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The hiss of the milk steamer cut through the hushed whispers I heard coming from the women behind me. No doubt, they were tittering on about the newcomer. The smell of roasted coffee beans filled the air, going a long way in perking me up. I wrapped my hands around the warm paper cup as soon as Monica slid it my way and lifted it up for that first sip. The hit was instant, and I closed my eyes to savor the taste, letting out a grateful moan.
“Thanks so much. You’re a lifesaver.”
“It’s what I do.” Monica blew on her nails and buffed them against her shirt smugly. “Don’t look now, babe, but I think you might have an admirer.”
A shiver ran across my spine as I peeled my eyelids open wider. “What?”
“Mr. Sexy Reader over there is scoping you out.” A tingling sensation spread across my back between my shoulder blades, that itchy, crawly feeling that came from the sense of being watched.
My body acted of its own accord, and before I could stop myself, my head swiveled and my eyes landed on the stranger. Sure enough, he was looking right at me—or more specifically, at my ass.
My movement must have caught his attention, because his gaze traveled up to my face, a sheepish grin stretching across his lips at having been caught ogling. If I thought the man was something to behold in profile, it was absolutelynothingcompared to what he looked like facing me full-on.
“My God, it should be criminal for a man to be that good-looking.” Monica breathed, and from the corner of my eye, I saw her fanning her face. “Damn, if I didn’t love you, I’d hate you so bad right now. As it is, I’m all kinds of jealous.”
Ripping my attention from the insanely gorgeous man, I looked to Monica, trying to ignore the fact that my heartrate had suddenly kicked up into the red zone. “You do remember that you’re married, right?”
She blew out a raspberry. “I’m married, not dead. I’m allowed to appreciate a fine work of art when I see one. And Sam better watch out or this dude might just unseat him as hottest in town.”
Monica’s husband, Sam Killborne had been the most popular bachelor in town when he moved here several years back. To hear Monica tell it, the women had all but dueled over him. Eventually, he saw the treasure who was Monica—again, her words—and quickly put a ring on her finger, snubbing all the other ladies. I’d seen for myself how that hadn’t stopped the single women in Whitecap from drooling just a bit any time he entered a room. And for good reason. The man wasn’t just good-looking, he was built like a brick house.
Having had a successful career in the NFL before retiring—something that had kept the manin shape—he was now the head coach of the high school’s varsity football team. But that wasn’t the only reason he garnered so much attention and adoration. Not only was he handsome as hell, but he was also an all-around incredible guy.
Instead of taking his summers off once the school year ended, he spent that time acting as the town handyman, using his natural skill with tools to help out friends, family, and neighbors with any home repairs or projects they might need done. When a nasty storm had blown through last year, a tree in my yard had fallen and put a hole in my roof. Without me even having to ask, he’d shown up the very next day to patch the roof and remove the tree.
He was the polar opposite of Graham in every single way, and I knew better than most how lucky Monica had been to land such a solid guy.
“I don’t think Sam really cares about being thehottest in town,” I said, using finger quotes on the last three words.
She snorted and shook her head. “Please. He’d have you all believing that, but trust me, he secretly gets off on it. His male pride is a very delicate, like a precious baby bird. If he didn’t have me to stroke his ego once in a while, he’d probably spend all his time huddled in a corner, rocking back and forth.”
I snorted sarcastically. “Well thank God, for you then.”
“Exactly.” She suddenly narrowed her eyes and stuck her finger in my face. “I see what you’re doing. I’m on to you. I know you’re trying to change the subject from the fact you’ve got a perfect ten currently checking out your ass like he wants to eat his next meal off of it.”
I made the mistake of taking sip as she spoke and proceeded to choke on my coffee. “Jesus, Mon,” I wheeze-laughed once my airway was clear.
She smiled, looking way too damn happy with herself for garnering such a reaction. “You should go over and say hi.”
“That’s not going to happen.” I fought against my body’s reaction to turn and look back at the man as I thumbed through my wallet for some cash to pay for my drink.
“Oh come on,” she insisted. “You’ve been single way too damn long. Would it really kill you to take that dude out for a test drive?” She waggled her brows as she passed me my change, adding, “I’m sure your lady bits could use a little dusting off.”
“My lady bits are just fine, thank you very much. No dusting required.”
I heard the sound of a throat clearing as soon as that last word passed my lips, and Monica’s eyes suddenly grew comically wide, making her look like a cartoon character.
“Hello,” a deep, raspy voice laced with humor rumbled from right behind me.
I swiveled on my heels slowly, knowing before I made a full rotation who I was going to see standing there. Sure enough, the stranger was only a few feet away, and the intensity of his attractiveness from a distance had nothing on the magnetic pull of all that was him up close and personal.
His velvety stare beat against my ribs like a xylophone. From so close, I could see his eyes weren’t just brown, they were also speckled with flecks of gold, and the edge of his irises were rimmed with a dark green ring. They were showstopper eyes, and at that very moment, they had rendered me completely speechless.
“For the love of God,” Monica whisper-yelled, “say something already.”
All I could come up with was, “Uh...”
The man grinned, revealing two rows of straight, pearly white teeth and, Holy Weeping Angel Babies, a set of devastating dimples. “I’m Trent,” the handsome stranger stated.
