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Jingle Bell Junction is beautiful but it’s also in the middle of nowhere. Not a place you’d want to move without a significant other already in place. I imagine finding someone to date around here is a nightmare. It’s also the only explanation for why Kay is still single after seven years. If she were in the city, she’d have had at least a dozen proposals by now.
“That’s sweet, but I don’t have any beans,” she says as she gathers the rest of her clothes in a bundle and backs toward the stairs. “Or half-and-half or sugar. I’ve been so busy with work lately I haven’t had time to go shopping. But the coffee shop on Main Street should be open. We can pop in there when I take you to get your car. Just give me fifteen minutes to get my bed head under control and we’ll go.”
“Sounds like a second date,” I call out as she disappears up the stairs.
She pops her head back out of the stairwell with a grin. “Is it really a second date if the first date hasn’t ended yet?”
“Yeah, it is.”
Her smile widens. “Okay, fine. I’ll make an exception to my ‘no repeat dating boys from far away’ policy just this once. In the name of coffee and apple cider donuts.”
“Does that mean I can take you to dinner tonight, too? I’m closing on a deal today and would love to celebrate with a friend.” She hesitates and I add, “I can make reservations at The Stone Mallard.”
She bites her bottom lip with a soft moan. “God, I love that place. I crave theirduck à l’orangefortnightly.”
“Seven o’clock?”
“Okay, seven o’clock.” She points a finger at my chest. “But that still counts as part of the second date because it’s happening in the same day.”
“Right. Of course.”
She narrows her eyes, but she’s clearly fighting a smile as she says, “Don’t patronize me, sir. I’m a very serious woman who will not be easily lured into a third or fourth date, even if you do have possibly the world’s best penis.”
I laugh a little. “Well, thank you. I’m a fan of your body, too.”
She cocks her head. “Yeah?”
“Oh yeah,” I say, barely resisting the urge to chase her up the stairs to her bed. “Big fan. Huge. Considering season tickets.”
Kay grins. “Would you like to borrow a sweatshirt? I might have one big enough for you if you don’t want to have coffee in full big bad wolf gear.”
I curse beneath my breath as I remember what I was wearing when I left town with Kay. “Shit. I’m sorry. I won’t be able to do coffee, after all. I forgot I need to run home and change before the meeting.”
Her smile dims a bit, but her voice is warm as she says, “No worries. We’ll see each other tonight.”
“Yeah, we will,” I say, silently vowing never to leave the house in costume again.
Or at least not without a change of clothes in hand.
I’mthatbummed not to share more of the morning with Kay. It’s disappointing to have to step right out of her car and into mine with barely time to give her a kiss on the cheek. I’m even more bummed when a text comes through from my lawyer not five minutes after I get home—Just got to the office to start the final paperwork, but we’re running into something unexpected on our end. Can we postpone the meeting until ten?
I sigh, but text back—Of course, no worries. I’ll see you then.
Chase, my lawyer, was out of town for a friend’s destination wedding. It’s his first day back at the office and he’s been understaffed since two of his paralegals went on maternity leave. And at least this will give me time to get coffee, though I would have preferred to do it with Kay.
I shower and dress in gray suit pants and a tweed vest I picked up skiing in Scotland last year and head toward Manchester. I enjoy Jingle Bell Junction coffee as much as the next guy, but if I’m venturing farther afield, I can’t resist a swing into The Copper Kettle for their signature rocket fuel.
The tiny café and shop across from the historic church in Peru is a local secret, one we jealously guard from the tourists in the name of keeping all that delicious homemade scone and coconut-butter-laced coffee to ourselves.
Inside, I inhale the scent of sugar and freshly baked bread, my stomach growling as I head to the counter to order. After all the physical exertion last night—and nothing but leftovers and caramel corn for dinner—I’m starving.
So is the redhead in the white beret in front of me…
“I’ll have the sausage and cheese biscuit with extra cheddar and a side of country potatoes,” she says, as I grin and decide this is a sign from the universe that Kay and I are meant to be more than a one-night stand. “And a large rocket fuel,” she adds, reaching into her purse. “With extra cashew butter.”
“I’ll have the same,” I say over her head to the sleepy-looking boy manning the cash register.
Kay spins with a swiftly drawn breath, smiling as her eyes lock with mine. “Are you stalking me?”
