharp and she snapped her fingers in front of Julia's stunned face.

  Wow. Rude.

  "No problem." Julia forced the annoyance out of her voice. "I'm sure we can find something in here that would work."

  "Yes, I'm sure you can." The woman picked up her cell and used long polished nails to type into the keyboard.

  Julia narrowed her eyes and focused her attention on trying to find an appropriate book as quickly as possible so she could send the Wicked Witch of the West on her way. She quickly glanced at the titles on the top shelf but didn't find anything useful. She moved on to the second shelf and began checking those titles. A loud and obvious sigh of impatience came from behind her.

  Why did she have so much trouble finding a simple book? And where was a computer she could use to search the store? A store like this one must have a data system in place. She would have to find out about that before anyone else asked her to find another difficult book.

  "You do work here, right? Do I need to call your supervisor over?"

  Julia plastered on a smile as fake as the woman's breasts and hoped it passed as sincere. "Today's my first day. I'm trying to find you the book as quickly as I can." She tried to remain calm and not get flustered under the woman's glare. "Perhaps if we both look, we'll find your book faster?"

  "Perhaps you need to be kept in the back stockroom if you're too dimwitted to find a simple book."

  Julia's mouth fell open and the overwhelming desire to pluck one of the snotty woman's fake eyelashes was almost too much to ignore. She pushed down the annoyance brewing deep inside, like a kettle on the brink of boiling, and remained calm, determined not to let this woman get to her. Julia needed this job, which meant she needed to get used to putting up with divas like this on a daily basis. She may as well get used to sucking up her pride and ignoring the plastic mannequins who tried to belittle her.

  She walked her fingers along the spines of books with glossy photos of sunflowers and whatnot, desperately trying to find anything suitable to give the woman who was now gossiping loudly into her phone. She had to find a book, any book—defeat was not an option.

  Julia dived down to the lower shelves. Hidden amongst the books on perennials and planting petunias, there was bound to be a book on projects for kids, and she wasn't giving up until she found one. She had to get rid of this lady fast, before she ended up fired on her first day of work.

  Chapter Four

  Chase wandered out of the mystery section on his way to the science fiction new releases. A new Dresden book had come out a few days before, and he was eager to delve into the newest escapade of Jim Butcher's unique brand of fun. Sci-fi was his favorite guilty-pleasure genre, and one he indulged in more often than he cared to admit. Reading was exactly the kind of thing he needed to help take his mind off Julia.

  He would never call himself a scholarly reader, and he was okay with that. When he was at Harvard, he'd done more than his fair share of reading books written by men too pompous for their own good. The moment he'd graduated from the university two years ago, he vowed to read only for pleasure. Since he was single with nowhere better to be, his pleasure tonight would be stretching out on the couch with a beer and a novel—not exactly everyone's idea of a good time, but to him a night in reading sounded like heaven after a long day of work.

  He glanced down the aisles as he meandered through the store. More customers lingered in the rows than he expected to see on a Tuesday afternoon. In the spring, people were generally anxious to get out of the house as soon as the weather turned warm. Today was definitely one of the nicer days the Northeast had seen so far, and customers were wandering into the store in droves for iced coffees and conversation. The store and café were busy, but still not nearly distracting enough to prevent his thoughts from drifting back to Julia and their amazing night together.

  Chase turned right to take a shortcut through the reference section. That section was usually one of the quietest areas of the store, which meant he wouldn't have to weave around people like a New York City taxi driver. He wasn't the world's best driver, so avoiding potential collisions along the way seemed like a smart choice. He'd already changed his shirt once today, and it was the only spare he had available without a trip home.

  Rounding the corner into the gardening aisle, Chase glanced at his watch to see how long he had until the fresh baked cookies would be ready in the café. Only a few minutes after two meant he still had to wait another hour until he could get his cookie fix. Stealing a cookie hot from the oven to go with his iced latte was his favorite part of the work day—one he practically drooled for as soon as he stepped foot inside the front door in the morning.

  Chase stumbled as his leg connected with something hard, warm, and distinctly human-shaped. He jumped around on his other leg, catching his balance moments before falling forward onto the person squatting down by the lower shelves.

  "Are you okay?" He knelt and came face-to-face with Julia. Unblinking, she stared back at him with those gorgeous eyes of hers. He instantly remembered her staring up at him from the piles of pillows strewn across her bed—so strikingly beautiful. His heartbeat quickened.

  "I'm fine. It was just a little tap," she said. "I shouldn't have been hanging out on the floor." She straightened the pile of books in her arms that had gone askew and tugged at the hem of her T-shirt.

  "No, it's my fault. I should've been watching where I was going." He tilted his head to the side and chuckled. "So what are you doing down here anyway?"

  "I'm looking for a book, but I can't find the stupid thing anywhere, and I know it must be here somewhere…" Her voice trailed off when her eyes met his, her cheeks pinking. "Sorry. I guess I shouldn't complain to the boss about my job on my first day, huh?"

  He ignored her question, too intrigued by her to care if she liked her job at the bookstore or not. In fact, he actually hoped she hated working for him and quit immediately. That would solve their problem nicely. Then he could take her out to lunch, find out more about her, and hopefully take her to bed again at some point.

  Stop thinking that way. She's not going to quit. You're not going to fire her. End of story.

  Frustration nibbled at his brain at the thought of never getting to do any of those things with her. Why did things have to be so difficult all the time? Why couldn't he catch a break when it came to women?

  "Don't worry about it." He smiled at her. "I'm not the kind of boss who gets upset about a little complaining."

  "I'm glad to see you found a new shirt."

  Her eyes trailed along his shirt and the warmth of desire started building inside of him. He wondered what it would feel like if her hand touched his bare chest again. Would he burst into flames at the heat
of her touch if a mere glance was already kindling his internal fires? Damn, I might never get to know the answer.

  "You were saying something about needing a book?" He moved the conversation to something more neutral rather than the fantasies he'd started to formulate in his mind.

  "Sorry, it's—um, a book. I can't seem to find the one I need and I'm getting frustrated." She scrunched her eyebrows together as if she was doing long division in her head. Unsuccessfully.

  She was cute, really cute. Frustration looked good on this girl. As she tucked a few loose strands of her black hair behind her ear, the remembered taste of her delicious skin flooded his brain, making it almost impossible to focus.

  Stop.

  "Maybe I can help you find the book you need. What's it called?"

  She sighed. "That's the problem. It's for the lady over there." She nodded in the direction of the woman who was still talking loudly into her phone. "She doesn't have a title, just a topic."

  "That customer being a pain?"

  Julia laughed. "Yep. A little bit."

  "Don't worry, Mrs Dupree's awful to everyone, myself included. So what's she barking about this time? I'm sure she has some crisis that needs immediate attention, like a chip in her nail polish or something."

  "You know her?"

  "Sadly, everyone here knows her. But I'm not so sure anyone actually likes her. So, what're we looking for?"

  "She needs a book on planting projects for kids to give her nanny. I've looked but I can't seem to find anything."

  "We'll find something. Don't worry." He looked along the bottom shelf for a moment before standing and running a finger along the top shelf. "How about this one?" He held up a book with colorful pictures of flowers and kids running in a field adorning the glossy cover.