Page 3 of Harvest Heat

“Would it help if we went together?”

Would it? Maybe? Tessa was right. The longer he waited, the more awkward meeting Caleb would be, and the more he would look like an asshole. It was hard enough to get people to like him. He didn’t need to deliberately make it more difficult. “I guess, but what about the shop?”

“You could put a sign on the door saying you’ll be back in a few minutes.”

Rhys’s panic returned. “I’m already losing business. I can’t.”

Tessa took his hands in hers. “Breathe.”

He tried to take slow breaths. Why was everything so fucking hard for him? There was no real reason why he couldn’t walk down the street and introduce himself. It wouldn’t kill him.

The morning rush, such as it was that day, was over, and even if he let Tessa stay, she couldn’t make coffee like he could. Sam came the closest to replicating what he could do, but they weren’t scheduled today. Had they gotten their morning coffee from Caleb like everyone else in town?

He exhaled. “All right. Let me make a sign.”

Tessa waited patiently while he wrote slowly and carefully, letting any potential customers know he was only temporarily closed and would be back soon. He even wrote the current time at the top. When he finished, Tessa already had a few pieces of tape on her fingers so they could stick the message to the glass door.

Once he was satisfied with the placement, Tessa took his arm. “You’ve got this.”

Rhys prayed she was right.

By the time Tessa and Rhys got to Cloud Nine, it was midmorning, and the line was no longer out the door. They joined the line at the end of the counter closest to the high-end commercial espresso machine. “At least while I wait, I can get a look at Caleb’s equipment.”

Tessa snorted. “That’s more the spirit.”

Rhys played back his words to figure out why she was grinning like a loon. Then he got it. “Not like that. His espresso machine.”

A second later, Tessa bumped his shoulder. “Caleb just came out from the back.”

Rhys barely registered her words; he was focused on the machine. The steam wand was overheating. Why wasn’t Caleb paying more attention?

CHAPTER 2

When the morning rush began to die down, Caleb took a much-needed break by stepping outside behind the shop. He needed a few moments to breathe in the cool air. He was so excited to experience fall in a small New England town. It was mid-September, and the leaves were just beginning to turn. Locals were predicting an amazing year for fall colors.

When he walked around to the side of the building, he heard a tiny growl, and a little white streak shot off toward the next street. Was that a kitten? He’d definitely be keeping an eye out. His asshole ex hadn’t wanted a cat, but Caleb did, and now, he made all his own decisions.

After a final deep breath, he tried to shake off his stress before he stepped back inside. The store might not be packed anymore, but he needed to spend as much time out front today as he could. He wanted to be where he could greet customers and answer any questions from his new employees. Opening day was going great, but that didn’t mean he could relax, not until closing time. That’s when he would celebrate.

He grabbed a clean towel and a stack of plastic cups for iced beverages and stepped back out front. When he surveyed the line at the counter, he saw Tessa, whose baked goods his customers had run through quickly, and Rhys, the man he’d been trying to meet for weeks. He felt like he’d talked to nearly the whole town by now, except for the beautiful, elusive man who ran the coffee shop down the street. Rhys had thick dark hair and deep, dark eyes. He was always well-dressed in button-ups and well-tailored pants. Nothing about him felt casual, which made Caleb even more intrigued.

He knew Rhys was worried about the competition, but Caleb didn’t want to take away from what Rhys was doing at Frost + Foam. He wanted to add to it. His goal was for them to thrive together. He’d done the research, and there were plenty of coffee fiends in town to provide tons of business for them both, and during the peak tourist seasons, they should both be able to bring in even more business. If Rhys couldn’t see that yet, Caleb hoped he would soon.

Plenty of people had described Rhys to him as standoffish or downright rude, but the few times Caleb had gotten a glimpse of him, he’d looked stressed and hurried, not unpleasant. At least that’s what Caleb noticed once he’d gotten over his desire to find out if Rhys’s hair was as silky as it looked or ask him what kind of glute routine had given him an ass like that. Rhys was hot as hell, and Caleb wouldn’t mind doing some filthy things to him, but he also wanted to give him a hug and help him calm down. So far, he hadn’t been able to even say hello to him. Now was his chance.

He set the plastic cups down and threw the clean towel over his shoulder before approaching Rhys and Tessa.

Tessa waved and called out, “Hi, Caleb.”

He looked toward Rhys to introduce himself just as Rhys blurted out, “That wand is going to scorch your milk proteins.”

Caleb turned to the espresso machine, but Rhys’s hand shot out first. He turned a dial, and steam hissed loudly as a burst of water shot from the wand.

A woman in line gasped, and the man she was with pulled her close.

Tessa froze, staring at Caleb with wide eyes.

Rhys grabbed the towel from Caleb’s shoulder and cleaned up the mess before looking back up with horror on his face.