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I reluctantly made my way into the bathroom connected to our room, stopping to look over my shoulder at her. “Oh, and Aspen?”
“Yeah?” she asked, sitting up to look at me.
“I win,” I said, winking at her before I walked into the bathroom.
I heard her mumblecocky prickbefore I shut the door behind me, and the laughter in her tone made me realize that I’d never enjoyed being called a prick quite as much as I did when it came from her lips.
CHAPTER 9
Aspen
Crossland: Can you be ready to leave in an hour?
Crossland: I have a business opportunity in India, but there are a few black-tie events that would be great if you were on my arm.
Crossland: Do you have plans?
Icringed as I read the texts, glancing at my phone for the first time in the last three hours.
It had been an intense morning, with no break in the rushes. Mondays were normally busy, especially in the morning, but today had been a real cluster.
Usually, I loved rushes. I thrived off the chaotic energy that came with a constant stream of customers. I could lose myself in my work, satisfied with hours that passed quickly, knowing that was just more money in the bank.
But guilt twisted my insides as I noticed that Crossland had texted just after my shift started four hours ago.
Me: Sorry, I'm at work.
It was the only answer I could quickly type out before chugging an iced coffee and hurrying back to my position.
India. He wanted me to go to India? With only an hour's notice? With all our other adventures or outings he’d given me ample warning. At the very least enough time to schedule the copious amounts of non-paid leave I had stored up. But even I knew I couldn't keep taking it advantage of my boss’s good nature forever. I definitely couldn’t bail with just an hour's notice, especially when I'd been slinging extra shifts in my off time in order to make up for the time I'd missed.
I quickly dismissed all thoughts of being whisked away to a country I'd never dreamed I'd get to visit. I never even allowed myself to think about vacations that grand. I was lucky when I got to go to Manhattan.
A steady stream of pre-lunch customers came in, and I lost myself among the sounds of grinding espresso beans, steaming milk, and the clinking of the blenders. It was sort of like meditation for me at this point, and I counted myself lucky to find so much peace in the motions of my work.
I'd barely had time to even think about how or what to say to Crossland by the time the lunch rush had ended, and I was in that delightful afternoon lull where I had time to clean and restock my fridges and supplies.
“Can I get a flat white?” Crossland's voice was easily recognizable, and I snapped my head up from where I was kneeling behind the counter restocking my cup sleeves, only to find him grinning down at me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked completely taken aback. I was fully prepared to meet Crossland on his own turf, but himcoming to mine? I didn't even think the man knew how to get to Brooklyn.
“Did you miss the part about the flat white?” he asked, that overly confident smirk playing over his kissable lips.
I closed my eyes and took a breath, willing myselfnotto think about his lips or his tongue or his mouth in general. He casually leaned his palms on the counter, and my eyes fell to them, remembering exactly what those hands had done to me.
It was impossible tonotthink about. In fact, climbing a mountain without a harness would be easier.
He'd absolutely and utterly blown my mind, to the point that it was hard to think about anything since. I’d never experienced anything like that, and I thought I'd had good sex before.
But what he'd done to me in a matter of five minutes from the challenge I so naively presented him with? Jesus, I don't know how I was supposed to come back from that. And I wasn't quite sure if I ever would.
I finally reoriented myself behind the register, ringing him up like I would any other customer. “Okay, a flat white. Anything else?” I asked, falling right into my barista role.
“I'll take five minutes.” He smirked.
My lips fell open, shock radiating down my spine at the challenge in his eyes. Flabbergasted, I simply turned around to make his flat white, and by the time I finished, I had somewhat collected myself.
He took the paper cup and slid a twenty across the counter.
