Page 50 of Common Grounds

I lower my voice again. “Trust me,” I say. When she looks at me dubiously, I change tactics. “Just do as you’re told, then.”

At that, she visibly shivers, and my jeans grow tight again.

So, she likes a little dirty talk. I don’t know if I’ll ever have a shot with this woman again, but I file that tidbit of information away for later.

She eyes the first, tiny cup as she clears her throat. “Espresso?” she asks. “I assumed you’d be a little more creative than that.”

“There’s plenty of creative drinks in that lineup,” I assure her. My voice goes softer when I say, “That espresso is exactly how my dida used to drink it. I wanted you to try it.”

She tilts her head in the way I’ve learned signals she’s going to ask a question. “How do you drink your coffee?”

I huff, waving at the cup of espresso in front of her. “Usually like this,” I say through a sudden emotion that sticks to the words in my throat. “Like he taught me.”

Her entire expression changes as she registers the importance of what I’m sharing. It’s like she lets the words settle into her. She lifts the tiny cup of espresso to her lips and takes a sip. “Oh wow.” Her eyebrows raise. “That’s actually really good.”

“You don’t have to act so surprised,” I tease.

“I’ve never had straight espresso before.”

I run a hand over the old machine behind me on the counter, then lift the corner of my mouth in a teasing grin. “I’m proud to have been your first.”

“You are insufferable,” she groans, but her cheeks flush again. Jackpot.

She wastes no time bringing the straw from the second cup to her lips. A soon as she takes a drink, her eyes flutter closed. “Cucumber,” she breathes. “I love cucumber.” And fuck me, she licks her lips.

“I had a feeling you might,” I say.

She eyes me up and down, then grabs her phone to snap a picture of the drink. “Do you have social media accounts?” she asks.

“Yeah, but I’m really bad at updating them,” I say.

Cass must have been listening, because she points at James and says, “You’re young. How are you on social media?”

“My band’s page has over six thousand followers.” He’s clearly proud of this fact.

“He’s in a band?” Emery mouths to me. I shrug. I had no idea.

“Perfect,” Cass says. “You’re the new social media manager for the shop. Trevor, give him the login info, please.” When I don’t immediately move, she adds, “Now.”

“Better do as you’re told,” Emery murmurs. I stumble over my next step on my way to type in the login information for James.

As she chuckles behind me, I know, without a doubt, that this woman will be the end of me.

Chapter nineteen

Emery

One of the women who walked in earlier is now clearly checking out Trevor’s ass, and I hate it. So, I know that when I tell him he’d better do as he’s told, I’m stepping way over the boundary I set for myself, but I really can’t bring myself to care.

And I take absolute delight in the way he stumbles when he hears it.

I’m awful. I know I am. But he is, too. He said the same thing to me not two minutes ago, and the flood of warmth to my core has me thinking he just unlocked a brand-new kink. Even when he’s not teasing me, I can practically feel the heat of his gaze. Any time he looks at me, it’s as if he and I are locked in some kind of vice that’s squeezing us together.

That’s not the only thing squeezing together, I note as I press my inner thighs against each other to relieve some of the pressure that’s been steadily gathering there since I was here on Saturday. My vibrator wasn’t even able to take the edge off this weekend.

Dammit, I need to get laid. And not by Trevor. No, that would be a very bad idea. I can’t get any more involved with him than I already am without tipping dangerously over into relationship territory. Not to mention, these articles might suffer, and so will his shop. I’m already having trouble writing them, and judging by the giggling gals who have been coming in here for a few days now, I’m thinking anything that damages his single image is going to also damage his emerging brand.

No. I definitely need to find someone else to fixate on, and fast.

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