Page 12 of Fighting With Light

“Because it tastes amazing.”

She shrugs and follows me to the counter. I pay for our small cups of coffee and then we find a table to sit at. She smells it and then takes a small sip.

“Holy crap, I’ve never tasted something so…smooth.”

I grin and take a sip of mine.

She looks around, probably spotting the palm civets in pictures scattered around the shop. “Why are those animals everywhere?” she asks. I smile again and shrug.

She frowns and sees the explanation of their process explained on the wall next to us. She reads it and I can see the understanding forming on her face. “This is a joke, right? I didn’t just…” She looks at me with fire in her eyes and I chuckle, trying not to choke on my coffee.

“No, princess, it’s not a joke. They eat coffee beans and poop them out.” Her jaw drops and she looks down at her half-gone cup. I take another sip, watching her go from disgusted to curious.

“But how can something so gross…taste…so good?”

I shrug because I honestly don’t know, other than what they say about the fermentation process. It is unusual, but it really is the best coffee I’ve ever had, sitting at a whopping twenty US dollars per eight ounces of coffee.

“I liked it so much I sent a box—” I cut myself off, realizing I shouldn’t tell her about my family members, but I already started. “I sent a box to my family and they loved it. I liked it more because once they figured out the process, they called to yell at me.” I chuckle to myself. Emerson was so mad. I swear he was about to jump on a plane and come over here just to punch me in the face. That was the best video call of my life.

“I think my father would have thrown it out the window,” Aelia says, but there isn’t a fond smile on her face.

“Does your dad not like gifts? Who doesn’t like getting presents?” I ask her, though it wouldn’t surprise me.

She shrugs and takes another sip, surprising me. “What? It’s good and it’sexpensive,even I don’t waste money like that.”

I lift my cup to her in silent cheers and take another small sip, tasting the chocolaty notes in the coffee.

“And to answer your question, he associates gifts with favors. So, if I gave him something purely because I wanted to, he would be under the assumption that he now owes me a favor. That’s…” She pauses. “That’s how his world operates.”

“Do you work for him or something?” I ask carefully. If they are planning on exploiting the people here, she either doesn’t like what she has to do or she simply disagrees with it. It still gets me nowhere as to how my family plays into it, unless my father has something to do with customs. She huffs a laugh sarcastically, only it’s heavy, like she’s carrying the weight of the world and no matter how much running she does, she can’t get the weight to come off.

“No, I don’tworkfor my father,” she says and leaves it at that. I nod, taking the hint that she wants to drop the subject. I’m afraid if I push her harder, she will wonder why I’m asking so much about her dad.

We finish our coffee and walk around some more until I offer to take us back. The ride to the resort is quiet and I can’t tell if she’s tired, or tired of me, or the heat. I pull up under the awning and one of the valet’s opens the door for Aelia. She thanks him and I hand over the keys.

“Let me walk you to your villa,” I offer.

She smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes as she leads the way silently down the path outside of the main building.

She reaches the front door and stops, realizing she doesn’t have the key, but she left it unlocked around the back. I follow her around and the breakfast we had earlier is cleaned up, as if it was never here. She opens the door, peeking her head in, knowing she shouldn’t have left it unlocked like she had. I practically yanked her away from here because of the way that kiss made me feel.

This is getting too sticky, even for me. I need to make my move soon, if not tonight because she will either catch onto me or her father’s people will put two and two together. I follow her into the villa, but stay next to the door. She takes the bag from my hand and sits it on the chair in the corner, then plops down on the bed.

“Are you just going to stand there?” she asks. Her voice is laced with smoke and desire, and I know I need to back out now.

“Do you want to do dinner tonight?”

She looks up from her feet and stares at me for so long it feels like she is seeing through me. “Sure, but let’s have it here at the resort. Is that okay?”

My muscles unknot a little. “Yeah, I’ll come and get you later, around seven.”

She smiles and pads over to me, kissing me on the cheek. “See you then.”

Taking that as my dismissal, I close the door and go back to my villa, but keep an eye out for the man she brought. I know what she wanted last night and it’s clear what she wanted this morning. I think shutting her down made the tension between us tighter and headier. It’s not good for either of us because that tension is about to snap, but not for the reasons she expects.

Aelia is locked up tight. It doesn’t matter how charming or gentlemanly I am. She’s not going to give me the details that I need without a little…coercion.

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