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Not wanting her to be uncomfortable, I step next to her and grab a white mug. “This isn’t about taste, so we’ll just do a simple vanilla latte.” I turn my head toward her and find her eyes locked on me. “It’s the foam art that matters.”
Her eyes bounce between mine and there is this pull between us that I can’t explain. But she quickly clears her throat and looks down at the espresso machine.
“I have Deanna coming by to judge too.” She looks up at me, narrowing her eyes. “You know, to keep it fair.”
I hold up my hands and grin. “I’m a lot of things, but a cheater isn’t one of them.” Her face falls, and I quickly realize my mistake. That douchebag ex of hers. I rest my hand on her slender shoulder as I try to make her understand what I mean. “Failure isn’t something I handle well, so I push my boundaries to win.”
“I knew what you meant. Let’s hurry and start because I need to meet with Jack.”
My latte is finished and I steam my milk to make the design. As it finishes, she clears her throat next to me, catching my attention.
“I’m sorry to hear about your dad’s passing,” she says just barely above a whisper.
“Thank you.” I peek down at her and she’s focused on the task at hand. “He’d love this. If he were here, he’d be trying to make me screw up, so you’d win,” I say, laughing lightly.
“My dad probably wouldn’t be able to make it in here before my mother pushed him out of the way to make sure I was doing everything perfectly,” she says, laughing.
“You have a big family?”
“Huge.”
“That must be nice.”
“It has its pros and cons. I mean, I love them all, but sometimes they are a little too into my business. My sister, January, just had to pretend her boss was her boyfriend to keep my family from flipping out.”
I laugh and turn to look at her. She’s not laughing, and I realize she’s serious. “Wait, seriously?”
“Seriously. Don’t get me wrong, it all worked out and they are disgustingly in love now, but it was a bit of an awkward Christmas.”
Well, shit, I’ve been in some awkward situations before, but I’ve never had to pretend to be something I’m not. I’ve never had to lie about a relationship. I can’t imagine a more awkward predicament.
“Yeah, okay, I can’t imagine that.”
“Like I said, pros and cons.” She makes a little excited shriek and stands back. “Finished.”
Just as she says it, I finish mine and glance at her. “Me too,” I say with a wide grin.
It was nice getting to know a little about each other, and I’ll admit I’m disappointed it ended so quickly, but I know she needs to get to her shop, so I don’t argue about getting the judging underway.
We walk to the front of the shop, and both place our cups down on the counter to have Bren and Deanna judge them.
February has made a seahorse, a goddamn seahorse. It’s impressive as hell, but I still think my intricate rose will win them over.
“Not bad,” she says, looking over at mine.
“Yours isn’t too bad either.”
She puts her hands on her hips and narrows her eyes at me. “Not too bad? It’s a seahorse, which is way more complicated than a rose.”
“A rose that has drops of dew on it and thorns on the stem,” I say with my arms crossed over my chest.
“Both of them are impressive,” Bren says, interrupting us.
“Yes, this is a hard decision,” Deanna says. She studies both lattes.
They walk away to talk about it and February looks up at me. A piece of hair has fallen onto her face and I tuck it behind her ear, lingering a little too long as we stare at each other. My heart is pounding in my chest as I search her eyes. She pokes her tongue out, wetting her lips, and my dick stirs at the action.
“All right, we have the winner,” Bren says.
