I stopped that thought in its tracks. Though I’d never seen him here before, I was sure this was just fate’s cruel joke.
He quirked a brow at me and I snapped myself together. If he wasn't going to say anything about it, I sure wasn't either. "Welcome to the Beans & More. What can I get you?"
"Large Black coffee with a single sugar," he said smoothly.
I wrote it on the side of the cup. "Name?"
I asked on instinct, even though I already knew. But I wanted this to be as impersonal as possible. I wanted to push him so far out of my memory not even those piercing blue eyes were recognizable to me.
"Ellery," he said in his posh tone. I wrote it down then rang him up. He tapped that black Amex before shoving it back into his wallet.
"It will be one minute," I said as the receipt printed. "You can grab it at the counter there."
"Thanks, Juniper," he said, pretending he read my name tag.
As he grabbed it, our hands brushed and I pulled away quickly. We had enough contact for a lifetime the other day. He smirked at me before walking to the end of the counter to wait for his drink.
I prepped his coffee easily, turning on my autopilot and pretending the man on the other side of the counter was just any other customer. Not the one I hooked up with on a dangerous whim.
"Ellery," I called out as always as I snapped the little plastic cap on and slid the coffee across the counter.
"Much appreciated," he said. “See you next time.” He took a deep sip, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the movement.
Then he was gone.
I took a deep breath, finally feeling like I could breathe.
That was short lived however. Ellery came in the next day, and the day after that. Always ordering a black coffee with asingle sugar, always in a suit I was sure was more expensive than my yearly earnings.
He didn't say much, just smirking at me and occasionally commenting on the weather. Whenever he came, it felt like he sucked up all the space in the room, leaving it cramped.
He came in again today, right after the lunch rush, and Jay had just gone to the back to grab some more coffee to ground.
"Hello," he said, "just the normal."
"Sorry," I said. "I don't recall your order." Of course I did, but I didn't want him to feel like some kind of regular.
He quirked his brow. "I'm surprised someone that seems as competent as you would forget something so simple."
I gritted my teeth. "I'm surprised someone as pompous as you could fit your ego through that door."
I gasped, not believing I said that.Shit.He was definitely going to ask for the manager, or at the very least write a bad review.
What I didn't expect was his laughter. It was rich and smooth, the way I imagined expensive whiskey would be.
"Don't worry, my ego isn't the only big thing in this room. I'll take a large black, single sugar." For the first time, he pushed way too much cash across the counter and sauntered over to the counter.
I stood there, mouth open, unable to believe he just said that. I picked up the cash, got out the absurd amount of change it created, then made the coffee. In my irritation, I almost knocked the entire thing over when I swung around to grab the sugar. The words of the spell to stop it flew out of my mouth quicker than I could think about it, catching it before the liquid could spill and holding it in place. Remembering I was at work, I scooped it up quickly. My gaze shot around, hoping nobody noticed. Thankfully it was fairly slow and it seemed everyonewas wrapped up in their own thing. Even Ellery was tapping away at his phone.
God I needed to get it together. I finished the drink and calmed myself down before going towards the pickup spot.
I slid the cup across the counter and called his name, "Ellery." It really did roll off the tongue.
As he came to grab it, I slid the cash across as well. "Here's the change you left."
As I went to pull my hand away, his came on top of mine, pinning me in place.
"Do you have a minute to chat?" he asked.
