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CHAPTER SIX
Harlow
It’s another early shift for me today, and the first half is with Brian. He’s lovely but very quiet, and I feel like the hours always go slower working with him or Celeste, no matter how busy we are. The rush comes later, with it being a weekend, and he must slip out at some point because he’s suddenly replaced with Nico handing over the coffees. That’s more like it. He frowns when I smile at him, pulling on my split lip, but it’s too busy to get into it, thankfully. I can’t wait for it to heal already.
We work like a well-oiled machine through the lunch rush, and I’m in the zone as I hand over a large toffee nut latte.
“Good afternoon, what can I get you?”
“Your number would be great.” This isn’t the first time I’ve heard that line, and it still surprises me that people would try it during a busy rush. Preparing my normal “that’s not on the menu” shutdown, I make the mistake of looking up at the perpetrator before saying it and am temporarily stunned. Just temporarily, but enough for my slack jaw to be obvious, as his face breaks out in a godlike grin. You know the guys you see that are like, fuck. And then they smile and they’re like,fuuuuuuck.Yep, that’s this guy. He has deep skin, with full lips and piercing eyes that should look feminine but somehow don’t. His short hair matches the neat stubble on his jaw, and his wide smile shows perfect teeth. Where the hell did this guy appear from?! Eventually, I pull myself together and manage a reply.
“I’ve never heard of that. Is it a latte?” His grin doesn’t falter, and I feel myself flush at his attention.
“A latte would be great.”
“Anything else?” He raises a brow at my offer, and I blush, imagining what else he could be thinking about wanting from me. His gaze flicks to my neck, where I know my blush is evident, and I clear my throat.
“Nope, not now I’ve been crushed after shooting my shot.” He leans down on the counter, bringing him closer to my height. “Remind me not to use a cheesy pickup line again.”
“I have a pen here, I could write it on your hand?” I offer primly.
“Your number?”
“The reminder.” He stands back, clutching his chest as if wounded by my refusal.
“Ouch.”
“You’re a big boy, you’ll get over it.”
“That I am,” he replies with another one of those magic grins, and I gently bite down on my bottom lip to stop from grinning wildly back at him. When Nico clears his throat behind me, I ,jump, the spell well and truly broken. I’ve never flirted with someone at work before, and especially not in front of Nico. I feel like I’ve been caught out being unprofessional and holding up the queue. I finish taking the guy’s order, and he goes to wait at the end of the counter, but I can still feel his eyes on me. Unfortunately for my productivity, he chooses to sit in to enjoy his drink, and I get more and more flustered as the time goes on. Thankfully, the rush dies down.
Nico has to head out the back to get some more clean mugs, but Brian comes back through the door a minute later to relieve me for the second half of his split shift as I’m taking coffees over to a table. I’m smiling at him as I cross the floor just as a customer stands up and steps right into my path. The whole tray is pushed back into me, and the contents splash over my chest and hand.Shitthat’s hot.
“Watch where you’re going, you stupid bitch!” The guy who may have just given me third-degree burns shouts in my face as he shakes a few lone drops off his jacket. I hear the screech of chairs against the floor, but I’m already rushing out the back, skin on fire, unhooking my apron from around my neck as I step through the door and strip my top off. Quickly running it under the cold tap, I press it against my chest before soaking it again and repeating, and I sigh at the little bit of relief.
“What the fuck?”
I spin with a gasp, water running down my front and into my waistband, to face Nico. I’d completely forgotten he was back here. I glance down at myself, but he can’t see anything now I’ve got the wet top scrunched against my chest. “What happened?” he asks.
There’s muffled shouting coming from the coffee shop, but he ignores it, coming toward me with concern in his eyes.
“Just a spillage. A hot one.”
“Shit. How does it feel?”
“Not too bad. Good thing it wasn’t extra hot, huh?” He doesn’t laugh at my weak joke, his brow furrowed.
“Can I check it out?” I nod, because he’s so close now I can smell him and “no” is no longer in my vocabulary. Not that anything is happening between us. He’s Nico, my friend. Just friends. He’s showing friendly concern over my possible injury. It’s a lot easier to pretend to convince my head than my hormones, and my heart rate picks up at his closeness. Pulling my crumpled top away, I glance down as he does, taking in the red mark over my chest and the tops of my breasts. I hiss at the slight sting of the air on the fresh burns. When I look back up, happy it doesn’t look bad enough to blister, he’s still inspecting it.
“Looks okay, right?”
His eyes snap back up to mine and he nods with a swallow, his voice rough. “Yeah. Yeah, it looks okay. I’d hold the compress on a bit longer. What happened to your lip?” Explaining what really happened is the last thing I want to do, but Brian comes through the door and I realize I’m standing a foot away from Nico, half-naked. Turning back to the sink to run my top under the cool water again, I wring it out and cover myself with it before turning back around.
“You should’ve seen how that guy just tore him a new one,” Brian says.
“What guy? Who?” Nico asks.
“A customer completely ripped into the guy who shouted at her. I thought he might wet himself.”
