Jace: One night with you would never be enough.
Fuck, he probably shouldn’t have written that. They’d never crossed that friendship line. But things felt different now…and he didn’t care so much about crossing lines anymore.
Because what he said was true.
The three dots appeared, then disappeared. In the end, it was Jace who sent the next text.
Jace: Good night, Tink. Have sweet dreams about my ab packs and dimples.
CHAPTER 4
Elle’s gaze flashed to the clock, then back to the coffee machine. Fifteen minutes. Almost finished with her shift. And she’d spent the entire thing watching the door, hoping for Jace to walk in. Craving just one glimpse of the man.
One night with you would never be enough.
Argh. The words had been playing in her head all day. Not to mention, they’d kept her up last night. It was all she’d been able to think about.
Why? Why had he written it? He’d never said anything like that to her before; it was like he’d always been ridiculously careful to keep everything in the friend zone. Sure, they’d been much younger when they were best friends, kids really, but that didn’t change anything. He’d still never shown even a hint of romantic interest, back then or in the years since.
She sucked in a breath as she fitted the lid onto a coffee cup and turned toward her customer. “Here’s your cappuccino.”
The older man dipped his head. “Thank you.”
Her phone vibrated, and she pulled it out to see a message from a guy on the dating app. Man, she needed to hurry up and delete the thing. She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t already.Laziness? Or maybe it was something else. Maybe she still needed confirmation that there wassomeoneout there who wanted to date her. The problem was, since Jace had returned to town,shedidn’t want to date anyone.
Jeez Louise, she was losing it.
“Ohh, who’s that?” Molly asked, peering over her shoulder. “Another potential suitor? Is he cute? Is he a lawyer? Oh, maybe a doctor?”
“I don’t know.” She locked her phone and pushed it into the back pocket of her jeans, turning to lean her hip against the counter. “And it doesn’t matter. I’m not dating at the moment.”
Molly pouted. “Come on, you had a couple of average dates so you’re ready to give up?”
“A couple? Molly, the last guy asked me if I’d be open to a polyandrous marriage?”
Molly cringed. “Yeah, okay, he kind of sucked, but one bad apple shouldn’t shade the whole tree.”
“You know there’s been more than one bad apple. I’m done.”
“Done with what?”
Elle gasped and spun around.
Jace. How in the world had he entered the café and walked to the counter without her so much as noticing?
“Dating.” Molly gave Jace a flirty smile as she leaned over the counter. “Will you tell Elle that she’s beautiful, and bynotdating, she’s denying some poor guy all of that beauty?”
Jace’s eyes bore into hers. “Youarebeautiful.”
Heat crept into her cheeks.
“See!” Molly threw her arms up. “She thinks a couple of bad dates and she’s done.”
Jace lifted a brow. “You had a couple bad dates?”
She opened her mouth, but Molly got in first.
“She did. They wereterrible, but sometimes you just need to get back on the horse.” Her smile widened. “So, Jace, areyoudating anyone?”
