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“Right.” The man crossed his arms and looked down at the display case. “Now, do all of the chocolates have dairy in them?”

As the cashier began to list all of the vegan options, the cute guy looked at Arden again and mouthed, Oh, brother.

Arden smiled at him. Was there a way to turn this into a flirtatious conversation? She couldn’t see how. She became uncomfortably flustered as the man ahead of them took his sweet time ordering a dozen chocolates. Someone with expert-level flirting skills might have been able to engage the cute guy in conversation, but Arden was a novice. Oh, well, she thought as the man finished his order and the line inched forward. She would try again with the next cute stranger she met.

When it was the cute guy’s turn to order, Arden scrolled on her phone in an attempt not to eavesdrop on him. After he had walked away, Arden stepped up to the counter and scanned the options. “I’ll have a dark chocolate peanut-butter truffle. And a raspberry one for later.”

“Anything to drink?” the cashier asked. “The hot chocolate’s amazing.”

“Okay.” She glanced up at the chalkboard menu. “I’ll get the Aztec hot chocolate.”

Another employee came in from the back room and asked the cashier a question. When he turned back to Arden, he said, “Cayenne hot chocolate, got it. Anything else?”

“Wait—” Arden said. Did he say cayenne? Maybe that was another name for the Aztec hot chocolate? She decided to let it slide. There was a long line behind her.

She paid, gathered her treats, and headed up the rickety stairs to find a table. Scanning the room, she decided to sit by the window, where she could watch the rain falling and people walking by on the sidewalk below. The cute guy was also sitting near the window, so she left an empty table in between them and tried not to listen to his phone conversation.

“Of course. Yep.” He was hunched. Arden assumed from his body language that it was a work call. “I will be there early, as promised. Yes, I will bring the speaker.” He listened for a long moment. “Where did you order them from? Okay, sure, I can pick those up. Yep. Okay. See you then. Bye.”

Turning slightly away from him, Arden ate the peanut-butter truffle in two bites. The sugar rush instantly lifted her mood.

She pulled a novel out of her bag and settled in to read. Tentatively, she took a sip of her cayenne hot chocolate. She had no spice tolerance whatsoever, but it was hot chocolate, so it probably just had a tiny kick, if anything.

Wrong.

The cayenne roared down her throat and singed her nostrils. She spluttered into her elbow. Trying to compose herself, she swallowed, but this only made the burning worse. It felt like her head was on fire. She coughed.

Dimly, she noticed the cute guy hurrying away—probably to escape from Arden, who was clearly having some kind of attack—and she held her breath, willing the coughing to stop.

A paper cup full of water appeared on the table in front of her, held by a hand that quickly disappeared. She gulped the water down, then looked up. The cute stranger was standing a few feet away, hands behind his back, peering at her with concern.

“You okay?”

“I’m fine now.” Arden tried not to be bothered by the fact that she could feel tears rolling down her cheeks, brought on by the coughing attack. She batted them away with the back of her hand. “Thank you. You saved me.”

“Well.” The stranger looked adorably pleased by this. “It would’ve been awkward if you’d died while I was just, like, sitting there doing nothing.”

Arden burst out laughing in surprise.

“Did you choke on your hot chocolate?”

“No; it’s just really spicy? I think the guy thought I said cayenne. But I can’t do spice. Like at all.”

The man nodded. “I’m gonna get you another drink. Be right back.”

“Oh, you don’t have to—” Arden’s protest was futile. He was already heading downstairs.

While he was gone, Arden tried to read but couldn’t focus. The man reappeared a few minutes later.

“Classic dark chocolate hot cocoa with whipped cream. Not spicy.” He put the drink on the table in front of her.

“Oh, my gosh, you really didn’t have to—that was very—thank you.” Arden took a sip and wiped the whipped cream from her lip. “That is delicious. Thank you again.”

“Anytime.” He gave a little wave and turned back toward his table.

“Wait,” Arden heard herself say. “Would you like to join me?”

He accepted happily, brought his things over, and pulled up a chair.