“I’m starting to think he’s developing a thing for you.” Her grin turned positively wicked.
“It’s only because he doesn’t know many people yet. You could help by giving him a call—let him know I’m not the only one from Central Valley living here.”
With a long-suffering shake of her head, Zoe said, “We’ve discussed this before, Taryn. I have zero interest in him. Zilch. Nada. It’s not my problem if he’s a sad little Wildcats player with no friends.” She smirked. “Which won’t be the case for long once fall classes start.”
Our professor stepping up to the podium ended our conversation. Mercifully. I didn’t need to defend Danny. Especially not with Zoe. Especially because I didn’t want to expose more of my feelings than I feared I already had. I’d tried to pawn him off on her, give myself some breathing space with someone I trusted, but I should have known she’d see right through me.
For the next hour, the professor went over the major tenets of the class, reaffirming my smart decision to take the course during the summer. I doubted we’d receive such a thorough review during a regular fall or spring course. If I didn’t ace this class, I should probably just quit school and take on a permanent position at the Coffee Kiosk.
Directly after class let out, I practiced my only exercise of the day: jogging across campus to work. Early in the summer, I’d figured out the only way I’d do any sort of workout was if I parked at work, jogged to class, and jogged back to work afterward. It all came down to time management—something I hadn’t done as well since Danny’s arrival on campus.
I tossed my backpack into the trunk of my car and locked up before heading inside to start my long day working a double to close. I arrived to another madhouse with customers lined up to the door.
“What is going on? Is there a convention in town no one told us about, or did every Starbucks in the area suddenly lock its doors?” I asked Dash as I joined him and Sophie behind the counter.
“Hailey was supposed to cover for Natalie this morning, but I think she forgot,” Sophie said as she manned the espresso machine.
“Hailey is allergic to mornings,” Dash said, his tone disparaging.
Not for the first time did I think our boss had made the wrong choice by promoting Hailey over Dash. He might have had less experience, but he worked harder and was more reliable. At least he didn’t know he’d been up for consideration. I couldn’t imagine his attitude toward the other assistant manager if he’d known.
Wasting no time, I stepped into the rhythm of making smoothies and toasting pastries while Dash took orders and Sophie made coffees. An hour later, we finally snagged a second to breathe. I fixed myself my first coffee of the day—a double espresso—and leaned against the counter to savor it.
The chime over the door sounded, and there was Danny. In an old T-shirt and a ratty pair of jeans, he looked far too gorgeous and relaxed for someone who’d spent the entire morning working out.
“Hi, T!” His smile lit up the shop like a spotlight. He ordered his usual grasshopper latte and stood opposite me as I made his drink. “Guess who’s moved up the depth chart?”
Excitement shimmered around him like a halo.
“How far up?” I asked.
“Second-string slot receiver. I’d rather play wideout, but I’m not complaining. I’ll be on the field in the first game of the season.” The triumph in his eyes could make a believer of any skeptic.
After I slid his drink across the counter to him, I held out my fist for him to bump. “Nice work, Slick. I never doubted you for a second.” I meant it too. When it came to football, he would always be in the game.
My gaze zeroed in on his mouth as he sipped his drink and ran his tongue along his Cupid’s bow. For a second the move sent me directly back to last night’s dream. As though he could see into my head, a tiny grin tugged at the corner of his mouth. He lifted his cup to it again but didn’t take a drink. My cheeks heated at him catching me staring at the sculpted perfection of his lips, and I turned to the back counter to hide—I mean, to grab my own drink and take a fortifying sip.
“This calls for a celebration. What time do you get off tonight?”
“The usual, but my final is tomorrow, so I’m afraid I can’t help you celebrate—at least not tonight.”
The disappointment on his face gave me the mother of all guilt complexes.
“But we could do something fun tomorrow night.”
“Yeah? What did you have in mind?”
I snorted a laugh at the cheesy suggestiveness in his tone. “I’ll come up with something.”
Right then, Hailey blew through the back door, breathlessly tying her apron on. “I’m so sorry I’m late. You have no idea what kind of morning I’ve had.”
“We had kind of a morning too, Hailey,” Dash said, his sardonic tone sailing right over her head as she spied Danny.
“Hi, Danny,” she said, her hand going immediately to her hair. She tugged her long braid over her shoulder where she could pet it over the top of her breast.
He tipped his chin in her direction and returned his attention to me. “You can keep it a little”—he held up his thumb and forefinger, leaving a speck of space between them—“low-key. But I’m counting on something good.”
Lucky for me, the shop’s air-conditioning kept the place somewhere just south of freezing or else the grin he flashed me would have melted my panties on the spot. And what was up with that anyway? With him? He’d tossedmea grin like that while completely ignoring my pretty coworker’s come-on? His antics made zero sense.
