Chapter 1
Summer
“Toohot,eh?”
Shit. She can see me ogling the picture of the half naked man on my phone? I click my phone off and lift my gaze to Amber, the woman behind the counter of Espresso Yourself Cafe and Bookstore. Basically my favorite place on earth right now.
“Umm…” How do I answer her?
With honesty:Ya. He’s smoking hot, but we’re just friends.
Lie through my teeth:What? This shirtless adonis? Pfffffffffffft…naaaaah.
Ignorance:What? This guy? I don’t know who this is. Hey? How’d he get on my phone?
“I steamed it to one sixty five. That’s your usual for the hazelnut latte, right?”
Then it clicks. “Oh? This?” I hold up my other hand. The one that Amber was referring to in the first place. The one with the hot latte. Yup. That makes more sense than her commenting on me gawking at Eli on my phone. “Ya. One sixty five is perfect,” I reassure her because I get this drink all the time, and I don’t want her thinking that she’s done something wrong.
“Okay, great. Just checking because you kinda made a face after your first sip. Like a grimace.”
Definitely a grimace. A painful one at that. I don’t understand my infatuation with my new best friend. He’s hot, like, hotter than any man I’ve ever met, but I can’t date him. I already know that.
“No, it’s delicious,” I tell her. And then just for the heck of it—and because it’s on my mind—I blurt out, “You think men and women can just be friends, don’t you?”
It’s her turn to pull a face, and it briefly contorts into a wince. “Not really,” she mumbles while busying herself with wiping down the counter.
“Really?”
“Ya. I don’t really think it’s possible. It seems inevitable that one or both parties will have feelings for the other. It’s why I didn’t have guy friends while I was married. Before Branton died, that is.” With her cloth, she wipes a few droplets of milk on the counter. “Well, I guess I should say that I didn’t really have one-on-one friendships with men. There were still great guys in my life, but I never spent time alone with them. Not that I have had any alone time in the last six years.” She chuckles.
“I guess that’s what happens with three kids, isn’t it?” I love how open Amber is with me, even though I’ve only been in Lit Creek a short time. It’s part of its charm. The people are amazing. I’ve definitely fallen for it all.
“Yup,” she says with a wink. I know how much she loves her little ones, too. She’s always showing me a picture of one or all of them.
“I don’t know how you do it. Three kids? And you work and do design stuff on the side. You’re a superwoman.”
Her head ducks as she chuckles. “Thanks. I’ve got help. No one can do life alone.”
“That’s true.” At her comment, my phone is burning against my thigh in my pocket, but I ignore it.
“What do you think?” she asks.
“Umm—”
“About being friends with a guy?”
“Ya—”
“There you are, Summer.” Piper rushes me and gives me a big hug. “Hey Amber.”
The two greet each other while I mull over my answer, but I don’t get time to delve into it because we’re saying bye to Amber as she turns to help the next customer and Piper drags me to a table.
“We need to talk about this firefighter calendar that you’re doing,” she says with a solemn face and a crease in her forehead that I don’t recognize.
“Yes, we do. So I was thinking—”
“No, Summer. You don’t understand. Eli does not want to do it.”
