Need…not want. She closed her eyes, letting those words sit inside her for a moment. It wasn’t a one-way thing. She needed him too. She’d just been trying to convince herself she could live without him.
Her eyes opened, and she sucked in a long breath. “Can we just try to be friends for a bit first?”
One side of his mouth lifted. “We can try.”
She bit her bottom lip as her phone vibrated with a text. “That’s all I ask.”
CHAPTER 15
Elle heated up some milk for a customer’s coffee. It had been a busy morning in the café, but thankfully the rush was dying down. Usually, she didn’t mind being busy. She loved people and enjoyed her job, plus the influx of visitors made time speed by.
Today, she did mind.
How many mistakes had she made? So many she’d lost count. She’d dropped and broken a plate, undercharged one customer, then overcharged another, and burned two croissants. Why? Because she was distracted.Reallyfreaking distracted—and that distraction came in the form of one man. Or, more specifically, a kiss from one man, which had taken place days ago, but she still couldn’t get it out of her head.
God, she couldn’t believe she’d kissed himagain. Actually, that wasn’t true. Shecouldbelieve she’d kissed him after what he’d said to her.Mostwomen would’ve probably thrown themselves at him.
Memories of being lifted in his arms and pressed against the wall made her cheeks heat. Of the way he’d palmed her breast.
Too. Freaking. Addictive. That’s what his kisses were.
“What has you blushing?”
She jumped at Molly’s voice beside her, some of the milk splashing out and burning her hand.
“Crap.” Elle lowered the milk and ran her hand under some cool water in the sink, feeling Molly’s stare on her.
“Hey, are you okay?”
“Yeah, just distracted.” It was becoming a common theme for her. She looked up at the other woman. “Everything okay?”
“Actually, now that we’re quieter, I can finally tell you about my disastrous night at the bar last weekend.”
Her muscles tensed. Molly hadn’t mentioned the bar incident, and Elle hadn’t asked. She was pretty sure Molly had no idea that she’d even made an appearance that night.
“Disastrous night at the bar?” Elle poured the milk into the to-go cup before popping on the lid.
“I dranksomuch.” Molly groaned. “And proceeded to absolutely humiliate myself.”
Elle turned and smiled at the customer as she pushed the coffee across the counter. “Here you go.” She grabbed a wet cloth and started cleaning the machine.
“I did something really stupid,” Molly said quietly.
Elle raised her brows. “What did you do?”
“I hit on Jace. Well, drunk Molly did, and she didnottake the hint that he wasn’t interested. But once I’d sobered up, I remembered everything, including his not-so-subtle hints that he wanted nothing to do with me.”
She scrubbed the machine harder, not taking her eyes off it. “Really?”
“Yep. It may go down as one of my most embarrassing evenings in history. I apologized to him the next time I saw him, but I still don’t want to show my face in front of the guy.”
Elle paused, looking at the younger woman. “You apologized?”
“Oh yeah, and he was so good about it. Told me it was already forgotten.” Molly sighed. “The entire time, his big, burly muscles were pushing against the fabric of his shirt, and all I could think was, he’s going to make some woman a very happy lady.”
Elle’s heart rattled. “I’m sorry he wasn’t interested.”
“Eh. These things happen. I regret throwing myself at him, but not that I expressed my interest. Sometimes you need to put yourself out there, otherwise you’ll never know what could be.”
