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Mikey dinged, signaling a new batch of doughnuts, yanking Jamie back to the flow to tend to the newly arrived gifts from the doughnut gods. “Do not talk about my personal life while I’m wrangling baked goods.”
“Amy was the one with the eight cats?” Marvin asked Chun.
“I’m serious,” Jamie tossed over her shoulder.
Her back was to the café door when she heard it open, inspiring her to spin around with a smile that evaporated from her face. There, standing at her register, was the most beautiful woman in a forest-green trench coat, sash tied. Tall. Dark blond hair. Stunning.
Jamie swallowed, remembering herself. “Morning. Hi there. What can I get for you?”Smile. That’s it.Tons of pretty people came and went from the bar every day. This was like any one of those moments.
“Oh”—the woman scanned the blackboard menu overhead, decorated with little snowflakes for winter—“I think I’ll give your peppermint latte a try.”
“Yum,” Jamie said with simply too much enthusiasm to be natural. She’d face-planted that response in glorious form. Why couldn’t she function like any other person? “Any milk preference on that? We have lots of milks.” Dammit. Her heart danced around in her chest like a professional tap dancer had moved in. What was happening? The woman had the softest smile. Big brown eyes which were a nice contrast against the soft color of her blond hair. A model, maybe? She had the height. Jamie was guessing five foot nine.
“Two percent would be fine,” the woman with the perfect lips said. She pursed them briefly and relaxed.
“Our default milk. Of the milks. The many. Perfect.” She grabbed for the cup on top of the stack, prepared to pop it into her hand—a move she’d made thousands of times. Yet this go-round, she bobbled the catch, corrected, and knocked the whole stack over. “Whoops. And down she goes.” Jamie laughed, but it was too much. “Let me just…” She dove to the floor, collected the cups, reformed the stack, and shot up to her feet again. “Tricky. Cups are.”
“I see that.” The woman was sweet enough to toss her a conservative laugh. She even showed joy like people in the movies. Restrained and perfect. Probably an actress. “Well done.”
“Anything else? A pastry? Doughnuts? People line up for those suckers.”
“Don’t tempt me. Just the coffee.” The woman tapped her credit card on the machine with the grace of an angel. Who tapped like that? Was elegant tapping a learned skill? She was certainly a believer now.
“Your order will be right up. Um, over there.”
She turned to see Leo staring at her with focused interest, a small smile playing upon his lips. She glared at him and busied herself straightening the prep counter. When the woman picked up her drink and left the bar, Jamie exhaled. She turned to the dining room to find her regulars staring at her in wide-eyed amazement.
“What in the world just happened?” Marjorie asked. Her jaw fell open in glee. “Did you see yourself with her just now?”
“Well, that’s physically impossible, so no,” Jamie said, wiping her hands on her apron for no real reason. “Of course not.”
“Girl, you had the 3D heart eyes going.” Genevieve applauded as if she’d just watched a really satisfying film. “I’m about to write down everything I just saw for my next book. All of it. Sweet girl-next-door type loses her ability to speak properly when a quiet blond vixen arrives at her register.”
“That didn’t happen,” Jamie said as nonchalantly as possible. “She was pretty, though. Anyone can see that.”
“Don’t minimize,” Lisa said, standing and tossing her empty cup. Almost time for property visits. “It takes a lot to visibly rattle you. You’re the most grounded human being any of us has ever met.”
Chun studied her, thoughtful. “Either that or you usually cover it well.”
“It just wasn’t like you,” Marvin said. “But I’m awful at dating and love and life, so don’t ask me for tips. Fun to watch it play out, though. Interesting character study.”
“Don’t study me. I’m clumsy and uninteresting.”
He went soft. “No, you’re not, Jamie.” Marvin was a gentle soul beneath his neuroses.
Lisa laughed. “I just want to watch you drop the cups again, dude. And then pop back up like a pogo stick.”
Oh, they were all enjoying this way too much. “Fine. I can admit to being unnerved by our last visitor.”
“Well, now we know your type,” Chun said.
“I don’t have a type.”
Lisa leveled her with a stare. “Well, here’s the takeaway. If you didn’t before, you do now.” She fanned herself. “Off to sell real estate to the people of New York.”
Jamie exhaled. “All praise to the brownstone.”
“Overrated.” Lisa delivered a fist bump. “You behave yourself around the pretty ladies.”
