We wait in awkward silence, his hand up and blocking his face from view of the front door. I don’t know if an actual celebrity in the world acts this way.
The coffees are called, and we walk back to the table in the corner. He won’t meet my eyes, so I decide to jump right in.
“So, what made you join Fairy Tale?”
“I figured I’d give it a shot. You know, see if I can find a lasting relationship rather than random hookups with groupies.”
Groupies? “Does that happen often?”
He gapes at me like I just asked if coffee is hot. “Are you kidding?”
“No.”
“I’m just hoping no one recognizes me here. If they do, we’ll be swarmed!”
Slouching down, he pulls the brim of his hat even lower as he shies away from the window. The window he chose to sit in. But he acts as though paparazzi will burst through and surround us with blinding flashes at any minute.
“Holly?”
I turn and see Ken by the counter. “Excuse me, Wade. I’ll be right back.”
“Didn’t know you were a celebrity of coffee shops,” Wade grumbles as I stand.
Yeah… this isn’t giving him what he thinks it is.
“What are you doing here?” Ken asks as I get to the counter. “Is this another date?”
I chuckle and roll my eyes. “Kind of. Mona—”
“So, you’re not just dating three of us? You’re still dating around on that stupid dating app?”
The bite in his tone hits me like a sucker punch. “If you’d just let me explain—”
“And you bring him to one of my coffee shops,” he cuts me off and shakes his head. “This is just great. Real classy.”
“I didn’t know this was yours,” I say. “I’ve only been to the Bean Shop. I assumed you were opening another location, not a whole new store.”
“You expect me to believe you didn’t do this on purpose? That you weren’t trying to hurt me?”
Blinking, I can only stare at him. Is he serious? He claimed he wanted a future with me, but I’m the one reaching out to communicate. I’m the one trying to connect. And he thinks I’d go out of my way to be cruel?
“What would be the point of that? To make you angry? How would this benefit me?” I ask.
“To make me jealous.”
That makes me snort. “You have nothing to be jealous over with that guy. He—”
“Is someone else you’re going to take to bed?”
If he wanted to hurt me, mission accomplished. “Excuse me?”
“After this, are you going to his house, let him seduce you with his cooking and dancing before stripping out of all your clothes for him? Or will you play coy and make him wait for the second date?”
He’s the one who wanted to wait that first night—which was the right decision—but now I’m suddenly a tease? “That’s not fair.”
“Are you sleeping with the others you date, too?”
Not just a tease but easy, too. Great. “What I do—or don’t do—with anyone else is none of your business. Just like what we do—or don’t do—isn’t anyone else’s business. And we aren’t exclusive, Ken.”
