She shook her head, her eyes flicking up to look at him under her lashes. “What’s that?”
“A large coffee, black.”
She smiled so big I thought her cheeks would split. “Let me get that for you. Be right back,” she said, scurrying off to get his order.
I tried not to roll my eyes. Yeah, Gabriel was hot and all, but geez… I picked up my drink and took a sip. “You know she’s not actually a waitress, right? You’re supposed to go up to the counter and order.”
“Yeah, I know.” He grinned at me. “I just didn’t want to wait in line.”
I snorted, which wasn’t very lady-like, and quickly tried to cover it up with a cough. “What makes you think you deserve special treatment?”
He gave me an odd look and said, “My good looks,” like it was the most obvious thing in the world. When he didn’t smile or laugh, I realized he was completely serious.
I almost choked on my iced mocha.
Gabriel didn’t notice, as Lynette chose that moment to return with his coffee. “Here you go.” That stupid, overly eager smile was still stuck on her face. “Is there anything else I can get you?”
“I think this’ll do it for now.” He slipped her a folded up bill. “Keep the change, sweetheart.”
She glanced at the money in her hand, her eyes going wide. “I– uh, thank you.”
He took a sip of his coffee and nodded dismissively at her. I guess he was done with her now that he’d gotten his drink.
Behind the counter, she showed her blond, perky coworker the money. Both of them looked at Gabriel in awe.
“You’re quite the hit. Women seem to love you,” I mumbled, seeing all the female eyes glued to the man sitting across from me.
He shrugged. “I do okay.”
I laughed and took another sip of my drink. “Well, at least you’re modest.”
He chuckled, but abruptly stopped and frowned. He looked down to the paper coffee cup in his hands, toying with the cardboard sleeve. “If it bothers you, we can leave.”
I shrugged and said, “I have a feeling it’s gonna be like this anywhere we go.”
“Probably. But still…I’d like you to be comfortable.”
Well, in that case, it wasn’t going to be here, where we were surrounded by horny vultures waiting to swoop in and pick him up. “There’s a bakery around the corner that’s supposed to have the best desserts known to man. You in?”
Beth sat up from laying on the couch when I walked in, setting her magazine down on the coffee table. “Hey, where’d you go?”
I kicked the door shut with my foot. “Out for coffee.”
She cocked an eyebrow, looking me up and down. “Then why don’t you have any?”
“Oh, I drank it there.”
“Mmm-hmm… So who’d you go with?”
I deliberately turned while I set my purse down, trying to hide my face. I sucked at lying. “What makes you think I went with someone?”
“Who drinks a cup of coffee at a coffee house by themselves? Come on, now.”
I aimed for a neutral expression and faced her. “What? People do it all the time.”
She snorted. “Only people with no friends do that. And you, my dear, had a perfectly good friend sitting right here that you did not invite,” she said, gesturing to herself. “So what gives?”
“Nothing.”
She shrugged and picked up her magazine as she propped her legs on the coffee table. “Okay, if you say so.” She flipped the page, the glossy spread of celebrity fashion mistakes crinkling as it turned.
I relaxed a little, since she seemed to buy my story, and headed to my room. Just as I made it to my door, Beth said, “Oh, before I forget, someone named Gabriel called and said you left your lipstick in his car.”
Goddamn it.
I froze and squeezed my eyes shut, as if that could erase everything.
“So…” The crinkling sound of her flipping another page grated on my nerves. “Who’s Gabriel?”
I turned around, leaning against my doorframe. “He’s just a…friend.” Did three conversations make him my friend? Or did it only make him an acquaintance?
Beth threw her magazine on the coffee table and stood. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a date!”
“It wasn’t a date, it was just coffee.”
She fired off questions at lightning speed. “How did you meet him? Does he go to school here? Is he hot? He sounds hot.”
“Um… Could you start over?”
She grinned. “First things first–is he hot? He sounded really hot on the phone.”
I chuckled as Beth led to me the couch. “How can someone sound hot?”