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“Yeah?”
“You have a customer here to see you.”
The moment Mary Anne said that, Mikaela had a gut feeling that it was going to be Justin Henderson at the counter. She didn’t want to go out, but she knew she had to. If he was buying coffee, he was a customer. If he was here to apologize, she wouldn’t hear of it. She didn’t want to see him at all, every hair in her body was against it.
She went to the counter after fighting against the urge to tell Mary Anne she couldn’t come out to face that customer, and Mary Ann better face this customer instead. She took a deep breath and there he was in front of her. Justin Henderson. The asshole extraordinaire.
“Welcome to Uncommon Grounds,” she began, trying to sound as pleasant as possible. “What can I get for you today?”
“Hello Mikaela.”
His voice was like honey and she wanted to kick herself for even considering that she liked hearing his voice so much. She hadn’t forgotten it but she wanted to hear it again…
“Hello, sir.”
“What’s with the formality?” he asked her.
“You’re a customer, sir,” she said. “What can I get you?”
“What did I have the last time?”
“I don’t remember at all,” Mikaela replied. “I’ll have the caramel macchiato with low fat milk. Easy on the caramel drizzle.”
Oh she remembered that. She remembered he had said that he liked making things difficult, probably some ego trip for this rich asshole. Well, let’s make things difficult for him, she thought.
“I’m sure you remember.”
“I honestly don’t. If you please, someone else is ready for their order,” she told him, looking at the woman behind Justin.
Justin turned to face the middle-aged woman, red-haired and wearing a suit. “I hope you don’t mind. I’ll pay for your drink. What’ll you have?” he asked with a hint of a smile.
The woman looked surprised, and then flattered. “Oh, what? No, you don’t have to—”
“I insist,” Justin told her, his dark brown eyes looking over at the woman with concern.
The bastard, Mikaela thought. She hadn’t known he could be this charming. The woman told him what she wanted for a drink, and he had the audacity to ask if she wanted to eat something to pair with Uncommon Grounds’ heavenly coffee. She ended up ordering a bagel with some cream cheese.
The woman profusely thanked him over and over, excitedly walking out of the café, hell bent on telling her officemates some plainly extraordinary thing that happened at seven in the morning. She could tell her coworkers that a handsome young man had given her free breakfast and a disarming smile.
“What the hell did you do that for?” she hissed.
“I was being a good customer. I made her wait so you could remember my order.”
“I don’t remember your order.”
“With a brain like that, I’m sure you can.”
“What is your problem?” she asked him, feeling her face redden.
“I don’t have a problem. I just need to ask you something.”
“Can’t this wait? I have customers coming up in a few.” She dropped her voice, seeing a co-worker move near her to grab some tissue.
“I’m a customer, of course you’ll have to wait for me.”
“You didn’t order.”
“Is there a problem, sir?” Mikaela’s shift manager, the daughter of the owner, approached the counter and stood beside her.
