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He winks as Bren grabs the collar of his shirt. “Paying customers are waiting.”
I chuckle as I watch her and Tony interact. Bren runs this shop better than me most days.
“Harrison.” Petra says, grabbing my attention. “Considering February’s shop still looks like a condemned building, do you think we could do the announcement here? I wanted to check with you before I told February.”
Condemned building is a poor choice of words to describe February’s dreams going up in flames. It shouldn’t piss me off because I know she’s not saying it to hurt February, but the need to protect her overshadows everything else.
“Petra, I’m more than willing to have the announcement made at Mug Life.”
“Great—”
“But,” I interrupt her. “If you ever refer to Deja Brew as a condemned building again or speak of it in any negative way, I will make sure that everyone in this town boycotts the paper.”
Her eyes widen as she takes a step back. “Harrison, I didn’t mean anything hurtful by that. I’m sorry if I offended you. You have my word. I will not even mention what’s happening at Deja Brew.”
I sigh, squeezing the back of my neck. “I’m sorry, Petra. It’s just February is trying so damn hard to get her place back open and I think some supportive words from people would go a long way.” I reach out and pat her arm. “Of course we can make the announcement here. What do you need me to do?”
I feel like an ass being so harsh with Petra, but I can’t help the need to protect my girl.
“Harrison, again, I’m sorry. I heard that you and February were an item, but I wasn’t sure it was true until just now.” She smiles and pulls out her notebook. “We’ll have a camera crew here as I announce the winner. Of course, you know the entire town will want to be present as well. And now I guess there is no real loser because I believe my idea for the competition may have brought you two together.” She squeals as she writes something down. “Latte competition brings two competitors together, proving Cupid is alive and well.”
I laugh, shaking my head. “I guess that’s one way to put it.”
“Don’t worry, Harrison. I won’t say anything to offend your girlfriend.”
“What would you say to offend me?”
I spin around and see February standing there. She looks confused, and dare I say, sad. Damn, it must be bad news about her place.
“Oh, nothing at all, February. It’s just been brought to my attention that the two of you are a couple,” Petra says, smiling much too large.
February slowly turns her head toward me, lifting an eyebrow. “It has, has it?”
“It’s so romantic,” Petra says, placing her hand over her heart.
“Anyway, tonight Petra is going to announce the winner of the latte competition here,” I say, taking her hand in mine as I search her eyes.
“Do you know the winner?” February asks, looking from me to Petra.
“No, it’s in a sealed envelope, just like the awards shows,” she replies, clapping. “Alright, I’m going to get ready and I’ll see you love birds soon.”
“Bren, I’ll be back later. Tony, wipe everything down and get this place mopped up for later.”
I squeeze February’s hand and lead her out of the shop. She needs to get away and have her feelings about whatever happened without everyone looking. She doesn’t object as I open my car door and climbs in.
Once we get to my place, she sits on the couch while I grab us each a beer out of the Atta Boy Brewery fridge that Paxton gave me for free. It’s kinda nice having a friend that owns a brewery. I hand her one and take a swig of mine as I sit next to her.
“What happened?”
She drinks down half of the bottle before her eyes slide my way. “Jack said Mitchell thinks it’s best to just knock the building down and sell the lot.”
Fuck. I wrap my arms around her, pulling her close to me. “Damn, February, I’m sorry. Maybe I could talk to Mitch and get him to change his mind.”
She pulls out of my hold, crossing her arms. “No, I don’t need you to rush in and make things more complicated. This is my problem, not yours.”
“I’m not trying to make things complicated. I’m trying to help.” She’s probably overwhelmed, and maybe she lashes out when she’s like this. I decide to let her process everything. “But, obviously, you know what you need to do.”
She blows out a breath and drops her head back, turning it to look at me. “I’m sorry, Harrison. I’m so stressed out and heartbroken. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do now.”
