AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I want to see her.
Stay put, idiot. It’s bad enough that King is in there.
Then she smiles at King, I shove my door open.
Those smiles are mine.
I have one leg out of the vehicle before I stop myself.
Get your shit together, man!
Cursing aloud, I pull my leg back and shut the door.
CHAPTER12
Payton
“First customer!”
I dust the coffee grounds off my palms. “Starting early this morning,” I say to Jean as she walks past me toward the back, having just unlocked the door a moment ago.
She grunts in reply, and I sigh. Guess today will be like every other day.
Turning to the door, I pull in a breath to greet the customer, but my lungs catch. Because, for a flicker of a moment, I thought the man striding through the doorway was the same man from my apartment.
Tall, broad, and in a suit, it’s easy to see why I thought that. Despite his hair being slightly lighter, his handsome face still stops me, but I realize it’s not the one that’s starred in my dreams. This isn’t my man.
My man.
That absurd thought is enough to get my mouth to pull into a smile.
“Good morning!” I say brightly to the stranger.
His grin is immediate. “Mornin’.”
The closer he gets, the more unsure I become about him.
At first, he looked like a normal guy. I mean, he’s good-looking. And his posture, haircut, suit… it’s allnormal. But there’s an energy around him. Like maybe he’s dangerous. Just like my Mystery Man.
I’m probably just projecting.
“How’re you doing today?” he asks.
The question throws me off. Most people just order. “Uh, can’t complain. You?”
The man’s grin widens. “Day’s getting better by the moment.”
“Oh, um…” I don’t know what to say to that. It feels like he’s maybe flirting with me. Which I’m sure he isn’t, but just the idea of it is making me feel guilty.
Which is stupid. I don’t have a boyfriend.
My brain flashes back to that night, when there was a man sharing my couch, and it makes me want to bang my head on the counter because that intruder certainly isn’t my boyfriend. He was probably a criminal. And he certainly hasn’t spared me a thought since that day.
When the man continues to stare at me, I give an awkward smile and gesture to the sign with the daily specials. “What can I get for you?”
He glances at the list but doesn’t read it, just leans to the side to look at the pastries displayed behind the glass.
“I’ll take two black coffees and two of the…” His eyes trail across the shelves. “Cranberry lime muffins.”
