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Without even thinking about what she was doing, she pulled out her phone and called him. Before she had a chance to change her mind on contacting him, he picked up on the first ring.
“Hello, beautiful.”
As much as she wanted to dwell on the way his simple salutation made her feel like she’d been set on fire, she had to disregard it. “I need your help,” she murmured. “My coffee maker is on the fritz and I’m not sure how to fix it. It’s the smaller one. Do you know how to troubleshoot it?” She could tell her voice sounded desperate and she flushed deeply at feeling so dependent on another person. “If you don’t—”
“I’ll be right over.”
She breathed a sigh of relief and faced her customers. “Just give me a few more minutes, and your drink today will be on the house.”
Within the next few seconds, Daniel arrived, toting a similar-looking machine. Megan’s eyes widened, feeling like they were filling her entire head. Her eyes remained fixed on him as he headed around the counter and placed the machine beside hers.
There were no words that were willing to venture from her throat. She couldn’t think of a single thing she could do or say that would express just how happy she was to see him and have him there to fix a problem that probably seemed insignificant to him, but it had made her feel seen.
He tossed a look over his shoulder to her line of customers. “Thanks for your patience, folks. I bet you think this a little odd considering I’m just across the street, but as I understand it, Miss Megan here has a few flavors I just can’t get my hands on.” He winked at her and some of the customers chuckled. The tension had dissipated, leaving her feeling almost lightheaded.
“You didn’t have to do this,” she whispered. “I just wanted you to help me fix it.”
“I know,” he murmured back. “But this machine is notorious for having issues. Sometimes I can fix it in seconds and sometimes it’s out for the whole day. I’ll take yours back with me and I’ll see what’s wrong with it.”
“But don’t you need this one?”
Daniel inched closer then stopped himself. They had an audience, and they didn’t need to put on a show. The air between them thickened and she could quite literally feel the anticipation of his touch in that moment. He smiled at her, his gaze sweeping over her face. “I’ll manage. I have other options at my disposal. Perhaps you should look into backups.” He turned to the rest of the people in the room and gave a small salute. “Have a great day, folks.”
Then he was gone.
Megan didn’t move right away. Even after she could no longer see Daniel out the window of the shop, she was frozen for a good few seconds until the person in the front of the line cleared his throat.
She lurched into action, smiling with embarrassment. “Of course. Let me get that drink for you right away.” Megan glanced more than once through the front shop window toward Daniel’s shop. She didn’t see him again throughout the day, only customers coming and going. But that didn’t stop her from realizing something very important.
Daniel was capable of putting her first. He was willing to give her something that might make his shop struggle today. He was prioritizing her, and she’d never had that before.
It was hard to get past that—to accept that Daniel might possibly be the one she’d been waiting for her entire life. And the hours between when he’d visited to when she was supposed to see him again seemed to stretch even longer than they ought to. She wanted to run across the street when the bookstore visitors slowed down and tell him just how much he meant to her, but she had work to do and so did he.
So she waited.
For the first time she could remember, she closed her shop early.
It might have only been ten minutes early, but even those ten minutes were significant. She closed and locked the doors and practically sprinted across the street. She pulled on the door to the coffee shop, but it wouldn’t budge despite the light in the back office being on, and someone clearly being present.
Megan slapped her hand against the glass hard enough to produce a thudding sound and waited. She nearly pulled out her phone to call him but then he emerged, confusion on his face. She waved, hopping from one foot to the next and the second he unlocked the door she barreled in to throw her arms around his neck.
Peppering his face with kisses, she only pulled back when he let out a laugh. “What is this all about?”
“The coffee maker. The fact that you came over without a fuss. Everything.” She stared at him, adoring every bit of him. “I’m so lucky to have you.”
His smile set flurries swirling in her stomach and she returned it.
Daniel pushed his fingers into her hair and pressed a lingering kiss to her lips. “You got it wrong. I’m the lucky one.”
He was perfection. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t seen it before. Everything she’d told herself about him that made her hold back, was inconsequential. She’d been silly to worry about how she might make things work between him, his business and hers.
Megan pecked him once more then pulled back. “Did you figure out what was wrong with the machine?”
Gesturing toward the equipment he had on the counter, Daniel pulled her along with him toward it. “Actually, your machine has given up and gone to heaven.”
She gasped. “You’re lying.” Megan released his hand and hurried over to the machine that had once been in her café. “It looks fine. What was wrong with it?”
“If I had to guess, I’d say faulty wiring. It’s something that should be covered under the standard one-year warranty. Did you buy it new?”
