“You could stay here. As long as you want.”
The words should feel premature, but they open a door to something inside me, and I’m not sure I’ll ever want it to close.
“Jamie—”
“I’m not saying move in.” He cups my face. “I’m just saying…don’t leave because you think you have to. Leave when you’re ready. If you’re ready.”
My breath catches. “And if I’m not? Ready to leave?”
His smile is slow and devastating. “Then I guess you’re stuck with me, Doc.”
Chapter 14
Revenge Is Fishy
Seventeen Days Until I Have to Go Back to Work
The Carp-e DiemCafé smells like peppermint and espresso, but I’m too focused on our mission to notice anything else. Jamie and I are crouched shoulder to shoulder near the door, giggling like we’re teenagers.
“Okay,” Jamie whispers. “You keep her busy, and I’ll set it up.”
“You trust me to handle this?”
That crooked grin of his is better than a scorching shower. “Doc, if there is one thing I’ve learned about you, it’s that you’re terrifying when you commit.”
“You’re talking about the lube, aren’t you?”
“You still have bruises on your arm from the contractions.” He leans in and kisses my cheek like it’s nothing, but my pulse skips a couple of beats. “Winnie won’t stand a chance.”
“Fine. But if this blows up in our faces, I’m blaming you.”
“Blame away.”
We stand and merge with the lunch crowd, which is about half the town. Soup bowls steam, mugs clink, and the Big MouthBilly Bass sings every time someone walks past. Winnie stands behind the counter in her ridiculous shark-print apron, chatting with customers like she doesn’t have a line out the door.
The second she sees me, she perks up. “Joy! You come for your usual?”
“Winnie, actually, we need to talk.” I thump my hand on the counter, putting on the most serious voice I can muster.
Her eyebrows shoot up. There is a fresh new hoop piercing in her left brow. “Um. Hi? What’s up?”
While she’s distracted, Jamie ducks behind the pastry case as smooth as a fox. I hear the faint squeak of the pastry case’s hinges creaking open, and Winnie tilts her chin toward the sound, but I snatch her wrist and signal her with two fingers.
“Eye contact, Winnie.” I lean closer. “You’ve been tormenting me since I got here. The glitter bomb? Really?”
Yesterday, Winnie dropped off more supplies that I’d ordered for the barn. On top was an envelope marked URGENT in big, dramatic letters. Naturally, I tore it open, only to get a full glitter facial.
“Genius, wasn’t it? You still have some in your hair.” She gives a crooked grin, the same one Jamie has, and plucks a pink piece from my hair like a proud parent.
Her brother is now swapping the chalkboard labels with the ones we prepped last night. Some of my favorites: Salmon Latte, Caviar Coffee Foam, Sea Bass Brain Soup, Fish Head Deluxe, and Blue Shrimp Roe Muffin.
Next, he erases the specials displayed in front of the pastry box.
A couple of customers clock him, but he presses a finger to his lips, and they obediently stifle their laughter. The whole town must know what a menace Winnie is.
My original plan was to replace some of her fish decor with actual fish, but I didn’t want to waste perfectly edible food.Also, I get coffee here, so having it smell rancid is not in my or Winnie’s best interests.
Jamie straightens, dusts off his hands on his jeans, and meets my eyes from his position behind the counter. That little cowboy hat tilt thing he does is so stupidly sexy that I forget I’m in the middle of my first-ever revenge plot.
