My chest warmed at the memory. “You, too. How are you feeling?”
She winked. “I’m young. I’m still friends with tequila.”
I chuckled, remembering Ceci. “Wonder how Ceci’s feeling this morning.”
She snorted. “Probably regretted it the second she and Rick had to wake up to handle the twins. Makes me glad I don’t have any. Your usual?”
I nodded. “And a bag of beans to go, please.”
She rang me up and turned to pull everything together. Before she handed it to me, she leaned forward and lowered her voice. “Hey.”
“Yeah?”
She cast her eyes down and paused, then looked back up. “It’s great to see you so happy. You know? You deserve it.”
I blinked, taken aback. “Thanks, Jodi.” We’d known each other for literal decades, but this was the first time she’d ever been so serious, so frank with me. So I countered. “Are you okay?”
Instantly her eyes watered and she straightened, pushing my coffee and beans to me on the counter. “I’ll be fine,” she said, throwing her smile back on and blinking furiously. “Have a good day!”
I grunted and studied her as I grabbed my cup. What was going on with her?
The bell chimed and announced another customer. It was Devon. She looked radiant, the early morning sun catching her crystal-blue eyes as they scanned the shop. Her wavy hair framed her face, and I wanted to run my lips along the curve of her bare neck. She wore an Aerosmith t-shirt and black leggings, and as I checked out her legs I decided that leggings were one of the greatest inventions of all time.
She broke into a smile as her eyes landed on me, and I swear it felt like I grew a foot in height. “Aaron.”
I swept her into a hug. She tightened her grip on me, and I could have died a happy man right there in the coffee shop.
“Good morning,” I said, warmth infusing my words.
She tipped up and sealed her mouth over mine in a kiss that was probably too long for a coffee shop, but damned if I was going to stop it. Her lips were so soft, and she smelled so good. I was in heaven. I pulled her tighter with my free hand, feeling her round curves against me.
She broke the kiss and beamed, her eyes diamond bright. “I didn’t think I’d see you this morning, but I was out with Samson and he saw Daisy, so I figured…” she shrugged and gave me another smile.
It was official. I’d died and gone to heaven. I squeezed her hip. “I’m glad you stopped.”
“I wish you hadn’t last night,” she murmured. Then her eyes widened and her cheeks reddened. “I can’t believe I said that out loud.”
I chuckled. “I can.”
She leaned into me, butting her head against my chest before looking back up. “My mouth is developing a habit of saying things before my brain catches up.”
I pushed a tendril of hair away from her face. “I’m not mad about it.”
She smiled. “Well. At least we know where we stand.”
I started running emergency protocols through my head to take my mind off the searing-hot scenarios that immediately sprang to mind, all of them involving a Devon with no clothes, and squeezed my eyes shut. “We do,” I choked out.
She laughed. “What are you up to today? Don’t you have the day off?”
I noticed she didn’t move back. We still stood close, her chest to mine, my hand on her hip. The shop may as well not have existed. “I do.”
“You want to come over later? I promise I’ll behave,” she said, even as a mischievous smile grew. “Mostly.”
I kept running those scenarios. “Definitely. I’ll text you?”
She nodded. “You will.”
I tilted her face to mine and studied it, lost in the possibility of where this might be going. Was this really happening?
“Knock it off!” Jodi called out. “This is a family place.”
I turned and she grinned. “You two are kind of sickening. Obviously I’ve already texted Chief.”
I stepped away from Devon and rolled my eyes. “Of course you did.” Because I couldn’t do anything without Chief or my brothers knowing, including saying hello to my…Wait. Was I about to call her my girlfriend? Is that what we were?
I wasn’t asking. I knew enough to not push this. I took another step back. “I’ll see you later.”
As I walked outside, the bell dinging above me, my phone buzzed. My chest warmed. Was she texting me already? I held off checking, stopping instead to give Samson a pet and then get myself and Daisy situated in the truck. I took a healthy sip of my coffee and pulled my phone out, but the grin died as soon as I read it.
Unknown
I’m coming into town soon. Planning a dinner at Will’s place.
My stomach turned and a sour taste formed in my mouth, my high of seconds ago now dead and buried under the weight of the words I read over and over.
It was like this every time. I never knew when I’d see her. Her number changed constantly because she couldn’t hold a job long enough to pay for a plan, so she just rotated burner phones. Price and Will seemed to trace her movements better than me, but only marginally. I didn’t know why they bothered. She sure as hell didn’t care. When was the last time she’d reached out for a holiday? I’d be shocked if she even remembered my birthday.
I could practically see Will frowning and telling me I needed to give her a chance.
