Page 26 of September

Gwen laughed and knelt down, waiting for the dog to jump up because she knew Carly would. She looked back up at Juliet and smiled because she couldn’t not.

“I’m just new, like a bright, shiny toy,” she said, giving Carly some attention. “So, you wear a uniform?”

“Oh. I’m visiting a couple of stores on my way to the one I’m training today, and I have to be in uniform if I’m in front of customers. It’s lame; I know.”

Gwen stood back up, shook her head, and replied, “Not lame. It… looks good on you.”

“It’s a polo shirt. And I even have to wear those no-slip shoes.” Juliet looked down and lifted one of her feet. “See? Not sexy.”

“You’re going for sexy at work?” Gwen teased.

“No, I didn’t mean–” Juliet paused and shook her head at herself. “Just in general.”

“Well, I know a few women who would go for that. The uniform thing, I mean. Shoes and all.”

Juliet’s cheeks turned a light shade of adorable pink, and Gwen smiled softly at her, wondering if she had overstepped, but at the same time, not caring because it had given her this view of a slightly flushed Juliet.

“I probably shouldn’t even be joking about this because that’s how my boss got fired.”

“She wore the slippery shoes?”

Juliet chuckled and said, “No, she slept with one of our roasters.”

“Those are the people who roast the coffee, right?”

“No, we call baristas roasters because the founder wanted to break the mold. Everyone is a roaster, even if they’re not roasting anything. Confusing; I know. The roasting doesn’t take place in the stores. Well, we have a few that handle it themselves and for other local stores, but we have one main roasting facility where it’s done. At least we do it ourselves. Everything in the stores is roasted by us and is probably the freshest coffee you’ll find in the South.”

“I must admit… I don’t usually go to Southern. I’m either a local coffee shop girl, or I just hit up one of the other chains. I did stop by a local place yesterday because it was on my way, but usually, it’s one of the other chains. Sorry.” She shrugged a shoulder. “There are just more locations, and if I’m walking around with dogs all over the city, I grab whatever I can that’s close.”

“I’ll have to bring you some bags, then, so that you can check it out, and maybe that’ll change your mind,” Juliet said.

“You don’t have to do that.”

“We get free bags of coffee every month as part of our corporate incentives. I always have extras. And I like coffee, but evenIcan’t drink that much. I’ll give you one I pick up this week, and you can let me know. Any preferences? Dark roast? Light? Something in the middle?”

“I usually get a latte. Does that help?”

“Okay. Espresso, then. Do you have an espresso maker at home?”

“No, I have a pod machine at home. Quick and easy.”

Juliet seemed to be deep in thought before she replied, “Okay. I’ll give that some thought. Espresso isn’t just regular coffee. You have to make it feel special.”

“I have to make my coffee feel special?” Gwen chuckled.

“Yes. If you do, it tastes better.”

“It’s just coffee.”

“It can be more than just coffee, but you have to treat it right.”

Gwen cleared her throat, thinking about how, if Juliet even treated hercoffeeright, how might she treat a woman in bed…

When Carly brought her out of that very nice thought with a bark, Gwen looked down at her, wondering if Carly had somehow read her dirty thoughts as she sat there, looking up at her with a tilted head. Maybe she had.

“She doesn’t need to go out. I already took her. She’s just begging for attention,” Juliet said. “Can we sit for a minute?”

“Yeah. Sure,” Gwen replied, and they walked over to the sofa, where Juliet sat down.