A long, mahogany bar-type counter stretched along one side of the room with a pastry case at the end. Muffins, scones, croissants, and cookies all had their place in the case. Though, at the end of the day, there wasn’t much left of that goodness.
Tables filled the rest of the space with a handful of booths near the back of the room, away from the windows. That’s what he’d snag for their date—one of the booths.
Out of the way, and perfect for the conversation they needed to have so they could move forward without all the pretend. He’d committed himself to be alone and time to process.
But during their WebTV appearance, Molly walked right through that red tape he’d placed across his heart. Right through it and to the center.
The line for caffeine was ten people deep, and the shop wasn’t too big. Maybe it was a good thing he arrived early? He’d been here many times, but he’d never taken the time to study the menu before. He knew what he liked?—
Americano, no cream, a little sugar.
But tonight he felt like something new. Something?—
Gavin moved aside to let a group through the opening in the line. They poured onto the sidewalk patio with their paper cups and plastic lids.
He turned back to the line, his gaze stopping briefly on blonde hair near the front that looked remarkably familiar from the back.
Cassidy? His ex-girlfriend Cassidy? The one who got away?
Nah. It couldn’t be Cassidy. The universe didn’t hate him that badly.
He was finally ready to jump in the deep end with Molly. Thus, there was no way Cassidy was jumping back into his life to muck that up.
He’d moved on from what they’d had, for sure. It’d been short and sweet and then when it was over, it was over.
This was definitely not her.
The hair was shorter than how Cassidy had styled hers. And Cassidy lived in California with her husband and her kids.
The woman was also not Dakota.
Dakota was in Boston with no intention to visit Denver. That’s what she’d said when she’d slammed the door, anyway. “You’re here early.” Molly’s voice severed his brief trip down memory lane.
Molly.
He looked around to where her voice came from. She’d taken the spot right behind him, her lips playing into a half grin that was really freaking adorable.
“Are you staying back there or are you going to let me buy you a cup of coffee?” He gestured for her to come up beside him.
“You can’t buy me a cup of coffee.” Molly waggled her eyebrows as she meandered forward the few steps to stand with him.
“Why is that?” he asked.
“Because I’m going to be difficult tonight and get a tea.”
“Hot or cold?” Gavin asked. The question seemed an
important temperature check on their night.
“Hot.” Molly pulled a paper menu from the empty table near them. “Definitely hot,” she mused.
Hot was good. Hot was not cold.
Not that she’d asked, but… “I was thinking I wouldn’t get my usual tonight, either.”
Because tonight was Molly. He should try something new. New beginnings warranted a new beverage choice.
“Oh, yeah?” she asked, studying the tea menu like it was the answer to all the world’s problems. “What’s your usual?”
