“On second thought. Skip the cream. I’ll just be patient and wait for it to cool enough to enjoy.” There was no way I was going to ruin that perfection with cream just to drink it sooner.
“Anything else?” He sat the cup on my tray.
“Stan, I’m going to get the muffins out,” a man called from behind me, a tray of mugs in his hand. “Can you grab these?”
Stan, the man I’d been trying in vain not to ogle, stepped out from behind the counter to get the tray of mugs, and I found myself gazing at his firm ass. I knew better. I truly did, but there was something about him.
I took out my wallet to pay for the coffee and he flicked his hand at it. “First visit is on me.”
“Stan, is it?” He nodded and I stuck out my hand. “It’s been nice to meet you. I’m Chet Perry.” His body froze. That was not good.
“You set me up.”
This was not good at all.
Five
Stan
“You set me up,” I hissed at Chet while glancing over the guy’s shoulder. I may have been a newbie in town but I was becoming wise to the ways of small-town gossip. Two alphas at the back who were one-upping each other by showing photos of their grandkids froze, phones clutched in their hands.
I willed their fingers not to tap out a message and blast it to the entire community, so I jerked my head toward the patio door, and after plastering on my best everything-is-fine smile at the customers, I sauntered outside. Instead of sitting at one of the tables, I went onto the grass. Having sussed out a place that couldn’t be seen from the café when I first arrived, I fully expected to see heads poking around the doorway.
“How do you figure that?” was Chet’s reply as he stuffed the last piece of a boiled peanut butter cookie in his mouth and washed it down with a gulp of coffee. For a second I focussed on those long graceful fingers wrapped around the mug wishing they were on me. On my jaw. On my hip. Stroking my dick. Stop it, Stan. You’re at work!
“Something wrong?” Chet asked, dragging me back from my fantasy. He was studying me, with one brow raised, and if I could see myself, I’d guess my expression was gooey. Damn! I was angry at me for getting turned on by this guy and pissed off at him—again—at the same time.
“Yes, something’s wrong.” I lowered my voice, took two deep breaths, and counted to ten. Didn’t work. I was just as furious as I was before, and I didn’t have time to count to a hundred. I’d be here all day. “You waltzed in here…”
Chet gave me a wink and insisted, “I did no waltzing.” He bowed and after putting down his coffee cup, he outstretched his arms as if wanting me to partner him for a dance. “But it’d be my pleasure to take a turn around the garden.” He smirked, and I caught sight of an adorable dimple.
“Stop it.” But as a giggle bubbled up my throat and threatened to burst out, I spotted two heads peeking around the door leading from the café. Shit! So, I did the only sensible thing. I walked into Chet’s embrace and we sashayed over the small grassy patch. “He’s teaching me how to dance,” I told the onlookers.
“He’s not very good at it,” one of them muttered.
“Not sure who’s the student and who’s the teacher. You’re both as bad as one another,” the other one huffed as they popped back inside.
“This is nice,” Chet announced, his warm breath on my ear.
I pulled away and straightened my name tag as sweat dotted my upper lip. “I’m at work and you’ve taken advantage of me.”
“How?” He tapped those full lips I wanted on mine. Needed them pressed against my mouth as I imagined parting my own and his tongue darting inside. Though I can’t deny I’d love to do exactly that.
He had a way with words. “You sauntered in here pretending you were a customer when you were really sussing the place out and me. Calculating ratings in your head, probably, wondering which of my customers would give the best sound bites.”
“Hey,” Chet raised his hands in surrender. “You’ve got it all wrong.”
“Oh yeah? Set me straight. Go on.” I put both hands on my hips and waited.
He waggled his brows and said, “I’d love to.”
“Get serious,” I snapped.
“Again. I’m all for it.”
I brushed away his outstretched hand. “Got a hidden camera somewhere? Have you been filming since you walked into the café?”
“God no. I promise.” Again he raised his hands, “But if you want to do a body search, I’m all yours.”
He lifted his shirt and I caught a glimpse of his abs. A quick intake of breath gave me away so I wrinkled my nose and frowned as I eyed the outline of his impressive pecs under his tee. “Put that down.” I peered at the door. “No one wants to see that.” Except I very much did want to see not only Chet with his shirt off, but also naked.
“I assumed your boss had told you I was coming.”
“No!”
The overconfident expression disappeared from his face. “I’m really sorry. There’s been a misunderstanding. I was told the higher ups had signed off on this and you had agreed to us filming.”
“Yes and no. I had said yes in principle but hadn’t heard any details about when or who. I sort of thought the whole thing had fallen through.”
“I apologize. But when you started being overly friendly, I assumed that was part of the act.”
“Act?” I waved a hand around, first pointing at the café and then me and the rose garden. “This is no act. This is my livelihood and a place where my customers can enjoy good food, great company, and conversation, or they can get quiet time away from anything that’s troubling them. This is real life, not some second-rate reality show that hypes up people’s insecurities for ratings!” Wow! I’d really let him have it, and his cocky expression had vanished. I needed a session with my therapist.
“Stan, I’ve obviously touched a nerve. If this isn’t going to work, I’ll pack up and leave. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and took deep breaths, a tactic I’d been using since the accident. If he disappeared, I could pretend my outburst never happened. But then I thought back to what Chet had said. “And what do you mean by overly friendly? Being pleasant to customers is part of my job description.”
He gave a little shake of his head. “The whole flirting thing.”
There was no pointing denying it. I had been flirting. That was something else to be pissed about. “You’re right,” I admitted. “I was. I thought you were hot and this town has a lot of married couples with young families and older people. There aren’t many eligible alphas, and I reacted to you swaggering in, confidence oozing from your pores.”
“You like that, huh?”
Fuck! No, I’d stroked his ego. “Liked, as in past tense. Now I just think you’re an ass.”
He patted his hip. “A sexy one.”
“Nope. You’re just full of it.”
Chet shrugged. “I can live with that. Not the first time someone’s said it to me.”