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Jamie surveyed the place and stretched her calves, always thefirst to burn. The bar wasn’t big, but it could accommodate about eight tables and a few bar seats along the front window, plus another dozen and a half in the lounge area. The regulars were nestled comfortably in their traditional spots. Marvin was at a table in the corner, laptop open, worry lines activated. Genevieve sat in the center, surely working on another hot romance novel, generally with a contemporary slant and smutty scenes galore. The faraway look in her eye meant she was in another land full of sexual tension and—perhaps—passion, sex, and nudity right there in public.Go, her.To Genevieve’s right sat Lisa and Chun with their heads together over a large construction plan that covered their table. They were a married lesbian house-flipping team who used their mornings to scour listings and wrangle their contractors in don’t-mess-with-me voices that Jamie had learned to admire. Marjorie, always near the window, was a retired schoolteacher who’d harnessed Bordeauxnuts as a way to fight against loneliness and surround herself with other humans. She read the paper each morning before transitioning to her knitting project du jour. Kindhearted, she also never missed any one of their birthdays. This year she’d given Jamie a personalized card she’d hired out and had drawn up just for her along with a small Kermit the Frog she’d knitted right there in the coffee bar.
Yep. Jamie’s core group of regulars had assembled today, as always. They were her rock, her comfort zone.
Lisa, who saiddudea lot, broke into a grin when Jamie approached. “Break time at last. Dude, that line never quit. Busy this morning.” Next to Lisa, Chun chatted away on her phone about fixtures andnot fucking it up, Jimmy. “I feel like you haven’t had a second.”
“I won’t complain.” Jamie passed Lisa a tired smile and rubbed the back of her neck. She refused to see hard work as anything but a blessing. “Hey, did you two close on that Brooklyn property? Is it off your hands?”
Lisa’s dark eyes flashed victory. “For fifteen percent over ask. Boom.”
“Nice one. One day I’m gonna snatch up one of your flips when I’m rich and comfortable.” She laughed. “Just any day now.” Jamie took a seat at an empty table and let herself melt into the ambiance. It felt like the most wonderful exhale to justbeamong her people. Not just customers, either, her friends.
“Hey, G.” She glanced at Genevieve. “You haven’t said a word about your date last night. The swipe right.”
She sat back and considered the question, hesitation apparent. “Swipe Right had nice hair and was a good conversationalist.”
Jamie squinted, sensing Genevieve wasn’t sold. “But…?”
“He worked his mom into the conversation a bit too much and then kissed with the overeager slobber lips.”
“I hate the slobber lips,” Jamie said, frowning. Not that she’d done much kissing herself lately, but she’d been on enough awful dates to sympathize.
Marjorie dropped her knitting and leaned in. “I’m telling you, Jamie, you need to meet my niece. She’s a schoolteacher in the Bronx who dances like a wild woman. You would love her. No slobber.”
“Could be your soulmate, James,” Genevieve said from around her laptop. “Everyone has a happily ever after out there. Their gardener. An old flame. Their accountant with a penchant for public sex.”
“That’s so specific.” Jamie blinked.
Genevieve continued, “The stranger in the grocery line. Mortal enemies are always promising prospects. Do you have any of those?”
“Not yet.”
“Work on that. Most definitely try for a mortal enemy.”
“I could try to start a few feuds and see what materializes.”
“Do.” Genevieve’s gaze deepened to a smolder. “Great sex in the meantime doesn’t hurt either. How long’s it been for you?” Jamie balked. Leave it to Gen to pop in with a lust-laced question in front of the whole world. It was, after all, her life’s work.
“I’m not divulging the details of mys-e-xlife,” she said with conviction, all the while hoping that the heat from her cheeks didn’t make her look like a circus clown.
A new grouping of customers had wandered in, extending the line. That meant it was time for Jamie to get back to work and relieve Leo from double duty. She returned to her spot at the counter and grinned. “Hi! Welcome. What can I get for you?” she asked a woman who would forever be Fuchsia Lips.
“We don’t get to hear the answer to the question?” Fuchsia Lips asked, pointing at Gen.
“Just offering coffee and doughnuts today, I’m afraid.” She wished she was as sex-positive as Genevieve or even Clarissa, frostingthe world with details from her spicy bedroom like decorations on a cake-o’-lust. She’d work on sexy frosting, too.
Chun studied her. “I’m estimating it’s been a year.”
“I don’t tell you everything,” Jamie said pointedly. She wrote out Fuchsia Lips’s double shot Americano order and slid it to Leo.
“Collectively, we have a lot of information,” Lisa said with confidence.
Marjorie, reaching for her knitting, nodded. “It was that Amy woman. The last time.”
“Don’t help them, Marjorie, or I’m taking back my Netflix password.”
Marjorie scoffed. “You can’t. I gave you Paramount Plus.”
“Damn. I’m not willing to give that up.” There was no winning.
