Page 5

“Thank you, really, I?—”

“Can you please get out of the way?” Dishwater Blonde asked. “People are waiting.”

“Sarah, would you relax?” Todd said with an eye roll. “You’re interrupting a meet cute.”

“They’re not helping my line-long, long-line—whatever.”

I stepped aside, taking my cup, just as Todd placed a takeaway tray of four coffees onto the counter.

“Have we met before?” Ren asked as she swiped it up, “You look so familiar.”

“No!” I blurted, way too fast to sound normal. My attention had been so firmly on the dimple in her left cheek that appeared whenever she smiled, I’d barely heard the question.

Not that I wasn’t sure enough to respond decisively, if I’d come into contact with someone as good looking as this vampire before today I surely would’ve known about it.

“So, my mistake. Must have one of those faces,” she conceded with another lingering look. Her fingers twitched in a quick wave as she headed for the door, stopping with a hand wrapped around the doorframe as she turned to look back at me.

“See you around, Pet,” she called with a wink.

An honest to god, knee wobbling, boy band level,wink.

I stared after my stupidly hot saviour, blinking stupidly in the stretching silence that followed the chime of the bell as she disappeared onto the street.

“Hey, Vi?” Todd called with a conspiratorial grin, pulling my attention from the door.

“Um, yeah?”

“That was Ren, if you were curious. She’s one of the regulars. Always comes in around this time.”

“A-And you’re telling me this because…?” I asked, turning the cup over in my hands.

I didn’t dare to look at Todd, sure that his cheeks were stretched in a wide, toothy grin.

“Because I’ve been working here a long,longtime and I’ve never seen her pay for anyone’s coffee but yours before,” he explained before returning to making drinks.

“Thanks for the tip,” I replied a little vaguely, my eyes darting to the door again.

There was nothing quite like hitting rock bottom in front of the hottest person I’d ever seen in my life.

Really living for the thrill there, Vi!

“See you tomorrow,” Todd said cheerily.

Dishwater Blonde—Sarah—scoffed irritably as she waited for the impatient businessman to pay.

“Yeah…” My voice trailed as I headed for the door. “See you tomorrow.”

The familiar sting of embarrassment too fresh to loiter, I escaped out the door and headed up the stairs to Kaylee’s apartment and the safety of her couch, where I opened my emails between sips of my coffee.

Okay, Vi. That could’ve been worse. Maybe today won’t be such a disaster after—fuck.

I scrolled through rejection after rejection, the momentary happiness—read: insanity—of a hot vampire buying me a coffee deflating like a balloon.

We regret to inform…

Unfortunately, we have moved on with another…

Application rejection…