Page 25 of Cream & Sugar

“He’s very good looking, isn’t he?” says Anna, popping back up from the fridge.

Yes—the word makes a desperate bid for freedom, but I catch it just in time. “Oh? I hadn’t noticed.”

Anna rolls her eyes. “I swear all straight men are partially blind.”

A strange heat crawls up my back.

“I mean, yeah, I guess he is,” I admit, like it’s not the fiftieth time I’ve thought that today. “Is he, er, your type?”

Anna looks appalled.

“Don’t be silly! He’s too young for me and I’m enjoying the single life just fine, thank you.” She puts one hand on her chin and cracks her neck. “Plus, I’m his supervisor, it would be inappropriate.”

My heart sinks. Something inside me punctures and deflates.

“Yeah,” I agree, nodding along like a bobble-head toy. “Inappropriate. For sure.”

Anna steps closer. “So is Freddie an upgrade to Kyle? Goodness knows we need someone who can remember more than one order at a time!”

“Sort of,” I say, lowering my voice so Freddie doesn’t overhear. “Like I said, he’s great with customers. His coffee knowledge is ropey but that’ll come with time. Perhaps tomorrow you can—?”

“Oh don’t worry,” she says with a wry smile. “He’ll be a wizard by the time I’m finished with him.”

Freddie returns, zipping up his jacket.

“All yours,” he says, gesturing to the back room.

“Is that all you’re wearing?” Anna says, pointing accusingly at Freddie’s torso. “You’ll freeze!”

“I’ll be okay,” he says, nonchalantly. “I walk fast.”

“Walk? Where do you live?”

“Cherry Street.”

Anna lets out a horrified gasp. “That’s too far to walk in this weather!”

As if on cue, the wind whips a spattering of sleet against the café windows. I wouldn’t want to walk five feet in these conditions, let alone to the other side of town.

The words leave my mouth before I can stop them: “I’ll give you a lift, if you want?”

Freddie and Anna stare at me, eyebrows raised. Instantly, I know I’ve been too forward, too eager. We’re basically strangers, of course he doesn’t want to get in a car with me—

“That would be rad,” Freddie says, a grateful smile spreading across his handsome face. “If it’s not too much trouble?”

“Not at all,” I say, my heart racing.

“You never gave Kyle a lift home!” Anna points out, unhelpfully, but I swear there’s a hint of suspicion in her voice. I hold my breath as she turns to Freddie. “You must have really impressed him.”

I swallow, taking care to avoid her eye.

“Losing staff to hypothermia isn’t a good look for a new business,” I say, as casually as I can manage. “Let me just grab my stuff.”

I scamper into the office, shutting the door behind me so Anna and Freddie won’t witness their manager slapping some sense into himself. I pinch the bridge of my nose and shut my eyes.

None of this seems fair. I was just starting to get over Lara… Okay, not true. I’m not over her at all, but why couldn’t I just be left to mourn the pieces of my shitty relationship in peace? Now I’ve been blindsided by whatever the hell this is.

As my heart rate settles, I run a hand through my hair and let out a long sigh.