“It’s a honey lavender latte. It smells like a candle, but it tastes pretty good.”
She sniffed it and smiled. “It does smell like a candle. I’m a little suspicious, but I need some caffeine.”
She took a sip and hummed. “It’s not bad. Not something I’d get regularly, though.”
“That’s what I said. I think they could have gone with a fruit tea for spring.”
“I like it,” Emery said, taking another drink. “Thank you.”
Cass knocked twice on the counter. “I’ve gotta get back. Talk to you later.”
“Thanks for the coffee,” Juliette said.
Juliette took a drink of the interesting latte and looked around the small shop. Somewhere in the back, a patron flipped through pages. Another sat near the window and looked over the books she’d bought.
Her gaze stopped on the blind date table.
Was Emery right and love at first sight was a real thing? Did shifters really see someone and know at first glance that they were in the presence of their mate?
Well, she’d read enough romances to know that real life wasn’t so sweet. She’d been disappointed enough to not have high expectations. Because real life Prince Charmings didn’t livein Mill Creek and didn’t come to Willow & 2ndBooks to sweep a woman off her feet.
Taking another sip of latte, she got back to work and put the thought of high-speed romance out of her mind. She was no romance novel heroine, after all.
After flipping the sign toclosed, and saying goodnight to Emery, Juliette grabbed her bag and headed outside into the warm evening. She and Cass walked home together to the split-double they shared on 3rdstreet, right behind their jobs. Unless it was pouring rain or very cold, they always walked together.
Cass wasn’t waiting for her, so Juliette took her phone from her bag and opened Instagram.
The first thing she saw was a post about a burger.
It had white cheese melting down the sides with fries piled next to it. The caption read: Burger of the Week – The Blue Monster –1/3 lb. all beef patty with blue cheese crumbles and Muenster cheese on a brioche bun with seasoned house-made fries. One week only. Get your monster on.
“How was work?”
“Holy crap!” Juliette pressed her hand to her chest.
Cass grinned. “Scared ya? I called your name twice.”
“Geez. I was just reading a post about a burger.” She showed her the post.
“That looks good. You like blue cheese more than I do, though.”
She looked at the post again and realized why the restaurant’s name sounded familiar. The Amber Howl was in King Lake, the shifter town across the river.
She didn’t follow the account, so she wasn’t sure why the post showed up. Maybe her phone was listening to her talk to Emery about shifters.
“I think I’ll go tomorrow night. Come with me,” Juliette said.
“I can’t. My niece has a play, and I promised my sister I’d be the very best aunt ever and suffer through a third-grade play about a farm. You should come to that with me.”
“Absolutely not,” Juliette said. “The last time I went to one of Lucy’s school plays, it was a three-hour snooze fest and I was trapped in the middle of the row and couldn’t leave.”
“We can go Wednesday.”
Every Wednesday, they went out to eat, and normally to the Creekside Diner for some of Ma’s home cooking. But suddenly, Juliette didn’t want to wait.
“I think I’ll go tomorrow.”
Cass gave her an arched brow. “By yourself?”
