“You feel so good. I can’t wait to come inside you.”
Those words are my undoing, and my entire body spasms out of control. Soon, he lets go, and I can feel him unleash against my vibrating walls. An intense peak of pleasure takes over my body, and I moan loudly, completely forgetting where we are.
“Territory claimed,” I hear Knox mutter under his breath as we both come down from our climaxes. His body is still slick against mine, and I cherish the warm feeling. I whimper as he slowly pulls back, leaving my legs weak.
I’m still catching my breath as we both pull on our clothing. “If a customer had walked in here, you would’ve been out of business.”
Knox smiles wide, completely unbothered. “Worth it.”
And for once, I agree with him.
“Are you seriously serving pumpkin spice lattes already?” I ask Marie. I slide into one of the seats at the counter of her coffee shop. “It’s still eighty degrees outside and September is a month away.”
“I’ve got to give the people what they want,” she shrugs, handing me the coffee I just ordered. “And the people want pumpkin spice.”
“Right,” I chuckle, taking a sip of my drink. Marie was an absolute magician with coffee. Plus, it was half the price of my favorite café back in the city. I was starting to really enjoy small-town life. “How is the new renovation coming?”
Marie was currently adding an extension to her shop. She wants to build a sunroom seating area that will house plants for customers to purchase. It is going to be absolutely gorgeous once it’s finished. I am already planning on spending my mornings here, cuddled up with a good book.
“I’m still working on finding a contractor,” she groans, angrily refilling the napkin dispenser. “If I’m being honest, I’m dragging my feet a little.”
“What? Why?”
She bites her bottom lip before responding. “It’ll be my first big move since having the cafe passed down to me and it’s a big risk. If I put all this time and money into a change like this and it doesn’t generate more business, then I—well, that can’t happen.”
I nod slowly, trying to find the words to reassure her. Butthe truth is, I know what she’s going through. Being a business owner is not easy, and every decision feels like a high-stakes guessing game where the prize for failure is crushing debt.
“Well, you can count on me as a lifelong customer,” I say, tipping my cup to her. “I will single-handedly keep this place in business with my caffeine addiction and inability to fix or buy a new coffee machine.”
“Now I just have to sabotage the rest of the town’s coffee machines and I’m set,” she giggles, chasing away the clouds in her eyes.
“Now that would be impressive.”
Marie opens her mouth to reply, but is promptly interrupted by the sound of the front door swinging open. Her face drops for a second before snapping into customer service mode, but it’s long enough for me to catch it. I look toward the door.
In walks a middle-aged man wearing a button-up and khakis. He’s semi-attractive with a sharp chin and bright smile, but nothing worth taking a second glance at. Or at least not for me. My type comes in the form of a charming, but deadly smirk topped off with a soul-sucking backward ball cap.
I watch Marie carefully as she takes the man’s order and notice how stiff her posture is. I can tell something is up, but it doesn’t seem like the stranger is a threat.
When he’s done placing his order, he rounds the counter and takes a seat a few chairs down from me. And apparently, I’m not being discreet with my stares because he locks eyes with me almost immediately. I quickly duck my head and scramble for my phone to make it look like I’m doomscrolling instead of people-watching.
“Do I know you?” he asks, not letting me off the hook.
I take in a sharp breath. “I don’t think so,” I say with a polite smile. “I’m new to town. My name is Emery.”
“Oh, right.” He smirks with a nod. Something unsettling jerks in my stomach. “You’re dating Knox Cooke.”
“Yes,” I laugh nervously. I hear a clanking sound behind the counter and when I turn my head, I lock eyes with Marie. She raises her eyebrows and slightly shakes her head, trying to issue some sort of warning. I ignore her and look back at the man. “Do you know him?”
The man lets out a laugh similar to mine, but this one has an edge to it I can’t comprehend. “Oh, I know him.”
He leans back on his stool and angles his body toward me with a gentle smile. But his smile never reaches his eyes. “I know him better than I’d like to,” he adds.
“Oh?” I answer, gripping my coffee. “I guess everyone knows everyone in these small towns.”
He huffs out an amused laugh. “That’s true, but this situation is unique. Knox was averygood friend of my wife for twelve years. Good enough for her to leave town and expedite signed divorce papers through the mail.”
And then everything clicks into place. His wife is the woman that Knox supposedly had an affair with. The reason why I’m in this mess in the first place. Now his cynical tone makes more sense.
