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The sight of Jasper’s name on her screen made her belly flutter, but the breath she’d been holding released—some odd combination of relief that he was back and anxiety…for the exact same reason.Ugh.Brains were weird.
Herbrain was weird.
She picked up the phone, pondering how to respond.
Lucinda had used a rotation of temps to cover the coffee bar over the last two weeks when Jasper had been out recovering from surgery. The coffee had been nearly undrinkable. Hollyn had texted Jasper once, two days after surgery, and he’d responded with enough typos to make her suspect he’d been blitzed on pain meds. But she’d at least confirmed that he was okay. She hadn’t had the guts to text him again, though. The longer he was away, the more it felt like he was a stranger again, like their whole interaction had been some kind of waking dream. She’d mostly convinced herself that the night in the hospital had just been a glitch in the universe, and now everything would be set back to normal.
But right now, she could use a coffee and a pastry and maybe a glimpse of that friendly face of his. So instead of following her first instinct—to text her order and hide—she typed a quick response.
Hollyn: Welcome back! Heading down. I’m starving and need to get out of this office.
Jasper: Your pastry and awkward small talk await.
She smiled, a warm, tingly feeling moving through her and chasing away some of the panic over her new job assignment. Jasper remembered their conversation. That was something. She rolled her chair backward, ignoring the notes she’d taken on the traumatic phone call, and headed down. She had bigger things to worry about than being awkward with the cute barista right now. Suddenly, talking to Jasper seemed like child’s play compared to what she was facing at work.
