“Doyou wanna make some coffee with that instead of just teasing it?” Declan asked,unable to ignore the way Marcus was touching the machine any longer.
Hegot it. He’d done the same thing when it’d first arrived and bounced anxiouslywhile he waited for it to be hooked up.
LettingMarcus have a little fun was a fair trade for a box of doughnuts.
“CanI?” Marcus asked, his eyes lighting up.
“Knockyourself out,” Declan said, struggling to decide on a doughnut. He knew betterthan to take the cream-filled one, since those were Ash’s favorites. Instead,he picked out a yellow-tinted ring, holding it up so Marcus could see it.
“Pineappleglaze,” Marcus said. “Those normally sell out by eight.”
“Goodenough for me,” Declan said, taking a bite and humming happily as thecombination of sugar and sourness hit his tongue. He could see why they soldout. Marcus knew his way around a doughnut.
Healso, apparently, knew his way around an espresso machine.
“I’mletting Ash sleep in,” Declan explained belatedly. “My, uh. My better half.”
AshwasdefinitelyDeclan’s better half.
“Luckyguy.” Marcus grinned at him. “You’ll meet mine later today, I assume. He runsthe florist next door. If this place is open for business again, I’m gonna needto buy him some bookshelves.”
Declannodded, his mouth too full of doughnut to say anything intelligible. His braincaught on thehe, though.
Anothergay couple. Declan wasn’t sure he’d come across this many gay men in hislifebefore.
“Iseveryone in this town gay?” he asked after he’d swallowed, worrying as soon ashe got the words out that he’d just said something horribly offensive.
Fortunately,Marcus chuckled. “Oh, no, not at all. Many of us are bi.” He grinned.
Declanblinked at him, unsure how to respond to that.
“Dude,it’s a joke. I assumed that was why you guys moved here, though,” Marcus said.“It’s definitely a little more gay than usual.”
“Wedidn’t know,” Declan said. “Not until the entire welcoming committee turned outto be gay, anyway. My great uncle left me the place, actually, but I guess ifyou’re new you wouldn’t have known him.”
“Can’tsay I did,” Marcus said. “This place has been closed for as long as I’ve beenhere. Always seemed a shame. It’ll be nice to have it up and running again, Ithink. I love old cookbooks.”
“Well,lucky for you, we found a whole box of ‘em. You’re welcome to take a look, Idon’t think they’re out on the shelves yet.”
Marcusgrinned, pouring milk into the frothing jug. “I’ll take you up on that on mylunch break. Latte? Cappuccino? Real macchiato?”
Declanchuckled at that. “Latte. Sorry for being boring.”
“Hey,lattes are the test of a good coffee shop,” Marcus said.
“MaybeI could take some lessons from you,” Declan said as Marcus started frothing themilk, tapping the side of the jug to test the heat. He obviously knew what hewas doing.
“Iget the feeling you don’t need any,” Marcus said, sliding Declan’s coffee overto him. It smelled rich and dark and not at all burned, so Marcus definitelyknew something about coffee.
“Well,you can come over and make me coffee anytime,” Declan said, holding the cupclose to his chest while he waited for it to cool a little.
Hewould have poured the milk so that it made a rosetta on the top of the cup—ora heart, maybe, depending on his mood and how pretty his customer was—so maybehe knew a thing or two that Marcus didn’t, but it was a solid cup of coffee allthe same.
Footstepson the stairs told him Ash was coming down, which felt like good timing.
Ashpaused in the doorway, blinking at the two of them. “Uh. Hello?”
“Morning,gorgeous.” Declan beamed at him, figuring he should put on a show for Marcus.
