Molly: I like small dicks.
Becca: Bullshit.
Molly: Big ones aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.
Becca: That’s true. I’ll give you that.
“Enjoying yourself?”
Molly dropped her phone on the table, where it clattered loudly and immediately flushed. Eli stood in front of her with an amused smile on his face.
He can’t see your texts. Chill out.
“Very much.”
“May I?” He gestured at the chair opposite her.
“Of course. It’s your store.”
“Yet, I won’t force my presence on you like Lauren.”
She choked on her Danish. After forcing the bite down, she took a sip of her coffee and cleared her throat. “How’s your morning going?”
“Good. I won’t lie. It feels good to sit for a few minutes.”
“I agree. I didn’t realize how sore my feet were getting.”
“You were running around like a machine back there.” He tipped his head toward the cafe counter. “It was impressive.”
She smiled. It made her feel good to be recognized for being a hard worker. Something that didn’t happen in her corporate job in the past. “Thank you.”
He looked around them before putting his elbows on the table and leaning closer. There were people at a nearby table who were engrossed in conversation, but that was it. He lowered his voice.
“I’ve been thinking about last night, and I think it might be good for us to go on dates with each other.”
Her face immediately flamed, and her heart rate picked up speed. “Dates?”
“Yeah. You know, for show. So she’ll see us together around town and maybe get the point faster.”
She schooled her expression from the disappointment. Foolish to think he was asking her out on an actual date. “Oh, yeah. We could do that.”
“Yeah?”
She gave him the best smile she could muster and nodded.
“Awesome.” He placed his hands on his knees and pushed himself up. “I believe we already have each other’s phone numbers for work purposes.”
“I believe so.”
“I’ll shoot you a text later, and we can figure something out.”
“Sounds good.”
She watched him walk away, and a sinking sadness overwhelmed her. Knowing they couldn’t be together and not wanting to were two different things.
And she hadn’t expected the latter to be so devastating.
8
