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A smile flashed across Charlie’s face, and a light spilled around her like a halo. A human firefly.God, she’s beautiful.

“Yep. I’m good.” She tugged on the bottom of her dress. “Tell me again why I thought platform heels were a good idea on a sidewalk full of naked intoxicated people?”

“I do love your typical hiking boots,” Mack said with a grin. “But not sure it would’ve worked with the sequins.”

The air turned dense with a smoky trail of fried onions and pork, and Mack swiveled to find the scent’s origin.

“Seattle dogs! Have you ever had one?” Charlie pressed her hand into Mack’s wrist.

The heated imprint made Mack’s arm liquify. “A Seattle dog? What’s the difference between regular hotdogs?”

“Only everything.” Charlie rolled her eyes to the sky. “Seattle hotdogs are like heaven in your mouth. Hungry? My treat.”

Hungry, no. The boba tea was as heavy as a meal. But hell if Mack would let this moment go, feeding off Charlie’s enthusiasm as she explained how slathering cream cheese on the bun was the key to hotdog happiness, and a healthy portion of seasoned onions took the place of any other condiment.

“If you really want to class it up, some people put fried peppers on it,” Charlie continued. “But I’m a traditionalist, so I stick with just the onions and cream cheese.”

The meaty sizzle of searing hotdogs mixed with the low hum of crowd chatter surrounded them as they stood in line. Mack should pay more attention, listen to conversations, and observe through all senses what she was seeing, hearing, and smelling. Anything could spark an idea. But right now, all focus was on Charlie.

An oniony vapor rose when Charlie handed Mack the foil-wrapped dog and she sunk her teeth into the warm, salty food. “This has gotta be the best hotdog I’ve ever had.”

“Right?” Charlie’s bright voice matched her beaming face. She took another bite and held the hotdog away from her chest like she was worried the juice would fall on her. “All right, settle this once and for all. New York versus Seattle. Who has the best coffee and hotdogs?”

Even if Mack thought New York had better options, she’d never say it and risk removing Charlie’s smile. “I’m for sure gonna lose my street cred, but Seattle wins. Especially the coffee.”

A ridiculously cute blush swept Charlie’s cheeks.

An unmistakable pull tugged Mack toward Charlie, but she had to knock this off.Now.Charlie popped with an energetic buzz Mack wanted to bottle up and aerosol spray around her. She had an innocence to her, like she danced ethereally in a technicolored world and blissfully ignored the boogie-man hiding under the bed. Refreshing and powerful, and Mack wanted to plug into that energy source. But Mack needed to high-wire walk that fine line. The more emotionally invested she became in Charlie, the more likely she’d lose her muse. Inspiration for her was always from afar. Too close and personal and the magic would disappear.

A potential scene erupted in her mind of Shelby taking her fairy-princess-clad daughter to a festival when she notices a local rival drug runner at the same festival with their child. Maybe a look could pass between them and a slow acknowledgment that, for the moment, they were just parents and not competitors. Mack’s brain entered the fuzzy space of reality and dream, and she had to leave immediately and write this down before her mind lost the visual.

“Hey, I’ve gotta take off.” Mack crumpled the foil and tossed it in the garbage. “Promised my mom we’d go downtown for dinner tonight.” Making up an excuse felt gross, but she didn’t want to dive into the mechanics of her creative space and how when inspiration hit, she needed to stop whatever she was doing, or the words would vanish.

“Totally get it.”

Charlie’s bright smile didn’t fade, but the sparkle in her eyes that Mack loved so much dimmed briefly.

Charlie wiped her mouth with a napkin. “Thanks for letting me tag along this afternoon. It was great seeing you outside of the shop.”

Normally, Mack would ask for her number after spending an afternoon together. Or, if it were someone else, take them home for a fun, yet empty, one-night stand so she could satisfy her needs and refocus on her manuscript. But this felt different. Even though Mack wanted to do all these things, she alsodidn’twant to, and her brain tripped over itself.

Leave.

Mack stood and put her arms out for a hug, drawing in the lavender-sage scent and swallowing the strong desire to grip those beautiful curves against her. “See you tomorrow?”

“Your drip and bagel will be waiting.”

NINE

MACK’S DRINKSPECIAL: PRODDING PARENTS PISTACHIO LATTE

Before the sun ascended, Mack’s eyes flew open as images from yesterday’s parade swirled like a neon kaleidoscope. She fished her laptop from her bag and dove into her fictional world. The keyboard popped like gratifying gunfire as the words burst out of her onto the page.

She’d fleshed out the backstory in the outline, but Charlie said something yesterday that Mack needed to record:bonded over mocha and misery. A decent line she could add to Shelby’s thought process.Bonded over coke, misery, and counterfeit cash.She jotted this down in her note section and returned to the manuscript.

Her phone rattling against the counter barely drew her attention, but she glanced anyway.

Mia: hey! Long time, huh? Saw on Insta that you’re in Seattle.