Page 113 of Sunkissed Colorado

I knew Piper already from Silver Linings. My addiction to pistachio lattes had been an easy way to start up a conversation with her on my first few visits to the coffee shop with Callum.

Piper could be intimidating, what with her height and gorgeous looks, but she was one of the most welcoming people I’d ever encountered. Which was a perfect fit for the fact that she owned a cozy coffee shop.

But she still felt like Callum’s friend, not mine. He’d told me she was like a sister to him.

She sipped her half-empty glass of beer. “I’ve been wanting to get to know you better, so I’m thrilled Callum brought you today. But I have to admit, we were all a little surprised at him having a plus one. Well,Iwasn’t that surprised. Because it’s so stinkingobvious whenever you come into Silver Linings how much Callum likes you.” She bumped her shoulder into mine.

I traced the edge of one of my taster glasses. “I like him too.”

“Okay, I’m not trying to pry, but Imightperish of curiosity if it don’t find out whether you two are dating.”

I wasn’t sure if I should talk about this to one of Callum’s best friends. A woman he considered family. But at the same time, this was burning to get out of me. If I didn’t find someone to talk to about him, I might explode.

Sadly, talking to Jessa inside my head hadn’t been doing the trick.

“Well, we…might…be dating. We’ve gotten pretty close after working together.”

“I’llsay,” Piper said in a comic voice.

I snickered. “He wants to show me how good we’d be together.”

“He really said that? You swooned, right? Please say you swooned.”

Ugh, my face was on fire. Thank goodness nobody else was in earshot. I was fairly sure, anyway. “I swooned. But swooning is not all that pleasant in reality. It involves loss of blood to the head. Dizziness. It’s seriously concerning.”

She was nodding along with that same wide grin. “Uh huh.”

“But he’s never been in a relationship,” I added, feeling the need to point out the painfully obvious. “I just got out of a bad one. And we still have to work together.”

“Sounds like those are well-established bullet points. Like you’ve got a list memorized, and those three are only the top.”

“Get out of my head.”

“But…” Piper prompted.

“But.” I chewed my lower lip. “Being with him is incredible. I don’t want this to end.”

Things were getting so deep so fast, and I didn’t see how this could work out. On Monday, my grandfather was going to announce his decision about whether Callum or I got the generalmanager position. Callum knew that as well as I did. But he didn’t seem the slightest bit worried.

It felt like our competition over the job and our fledgling relationship existed in two different worlds. We couldn’t have both, and we’d been ignoring how problematic the whole thing was. As if it would all somehow resolve itself by magic.

But that wasn’t real. That was notmy life.

I wasn’t the girl who got the happy ending.

“You’re one of his closest friends,” I said. “Maybe we shouldn’t be talking about this.”

“On the contrary. You and I are quickly becoming friends too, and really, who better to talk about Callum behind his back than someone who’s known him for her entire life?” She downed the rest of her beer. “But first, we need a little more privacy, and we need more to drink.”

Piper took me inside, and we walked up to the sleek brewery counter to wait our turn to order. Everyone else from our group was still outside.

“A month or so ago,” Piper murmured, “when you kept scowling at Callum at Hearthstone, the man could not stop looking at you. Every five minutes, he was talking about you. And then a day or two later, when he came in suddenly wanting pistachio lattes and gluten-free muffins? How often do you think Callum comes into my shop, practically giving himselfhives, over trying to make the perfect order for a woman?”

I suspected I knew the answer, and somehow, it only made me more nervous. “Once a month?”

She snorted. “Try never, babe. I’ve never seen him like this with anyone. And yes, I know,that’s what they all say. But I’m one hundred percent for real. He lights up around you.”

“There are plenty of ways I could describe Callum, butlit upis a constant. He’s a walking ball of sunshine.”