Page 15 of Strong Coffee

“What do you want to know?” he asked softly.

A protective instinct came over me. He wasn’t this quiet the first night I met him or even tonight in the alleyway. I didn’t like this nervous energy coming from him, but I didn’t know how to fix it.

“Do you like owning Coffee Beans & Love with your friends?” As soon as I asked that question, it was like something had completely changed in him.

“I fucking love it. It’s been hard, which I’m sure you know that, seeing as you own your own businesses, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. We are in need of some new equipment though. Did you know that an espresso machine, a good one anyway, can cost thousands of dollars? I’m going to have to sell my soul to get one before my friends lose their minds over it.” He rolled his eyes at that, which only made me smile. “Sorry.” His cheeks reddened. “I’m rambling and I know you already asked a bit about it but I can talk about Coffee Beans & Love for hours.”

“Good. I’m glad.” I covered his hand that was on my inner thigh. “Keep talking. I want to know everything.”

Brady laughed.

“You think I’m kidding?” I pushed his hand higher up my thigh.

His eyes dropped to where his hand rested, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down as he swallowed hard. “You’re not, are you?”

“No.” I turned toward him, pushing his hand even higher until it bumped my crotch. “I don’t joke about this shit.”

Much to my surprise, he pulled his hand from beneath mine and brushed his fingers over the bulge in my pants.

“Ending it with my best friend, Shane, hurt more than I ever thought it would. I know he’s moved on but every now and again, he’ll make comments that make me wonder if he misses what we shared.”

“Maybe he does. Maybe you do too.” I bit back a groan as his fingers continued moving ever so slightly over my crotch.

“Maybe.” His eyes lifted, catching mine. “Maybe I just want to be enough for someone.”

Those words were soft and tugged at my heart. “You will be enough. I promise.”

“How can you make a promise like that? You hardly know me.”

I opened my mouth to respond but no words came out because he was right. I didn’t know him that well. And he didn’t know me that well. But that was how most relationships started. Didn’t they? First, you were strangers, then maybe you became friends or maybe you started dating right away. A lot of blind dates led to romance. You start as strangers, then if it went well, it could eventually turn into marriage. Then, maybe a divorce, but I had already been divorced once and refused to do that again.

“I don’t know how I can make that promise,” I finally said. “But I’m promising you that anyway.”

Brady’s gaze fell to my mouth. “I’m enjoying this time with you. So, whatever happens I just want to have fun and I want it to come naturally.”

“Every relationship is work,” I told him. “When I was married to Beverly, even though we didn’t have sex often, it didn’t matter. We still had to work to be happy. And I was happy with her. I’m not like a lot of people. I don’t need sex to have a relationship. Sure, that intimacy is nice and it’s fucking mind-blowing with the right person. But it’s not a necessity for me.”

“It’s not for me either.”

“Good and now that we have that sorted, tell me more about your business.”

Brady chuckled. “I already told you everything.”

“I want to know every single detail, Brady.”

“Really?” His smile widened. “Why?”

“Because I want to know you.” I learned that he and his friends went to college all for different things that had to do with owning a business of your own.

His one friend wanted to be a mechanic if this business idea didn’t succeed. But not just any mechanic, he wanted to design his own vehicles. He loved tinkering with engines and anything that he could take apart and put back together.

Another friend wanted to be a lawyer because he loved arguing and thought he could get paid for it but didn’t want to go through all the schooling. He hated being told what to do and just wanted to argue whenever he could.

Another friend went to school because his parents wanted him to but he had no idea what he wanted to do in life.

So when Brady suggested that they all should go into a business together, his friends jumped at the chance.

I found that I could listen to Brady speak for hours. I enjoyed hearing about his life. I also hoped that maybe I could meet his friends and that they would approve of me. I didn’t share much of my life but that was fine with me. My life wasn’t overly exciting anyway besides doing pretty well for myself at such a young age.

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