“Nothing. Just admiring your work ethic.”
I snorted. Work ethic, sure. Her eyes were glued to my ass while she pretended to wipe down the sparkling clean counter.
I probably shouldn’t have strutted as much as I did, but I enjoyed her gaze.
I hadn’t got attention from someone as gorgeous as Autumn in a very, very long time. The heat in her eyes was gratifying, as if I was still desirable. Maybe I wasn’t as shut off from the world as I often felt.
By the time I joined her, Autumn had already prepared my favourite coffee.
“Thank ye,” I told her as I stepped right up to the counter. I leaned forward and pressed my forefinger to the shiny surface. “I think ye missed a spot over there, by the way,” I murmured.
Her cheeks darkened to almost the same dark red colour as her wavy hair.
Gorgeous.
I sucked at flirting just as much as I did at all social interactions, but I couldn’t help myself.
It took me a bit longer than usual to finish my drink, which was partly because I enjoyed watching Autumn’s easy way of handling the first customers. She made everything look so effortless.
Bee, her silver-haired co-worker, arrived a couple of minutes after Autumn.
“Good morning, Ross,” he said and eyed me, as he always did, with that cheeky little lip bite. I’d never regarded my presence as something other people might enjoy looking at. The way these two hung on my backside made me feel a lot better about myself.
These jeans are doing wonders for my ass.
“Good morning, Bee. How are you doing?” I asked. The regular deliveries to Scales & Steam forced me to come out of my shell. Both Autumn and Bee were pros at small talk, and I’d started to practice a bit whenever I came here. Perhaps I could learn how not to suck at it.
“I’m doing well. Thank you, Ross.” Beryl gave me a dazzling smile and batted his nearly translucent eyelashes, which made Autumn snort into her own coffee.
Did she think it was funny that someone would flirt with me?
Something in my chest tightened at the thought. I pushed it aside.
It doesn’t matter.She and I both knew that Bee flirted with everyone, but even I knew that it was harmless. The way he talked about his partner made it abundantly clear that he was head over heels in love with him.
Still, I found it harder to look at Autumn.
I watched them deal with the first customers of the day. When I finally said an awkward goodbye to Autumn—one I wasn’t sure counted as flirting more than politeness—her cheeks turned that same deep red as her hair again.
I left the cafe feeling unexpectedly buoyed.
I wondered if Autumn thought about me after I’d gone.
Wishful thinking… that’s new.
I whistled under my breath as I steered through the early morning traffic. Twenty minutes later, I pulled up outside my workshop, feeling quietly pleased with myself.
Talking to Autumnhadgot less hard over the last couple of weeks. Banter came naturally to her, and she somehow made it easy for me to open up a little more.
It was still hard for me to do that with my customers, though, and it showed. I didn’t want to flirt with them, either. I just wanted them to buy my coffee and give me money so I’d never have to go back to my soul-sucking bank job.
Gods, I’d been so good at it, though. I’d made that bank a shit ton of money. I had raked in bonus after bonus, and yet, in the end, it had all but broken me. The lightness in my chest evaporated and I exhaled a deep breath.
Just get to work, Graham.
I was good at this too, the roasting, and a stubborn part of me still clung to the hope that I could make this work. The people I got to buy from me all turned into repeat customers.
My problem was to get them to try in the first place. I hated asking. I was absolute shite at marketing my own products, and that a grunted “Try my coffee” didn’t work did not surprise evenme.
