The Duet(32)

“Let’s just go now,” Jason said, scooting his chair back so that it screeched against the concrete floor.

I reached my hand out to cover his and he paused immediately, staring down at my fingers. “Please. I like it here and the paparazzi will always be there. Let’s ignore them and just enjoy the moment.”

He swallowed hard, and hesitated for a moment before pulling his hand back. “Okay.”

“I’ll get you some more coffee,” I said with a smile, trying to ease the tension.

“You know what,” Marcy began, “I can pull those front drapes down. That ought to help block their pictures, too.” She walked to the front and untied black curtains from the front corners of the shop. “Usually I use them to block the afternoon sun, but this is perfect.”

The curtains were almost sheer so that they didn’t block the early morning sunlight, but it definitely did the trick. I’m sure their cameras could still get a quality photo of us, but at least I didn’t have to see them.

…



Thirty minutes and two cups of coffee later, Jason and I had three words written down on the note pad: “love” and “in love”. So, I guess, technically only two words, since love was repeated twice. And did “in” really even count? Dear God, we were so screwed.

I stood up to go refill my coffee even though I knew I’d start to get jittery if I kept downing cups.

“How’s it going?” Marcy asked as she refilled my cup with a bright smile.

“Oh, pretty good,” I lied, returning the smile.

I was about to reach for the cup when the bell over the door chimed and I heard an audible gasp.

“Oh, my dear God!” a voice yelled behind me.





Chapter Ten





When I turned around to face the coffee shop’s door, there was a teenage boy standing there with his wide eyes pinned on me. Everything about him screamed “high school”. He had all the classic signs: jeans that didn’t quite fit, a loose polo shirt, spiky hair that was probably the biggest trend at the moment.

“This can’t be real,” he said, still in a daze.

Marcy laughed beside me and I was left standing there, trying to process the situation.

“Logan, calm down. She’s just a person,” Jason said, standing up to pat the boy’s shoulder.

Still, the boy, Logan, couldn’t process the fact that I was standing in front of him. I’d met super fans before. They were harmless (most of the time), but it was funny to see one in a random coffee shop in Montana. I felt like I should have started tap dancing or doing something that was actually worthy of his attention. I was just standing there, with my hand outstretched for my coffee cup.

Jason sighed and pushed the boy toward me. “Logan, this is Brooklyn Heart. Brooklyn, this is my cousin, Logan.”

I reached my hand out toward him, but Logan didn’t move to take it. Instead, he made a strangled sound that resembled a strangled animal.

“Hi there,” I smiled, dropping my hand back to my side when it was clear that hand-on-hand contact would have given him an aneurysm.

Jason rolled his eyes at his cousin and nudged him forward. That finally seemed to do the trick because Logan blinked twice and smiled wide. Up close I could see the handsome features waiting to emerge. He had Jason’s lips and cheek bones. I knew he’d grow into himself in the next few years, and if he was even half as handsome as his older cousin, Logan would be just fine.

Oh God, why am I calling Jason handsome? And why are we all just standing here looking at each other?

“Shouldn’t you be in school right now?” Jason asked, glancing down at his watch.

Logan pulled his gaze off me for a moment to look at Jason. “I have a free period in the morning, and Mrs. O’Doyle lets me sneak out and come here if I promise to bring her back a cup of coffee.” Then he looked back at me to clarify. “I work here after school,” he said with a proud smile.

“Cool job,” I nodded.

His eyes widened at my approval.

“Okay, Brook, let’s get back to work,” Jason said as he turned toward our table. I inwardly groaned at the idea of sitting back down to our ideas. Our juices weren’t flowing and I felt like we should just call it a day and move on. There were only so many combinations you could make with the three words we’d written down: in love love, love in love, love love in. None of those sounded like the next bestselling pop-song to me.

“You call her Brook? Are you guys good friends?” Logan asked, glancing back and forth between us.

“Logan, grab your coffee and go back to school,” Jason said, promptly ending Logan’s interrogation.