“Soooo, you thought feeling me up in the middle of a coffee shop was the solution?” She crosses her arms over her chest,which only serves to emphasize the lickable mounds under the wet fabric clinging to her dusky skin.
“No! I wasn’t— That’s not what I—” I stutter, gripping the back of my neck. “Jesus, Iz. I was only trying to help.”
People are openly staring now. The tips of my ears burn with mortification. This is not how I wanted our next interaction to go.
When my gaze catches on her full mouth, I swear her lips twitch before they turn down into a frown.
“Well, yourhelpisn’t wanted,” she snaps, snatching the napkins from my hand to pat her chest. “Now I have to go back upstairs and change.”
“I’ll buy you another coffee,” I offer quickly. “And I can run upstairs and grab you a clean shirt if you want.”
She gives me a look that suggests I’ve just sprouted a second head. “You want to go into my apartment and paw through my clothes? Yeah, not happening.”
“I meant one of mine,” I clarify, then immediately regret it when her eyebrows shoot up even higher.
“You want me to wear your clothes now?” She lets out a humorless laugh. “This just keeps getting better.”
I sigh.Jeez. I’m such an idiot.“Look, I’m really sorry about the coffee. Let me at least buy you another one?”
Lizzy glances down at her soaked top, then back up at me. For a moment, I think she’s going to tell me to go to hell.
“Fine,” she says finally. “But only because I can’t function without caffeine, and you just destroyed my entire supply for the morning.”
Relief washes over me as she brushes past, the scent of jasmine and coffee brushing under my nose.
It’s intoxicating.
“What did you have?” I ask as we approach the counter.
“Large vanilla latte with an extra shot of espresso,” she sighs, brushing her hands over her top.
The barista gives us a sympathetic look. “Rough morning?”
“You could say that,” Lizzy mutters.
“Can we get a large vanilla latte with an extra shot, a large black coffee and a breakfast sandwich,” I tell the barista. “And maybe a few more napkins?”
“You got it,” she smiles, ringing us up.
As we step to the side to wait, an awkward silence falls between us. Lizzy is still deliberately avoiding looking at me, her attention focused on the damage to her shirt.
“I really am sorry,” I say quietly.
She sighs, finally meeting my eyes. “It’s fine. Accidents happen.”
It’s not much, but it’s something. A tiny crack in her armor that lights a spark of hope inside.
“So,” I venture, shooting my shot at a somewhat normal conversation. “Early start today?”
“Yep.”
I nod, watching her fidget with the napkin in her hand.
An uncomfortable silence stretches between us. I rack my brain for something—anything—to keep the conversation going, but come up empty. All I can think about is how beautiful she is.
“Large vanilla latte with an extra shot, large black coffee, and a breakfast sandwich, for Rowan!”
Lizzy steps forward to grab her coffee cup. “Well. Okay, then. Thanks for the coffee.”
