Page 42 of Of Pucking Course (Denver Bashers #4)

I’d be going into business with my friend’s mom and her friends. What if they hate my vision? What if they change their minds and want to take back their money? I’d be so screwed.

A million other worst case scenarios flash in my mind.

“Amy, this is such a generous offer from you, but I don’t know if I can accept it. You’re my friend’s mom and I’m scared to blur the lines in that way. I’d hate to think how things could fall out between us if we had a disagreement or if someone changed their mind.”

I hold my breath and brace myself for her reaction.

“I completely understand your concern. I’d be worried about that too if I were you,” she says, her tone easy. “But we’d go into this professionally and totally business-minded. We’d draw up contracts and have a legal team go over everything. Everything about this would be fair to you, I promise.”

I’m quiet as I think about what she said. That makes sense. And as long as we go about this in the right way, I’d have a hard time saying no.

So maybe I shouldn’t. Maybe I should take this leap and go for it.

“Can we set up a time next week for all of us to meet and hammer out the details?” she asks. “I’m so excited about this, and I hope you are too.”

Those sparks of excitement from minutes ago fire off inside of me.

I grin so wide my cheeks hurts. “Let’s do it.”

We wrap up the conversation and say good-bye. When I walk back to the table, I’m beaming.

Braden looks at me as I sit back down. “Judging by your smile, I’m guessing you got some good news?”

“Amazing news.” I take a breath. “That was Ingrid’s mom. She and her friends want me to open up my own coffee shop and they want to give me the money to do it as investors.”

His eyes go wide. “Are you serious?”

I nod excitedly. I tell him how next week I’m meeting with Amy and her friends to start planning the coffee shop.

I shake my head, dazed and giddy. “I can’t believe it. I mean, this is my dream. My whole life I wanted to own my own coffee shop, but after my breakup with Matt and losing all my savings, I thought it would never happen. But it is. It’s actually happening.”

I let out a shaky breath. Excitement and adrenaline surge through me.

Braden moves closer to me. He cups my face in his hands, beaming at me.

“I can believe it. You’re brilliant and talented and the people around you see it. I’m so, so proud of you.”

He presses a soft kiss to my lips. Warmth pools in my chest at just how happy Braden is for me in this moment.

“We should celebrate,” he says.

I stand up. “I know just what we need.”

I head over to the bar and order two glasses of Prosecco from the bartender. He steps away to grab my order. As I stand there and wait, I catch eyes across the room with Braden. He winks at me. I blow him a kiss.

“Damn. You should save a kiss for me.”

I turn and see a guy standing next to me. His slimy gaze slides to my cleavage. I glare at him. “No, thanks.”

I scoot away from him, but he follows me, pressing the side of his body against mine.

“Oh, come on. Don’t be like that. You’re hot and I wanted to say hello.”

“You’re being a creep and I’d like you to leave me alone.”

Instead of backing off, he laughs, like he’s taking my rejection as a challenge.

He reaches out and touches my arm. I pull away. “Don’t touch me.”

He frowns. “What’s your problem? I was just trying to talk to you?—”

Just then, Braden appears next to the guy. He claps a hand on his shoulder, throwing the guy off balance. He frowns at Braden, then looks at Braden’s hand on his shoulder. The guy tries to shrug out of Braden’s grip, but Braden’s bigger and stronger than him.

“You mind taking your hand off me?” the guy says.

Braden stays quiet and shakes his head as he glares at the guy.

“You look hot,” Braden says to the guy. I hold back a laugh.

The guy’s frown deepens. “Um, what?”

Braden steps forward, pinning the guy between his body and the bartop. The guy’s frown fades and his eyes go wide with panic.

“U-Uh…” the guys stammers. Braden cups his free hand around the guy’s face.

“I mean it. You’re a handsome guy,” Braden says.

The guy squirms, but he’s not strong enough to get out of Braden’s hold.

“Dude, I’m not into guys, okay?”

“What’s your problem? I was just trying to talk to you,” Braden says.

The guy stammers some more. Braden doesn’t say anything. He just keeps him pinned between his body and the bar for a few more seconds.

“Feels pretty fucking awful to be cornered by someone bigger than you, right?” Braden says in a low, hard tone.

“Y-Yeah. It does,” the guy stammers.

“So don’t fucking do it to women, you scumbag.” Braden lets go of the guy and steps away. The guy stumbles back.

“Apologize for being a fucking creep to my girlfriend,” Braden orders.

The guy aims his panicked stare to me. “I-I’m sorry.”

“Go away,” I say. He stumbles off.

Braden turns to me and cups my face in his hand. “Are you okay?” His voice is low and soft.

I nod, in awe of how he handled that. “Yeah.”

His soft blue gaze is watchful as he scans my face. “Are you sure? We can go back to the room, if you want.”

I smile softly and shake my head. “No way. The night’s not over yet. I want to drink Prosecco with you, then I want to take you somewhere.”