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“Coffee is its own food group, and I have a couple of staff who work my kick-ass machine like it’s their bitch.” She rested her clasped hands on the table and sat forward, pushing her cleavage higher, teasing him with skin the color of light peach. How would those breasts feel in his hands? Heavy? Soft? “You have no idea how serious people are about getting a good coffee in the morning. We sometimes have crowd control issues.”
He shifted in his chair as the fit of his pants grew tight with some crowd control issues of his own. Thank fuck she was facing the wall behind him, and he had that view all to himself.
But he wanted to know more. “What made you decide to open a café?”
“I like the idea of doing my own thing. Working in a corporate environment isn’t a good fit for me, too regimented.” Her gaze shone even brighter as she shared more. “I’ve always loved food and the sense of community when sharing what I create with others. Cooking in a commercial setting is more stressful, so I have two chefs. I’m better dealing with the public. We’ve been going two years.” She moved back in her chair as a waiter set a basket of steaming garlic bread on their table and refreshed their drinks. “I had an inheritance from my grandparents on my mom’s side. It was enough to set me up, but I had to make the café a success.”
He was caught up in her excitement, remembering the heady enthusiasm he’d lived on when he’d landed his first big client—a fitness company who wanted a calorie counter app. Huh, it had been a while since he’d felt that same rush.
Holding out the basket, he offered her some bread. “I understand. There are no automatic guarantees in business.”
“That’s for sure.” She selected a slice of the fragrant starter. “Thanks, I love this stuff,” she said and waited until he’d grabbed a slice for himself before taking a bite. Her throaty moan was matched by the way she closed her eyes in apparent gastronomic bliss.
Seth could think of other ways to inspire her to make such deep, satisfied sounds, and none of them involved food, but one in particular involved him tasting her pussy.
Christ, she was enticing. “So two years in, what’s the view like now?”
“We’re established in the area, on 1st Avenue near Pike Place Market. It’s competitive, but our customers are loyal, and we have businesses around us—a book shop, for example, that feeds us customers and vice versa.” Was that a trick of the light? No, that was definitely a twinkle in her eye when she smiled. “And at least customers know what’s on the menu for the next day.”
He chuckled as Theo placed their meals in front of them. The proprietor made a thumbs up sign behind Harper before walking back to the kitchen.
It didn’t escape Seth that this was the first time Theo had ever commented on a date, visually or otherwise, and Seth had brought a couple here. He was a practical man. The food was amazing, and that meant conversation should flow easily.
Harper wasted no time tasting her risotto, and she didn’t hide her appreciation for the dish. She passed on her compliments to the waiter as he poured more wine and checked on their meals.
As he finished a prawn covered in a zesty tomato sauce, she fired a question.
“So explain to me why your brother Dillon is American and has four Aussie siblings?”
“The Aussie contingent was adopted by Dillon’s mum, Aurora.” He watched as her eyes widened, but she remained silent. “Adam, Zach, Heath, and I were teenagers, living in Sydney. We were runaways, or more correctly, wards of the state.”
“Zach and Adam were friends, had been in a home for”—Seth made air quotes with his fingers—“ ‘troubled youth’ for a couple of years. Nobody messed with them. Heath ended up there and, on his first night, copped a thrashing from one of the guards.” For refusing to suck the bastard off in the basement offices. “Adam and Zach walked in on it happening. Took offense and taught the prick a lesson. The three of them ran away.”
He watched her mouth drop, but to her credit, she recovered fast enough to take a sip of her wine.
“At fourteen, I left my foster home and made my way to King’s Cross. I was still learning the rules of the street, and it showed.” Even so, the seedy underbelly of Sydney’s drug and club district was better than avoiding the fists of abusive, drunk foster parents.
Seth’s good looks had opened a couple of doors for him. He’d run drug deliveries for a local nightclub owner as one of the throwaway mules that, if they went missing, were easy to replace. The work gave him money to buy food and pay for the occasional night’s lodging in a boarding house where the supervisor didn’t give a shit that he was taking money from a runaway. And Seth wasn’t complaining. On a freezing cold winter’s night, a bed indoors was a luxury you’d fight for.
“Two months later, Adam saved me from a bashing by a street gang. At sixteen, he was a big bastard. Fought hard and dirty and few won against him.”
The alley in Sydney’s King’s Cross was a shortcut, used by tourists, thieves, and street workers alike. He’d hurried, not looking around him. There’d been no warning. A shove into the brick wall and the sting of a blade pressed against his throat. “Look, it’s a pretty boy.” Hands grabbed at his pockets. Then…a yelp. The knife clattered on the pavement. A thud, before a pained groan. Seth, close to shitting his pants, swallowed as a hulking figure backlit from the streetlights at end of the alley, loomed over him. “C’mon, kid. Try not to piss me off, and I won’t kick your arse.”
That was Adam, extending the hand of friendship.
Harper stared at him. But he saw no pity in her eyes. Thank fuck for that. Her face held…respect? Could that be right?
“You said you had foster parents. What happened to your mom and dad?”
“No idea who fathered me. Mum was a working girl.” No point dressing it up any differently. “She checked out via a heroin overdose when I was twelve. My grandparents kept my younger brother, but handed me to the authorities three months later.” When he had needed them the most.
“You’re bad. Just like your mother. A bad, bad boy.”
“I can’t imagine.” She shook her head. “And I’m not going to give you platitudes about how you’ve come so far, and tough times make you stronger. You already know that. But whatever led to you being adopted and taken out of that situation, I’m grateful it happened for all four of you.”
Perfect answer.
“Considering the price was Dillon nearly drowning, he’d probably have preferred something less dramatic.” At her wide-eyed stare, Seth explained his adopted brother’s first experience in Sydney’s surf. By the time he’d finished, Harper was sitting back in her chair, her meal eaten, and her gaze held a kind of fantastic wonder.
