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“My crowning achievement,” Maggie said sarcastically.
Deacon came home, interrupting us. I had never been more glad to see him in my entire life.
Once Maggie managed to shoo him away, conversation returned to normal. I was relieved—and disappointed.
CHAPTER9
CARTER
Ipracticed my line on the drive to the coffee shop. It was a very easy thing to say, what I wanted to say, if the cute girl from before was there, yet no matter how I tried to phrase it, it didn’t seem to come out right.
I didn’t want to come across as a creep.
I knew I was overthinking it. She probably wouldn’t even remember who I was. After all, I was just one guy, one customer out of the hundreds she must have seen since then. Maybe in my efforts to keep from being creepy, I was instead proving my creepiness by expecting that girl to recall who I was.
Shit,I sighed, pulling up in front of the coffee shop. Why had I done this to myself? Brian had been the one to suggest coffee for the morning meeting. He’d been offering to pick some up. What dumb part of me had spoken up and decided to do it myself? Furthermore, what part of me was so eager for either punishment or attention that I had to go to Effervesce when Starbucks had been much closer? Now the meeting would be late because of me.
No time to change my mind. I’d already arrived. I’d only waste more time in backtracking.
I went into the shop.
I saw the cute girl in an instant, her beautiful long hair down and her glasses on the tip of her nose. She pushed her glasses up using her shoulder. The lenses had fogged up from the steaming milk she was bent over. Her forehead creased with concentration, watching the milk frothing up to a sturdy foam.
She looked up as the door slid shut behind me. Her eyes went wide behind her glasses and suddenly all my concerns were vindicated. She knew me.
My pulse rushed in my ears. I walked to the counter, bracing my hands flat on top.
“I’ll be with you in a moment,” she said, voice wobbling. She added, “Sir,” her cheeks flushing.
I noted the one other customer, waiting at a table. I had never seen anyone so much in need of a strong coffee as he was. His back bowed and no wonder. The black bags beneath his eyes must have been carrying bowling balls.
“I’m not in a hurry,” I said. “Take your time.”
She flicked an uncertain stare at me.
To make her feel better, I started browsing through the displays of chocolate and coffee beans near the register.
She turned away and continued making a coffee.
I kept most of my attention on the fancy chocolates. Only through a heroic effort could I even manage that. She was such a captivating girl, swift and certain when operating the many strange coffee devices. Her fingers worked in quick, dexterous flicks. And, just as enchantingly, her rump swayed while she bustled around. If I hadn’t already been attracted to her, now I absolutely was.
“Carter!” she called.
I jerked my head up so fast I felt something strain, a few multicolored speckles dancing in my vision.
The girl held the coffee out across the counter, which the other man accepted with a grunt. At last, it was only the two of us.
“That’s funny,” I said, stopping my inspection of the candy displays. “Carter is also my name.”
The girl looked even more uncertain than the last time I had seen her. She kept flicking me those little sideways looks, like she was a dog who thought I might strike her. A quiet fell, thick enough to be tasted, a bitterness separate from that of the coffee.
I didn’t exactly know what to do. I’d never felt so helpless in front of anyone before.
The girl’s throat worked. “I know who you are,” she murmured.
“You do?”
She started, like she’d said something wrong. She settled down in an instant though, perhaps realizing she hadn’t made whatever mistake she’d thought she had. “I do. Last time you came in, my coworker. Suzie. She made it…uh… pretty clear.”