AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Hallie couldn’t refuse him. “Thank you. I’ll have a medium sized blended chocolate chip mocha.”
“Whipped cream?” He asked.
She smiled. “Is there any other way to have it?”
“Never,” Caden said, a hint of smiling pulling at the corners of his mouth. He stepped up to the counter and ordered two medium sized ice blended chocolate chip mochas with whipped cream, and promptly paid for the order. “If you want to find us a table, I’ll bring them over when they’re ready.”
“Okay, thanks,” Hallie said, and went to find a table. The place was fairly empty, with just a few people working on their laptops or with their nose in a book, so she had plenty of tables to choose from. She decided on a booth overlooking the parking lot. The day was overcast, so the sun wouldn’t be in their eyes, and the view would provide a nice distraction if they suddenly ran out of things to talk about. Though she had a feeling Caden wouldn’t allow that to happen.
A few minutes later, he sat down across from her and passed her one of the drinks and a straw. “Good choice,” Caden said.
“The booth or the drink?”
“Both. I don’t usually admit this, but I have a sweet tooth the size of Texas, and no one at home to reign me in.”
Hallie smiled. Had he just casually told her that he was single? “I used to sneak candy out of my mom’s stash in the upper cabinet when I was younger.” She admitted.
Caden put his hand up. “Would you believe it if I told you that one of my desk drawers at work is filled to the brim with chocolate?”
“No way!”
He nodded. “I call it my bad day, good day, every and any day, chocolate stash.”
“I have got to get me one of those kinds of drawers.” Hallie couldn’t believe how relaxed she was, laughing and having fun with this gorgeous specimen of a man.
“Can I ask you something?” Caden asked.
Uh oh. Here come the questions she knew he wanted to bombard her with. She tensed, and already her mind was swirling with possible answers she could give him without giving away her secret. “Okay,” she said, hesitantly.
“Why The Mystic Cow?” He asked, then took a long pull of his drink.
That wasn’t what Hallie expected. Though he had promised not to pry into her personal life. Books and coffee, he’d said. “What do you mean?”
“Why did you name your shop that?” Caden asked. He sat with his arms resting in front of him on the table, his jacket open, his tie loosened around his neck.
“That’s a long story,” she said, thinking of how hard she’d had to fight her parents to help her take out the loan she’d needed to open her store. They had finally agreed, but only after she acquiesced to their demands that she continue seeing a licensed therapist for her “issues” as they liked to call them.
Caden made a show of looking at his non-existent watch. “Did I mention I have time?”
His grin made her laugh and she once again felt all the tension melt away from her body. How was this man able to make her relax with just a smile and a few words? She lived most of her life nervous, tense, worried that someone would find out what she could do, even if she never could do it all that well. Her parents’ obsession with her mental health didn’t make her feel any better about herself, and their need to see a weekly bill from Dr. Lisa Hochen only made her more anxious. The doctor was nice enough, but there was no way Hallie could ever be truly honest with her. Any more than she could be with Caden. So, she gave him the simple version of the story she told the doctor, and anyone else who ever asked.
“After high school, I wasn’t ready to go to college. I took a year off and traveled through parts of China and India. It was one of the best years of my life. It taught me more than any classroom ever could. Anyway, the cow is considered sacred in India. They don’t eat beef there like we do here. It’s special to them, mystical in a way. So, when I decided to open my own shop, I knew I wanted to take a piece of that part of my life with me. Kind of pay homage to that year.”
“And The Mystic Cow was born,” Caden finished for her.
She nodded. “I’ve had that place for almost three years now, and aside from my time abroad, it really has been the best time of my life. I love every part of running my business. The customers, the vendors, the community, everything really.”
Caden watched her with such intensity it nearly made her squirm. “What?” She asked.
“You’re amazing. I don’t know many people who could start a business in this economy and keep it going the way you have.”
She shrugged. “I majored in economics, so I have some idea of what I’m doing. But mostly, I just listen to my instincts. Someone once asked me how I decide what inventory to order and when, and the best I could do was tell her that I just look at something, and I get a feeling of whether or not it will sell.”
“And let me guess, you’re usually right?”
Hallie smiled and shrugged. “I know my store.”
There was a brief moment of silence when they both just drank their coffees and looked out the window. “What about you?” Hallie asked. “Why did you become an FBI Agent?”
