“Yeah? Cool.” Katie picks up her cloth again and puts it in the sink before restocking the shelves. “Oh, by the way, was that your hunky landlord that dropped you off?”
I hum affirmatively, turning to give her a sly smile. “My car wouldn’t start this morning, and he’s kind of designated himself my personal chauffeur.”
She must hear the happy lilt in my voice, because her eyes widen and her jaw drops. “Oh my god! Are you two together?”
“Yeah, we kind of are. We had the best weekend, and he wants to take me out on our first official date tomorrow,” I tell her excitedly.
“Fun! Where’s he taking you?”
I shrug. “No idea. I didn’t ask.”
“Well, whatever he’s got planned, I bet it’ll be amazing. He seems like the romantic type.” Katie seems almost mesmerized as she talks.
As the hours go by, we don’t see too many customers. We have our busy periods, but for the most part, it’s pretty dead. By eight o’clock, I tell Katie to head home, because with only an hour left, I can probably handle things.
“Only if you’re sure,” she tells me. “I’d hate for you to get busy after I leave.”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle,” I assure her. “Go home.”
Once I’m alone, I begin the pre-closing duties. I wipe down all the tables, sweep and mop, clean all of the coffee machines, and make sure that everything is stocked for the next morning. I have maybe three customers come in over the last forty-five minutes. After the last one leaves, I have nothing left to do, so I grab myself a double chocolate chip cookie and hop up on the counter with my back to the door to eat it.
“Busy night?” The silky voice both alarms and excites me, and instead of hopping down and going the long way around, I bend my legs and turn on the countertop until I’m facing him. Before I can dismount the stainless steel surface, Greyston has approached me.
“It’s been all right,” I tell him. “Better now that you’re here.” He’s still wearing his suit, which either means he’s been working all this time, or he left it on for me. His reasoning doesn’t matter, really, because I really love this look.
He places his hands on either side of my thighs, his thumbs grazing the skin below the hem of my pleated uniform skirt, and he pushes his way between my legs. I’m beginning to compare our position to Saturday morning in the kitchen, and I feel a tingle building between my legs. I want him so badly, but know that we can’t do anything here. It would be wrong.
Oh god, but so much fun.
“At the risk of sounding incredibly cliché,” Greyston says in his low, sexy voice, “I really missed you today. Before this weekend, being without you wasn’t easy—especially when I was in Houston—but now that we’re finally on the same page, I found it hard to concentrate on anything all day.”
“Well,” I say, setting my half-eaten cookie down on the counter and wrapping my hand around his tie to tug him closer. “I’m here, and you’re here.”
Greyston lowers his face until his lips are within an inch of my own. I can feel the warmth of his breath on my face. My pulse begins to race, my skin prickles with anticipation, and my stomach knots with desire for him. Then, just as I feel his soft lower lip brushing my own, there’s an annoying vibration against my thigh that distracts me. I assume it’s a text and try to get back into the moment when it buzzes once more.
“What is that?” Greyston asks, dropping his eyes between us to the apron pocket I stowed my phone in earlier.
“My stupid phone,” I grumble, reaching into the pocket and pulling it out to see who it is. My nose scrunches and my upper lip pulls back in a silent snarl when I see Ben’s name glaring across the top of the screen. I hit ignore and set the phone down next to me. “Sorry, where were we?”
When that sexy half-smirk appears again, I pull him closer by his tie and am just about to kiss him when my phone vibrates again. This time it sounds a lot more annoying, rattling against the steel countertop.
Greyston’s eyes drop to where it sits, and they narrow angrily. When it vibrates again, he pulls away from me and snatches my phone up.
Before I can even think about protesting—not that I’m going to—Greyston answers the phone in a hostile tone. “Hello?” There’s a pause where I can barely make out Ben’s voice. “She’s busy, and last I checked, she wanted nothing to do with you.” Greyston’s anger is escalating, as is my desire for him as I watch this all unfold before me. I pull him closer with my legs. “So, unless you want a repeat of the first time we met, I suggest you back the hell off.” He hangs up the phone and sets it back on the counter roughly.