Page 23 of Big Girl Panties

Chapter 9

Coffee Shop Confessions

The bell chimed, and I nearly jumped out of my skin, sending the garbage bag flying across the floor. The café was obviously closed, and the glass repair crew had packed up their tools an hour ago.

I shuffled from the back room, stepping over what used to be a perfectly good espresso machine, and froze.

A short redhead stood in the doorway, mouth agape, looking like she'd walked into the aftermath of a storm that had specifically targeted coffee shops.

"Holy cannoli," she breathed, her blue eyes doing a full panoramic sweep of the disaster zone. "Did a caffeine-deprived mob do this?"

Brooke looked up from where she was attempting to resurrect a fallen menu board. "Someone decided our little café needed a midnight makeover." She gestured at the overturned chairs and shattered glass. "The destructive kind."

The redhead's gaze landed on me, and her blue eyes went cartoon-character wide. "Oh. My. Sweet. Baby. Jesus." Each word came out like a separate prayer. "You're… you're…"

"Matt," I interrupted quickly, because the last thing this situation needed was my wrestling persona making an appearance. "Just Matt. Matt Strickland." I held up my hands in surrender. "Regular guy. Promise."

She stood there blinking like I'd just told her I was three raccoons in a trench coat.

Brooke giggled and bounced over to her friend. "Kali, breathe. In and out."

"I'm breathing!" Kali squeaked, definitely not breathing normally. "I'm totally cool. Super chill. This is me being chill." She gestured wildly at herself.

"Kali, meet Matt." Brooke shot me an amused look. "Matt, this is Kali. She's my partner in crime, my voice of reason, and the only person who can work our temperamental espresso machine."

"Which is now deceased." I glanced back at the mangled machine.

"Aww, sad," Kali frowned.

I stepped forward, extending my hand. "Nice to meet you, Kali."

She stared at my hand like it might bite her, then looked up at my face, then back at my hand. "I'm touching The Mountain's hand," she whispered to herself. "This is happening. This is my life now."

"Just Matt's hand." I squeezed her fingers reassuringly before letting go.

Brooke's phone erupted into some pop song that was probably three years old but still somehow stuck in everyone's head. "Ugh, that's my insurance agent. I've been playing phone tag with them all day." She started backing toward the office. "Don't scare him away while I'm gone, Kali!"

"No promises!"

The moment Brooke disappeared, Kali whirled on me like a tiny, caffeinated interrogator. "Okay, spill. How do you know Brooke?"

"We met at Murphy's a few nights ago." I suddenly felt like I was being cross-examined by the world's most enthusiastic defense attorney.

Her face lit up like Christmas morning. "Wait. WAIT." She grabbed my arm. "Are you Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Probably-Trouble from the bar? The one she said she'd probably never see again?"

My gaze flashed back to where Brooke had disappeared. "She said that?"

"No, not actually." She narrowed her eyes on me. "Are you two, like… dating now?"

I glanced toward the office door where Brooke had disappeared, and suddenly I knew exactly what I wanted to do. "We have a date tonight, and I really want to impress her."

Kali clasped her hands together and bounced on her toes. "This is the best day ever! Yes! I am so here for this mission!"

"I need intel." I leaned in conspiratorially. "What makes Brooke happy? Like, genuinely happy?"

"Oh, I am the right person for this job." Kali's eyes gleamed. "Brooke is obsessed with sunsets. Like, Instagram-story-every-single-night obsessed. There's a little beach she walks to, which is kind of gross, with lots of dogs and questionable sand quality, but she goes there religiously to watch the sun go down. Says it's her daily dose of magic."

I knew that beach, the little inlet near her apartment. Not romantic enough for tonight, but it gave me an idea.