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“I’ll get it,” Caden called out.
Just the fact that Caden interacted with the guy spoke volumes. Caden usually avoided all contact with customers.
“I’m Sam.” He introduced himself.
The guy laughed. “Yeah, I know all your names. I’m Mickey.”
Caden brought over the water and smiled at Mickey before scurrying back around the counter as the door opened and three middle-aged women walked in.
“Well, Mickey, welcome to the crazy house.”
“Funny, I thought this was a coffeehouse,” Mickey teased.
Sam shook his head. “Only some days.”
The door opened behind him and Mickey’s eyes widened almost comically. Sam spun around, not sure whether a threat or something else walked in behind him. He nearly tripped over his own feet in his rush.
Two men stood at the entrance and while they appeared to be scanning the hanging menu above the counter, Sam didn’t miss the way their gazes roamed the room, or how they held their bodies stiff.
One man in a dark suit with a red tie and pocket square had his glossy black hair tied back in a small bun at the back of his head. He was big, tall and wide shouldered. The other, shorter guy, had on ripped jeans with a tight black T-shirt. He caught Sam’s eyes and grinned.
“Hello, hot stuff,” the shorter of the men said.
Sam rolled his eyes. Why did that man remind him so much of Nash?
The taller of the two glanced over, his eyes widened, and he smiled kindly.
Well at least the two strangers seemed accepting of Sam’s attire, but Sam was wary of having strangers in the shop at the moment. Yes, they had a security system but that wouldn’t help if these two strangers attacked them.
“Can we help you?” Sam asked professionally.
“We heard this was the place to get the magic bean juice,” the shorter man replied. He pointed over his shoulder at the other guy. “Skinner gets cranky if he doesn’t get enough caffeine.”
Skinner grunted, knocking into the shorter man’s shoulder. “Stop flirting and order my coffee.” He strutted off to a table in the back as the other guy merely laughed.
Again, Sam couldn’t help but compare this man to Nash. They were remarkably similar in antics and wide smiles. Sam checked over his shoulder to see what Adam was doing but he stood behind the counter with his arms over his chest. Adam’s eyes were narrowed.
“So I’m Jackson and Mr. Cranky Pants over there is Skinner. We need caffeine and sweetness.”
Sam motioned him to the counter before going around and trying to get past Adam to take the orders. Adam shifted until he stood between Jackson and Sam.
“Adam,” Sam warned. They were customers and it was their jobs to take care of them.
“Jackson and Skinner. Strange names,” Adam said talking to the customer and not responding to Sam.
“They are, aren’t they!” Jackson couldn’t stand still. “Do our names mean that we don’t get any magic bean juice? I wasn’t joking about how cranky Skinner gets.”
Sam checked out the other guy who sat with his back to the wall watching all of them. “That’s…not cranky?”
“That’s him right before he becomes hangry.” Jackson leaned forward and dropped his voice. “He also doesn’t like being gone from his boy while we’re in town for a couple of days.”
“Why are you telling us all this?” Sam had to question. It made him very suspicious.
“You all seem kind of wound tight,” Jackson replied with a shrug.
“We don’t get a lot of strangers in town,” Adam supplied. “We’ve had some trouble lately with men we don’t know.”
Jackson nodded. “We know! That’s why we’re here.”
