Page 76 of Welcome to Fae Cafe

Shayne’s bare chest glistened in the morning sunlight like a beacon for every lonely woman in the city to come running. He fastened an apron to himself that didn’t hide much, and he winked at a lady coming in.

“What are you doing?” Kate rushed over to ask. “Shayne, get a shirt onright now. You’re going to get my coffee shop shut down!”

“Shut down? Look at all the coin you’re making! I’ll make you rich, Human.” Shayne opened his arms like he was presenting himself as her greatest asset.

“There’s a thing here among the humans that’s called,No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service!” Kate argued.

Shayne’s face fell—he glanced down at his bare feet.

“Just put on a shirt and I won’t make you wear shoes,” Kate negotiated, shaking her head in disbelief.

“As you wish, Human.”

Before Shayne reached for his shirt below the counter, he blew a kiss at Lily as she headed for the door, and Lily’s enthusiasm changed to a scowl.

Kate sighed as she pulled the to-go cups from the cupboard and began setting them out for Dranian to fill. It took all of three seconds before she caught Shayne reaching across the counter and encouraging some random customer to feel the muscles in his arm who didn’t ask to.

The first hour went by like a breeze. Orders were taken, Dranian whipped up drinks, and Shayne charmed every person who came to the counter. Mor tidied up as people passed through, sweeping the floors, wiping tables, and resetting the chairs.

Kate watched them with a strange amazement. She kept expecting one of them to lose it and throw a table across the room, but none of the fae raised a single protest about their chores. Mor even hummed as he worked. Shayne didn’t stop smiling once.

“Feel free to take a break whenever,” Kate said to them, but they ignored her and didn’t stop moving.

When she headed to the chalk board to come up with a daily special, she found a remarkably detailed drawing of a whipped coffee drink filling up half the board. Beside it were the words: Ca-FAE Mocha.

“I came up with it,” Shayne bragged when he noticed her looking. “It’s espresso, milk, chocolate syrup, a pinch of whipped cream, and the free handsome smile of a fae serving it on a silver platter.”

Kate burst out laughing. Her raspy alto filled the shop and turned heads. “How about next week’s special can be aFruit and Yogurt Par-FAE?” she suggested.

“Brilliant.” Shayne grinned.

“What about aSpearmint Ca-Fae Latte? With a magical touch,” Dranian said in a monotone voice from where he sorted milk and cream pods. “We can put a trick inside that’ll make human tongues tingle. And the drink can have those little crunchy bits of candy you sprinkle on top of whipped cream. Coffee should always have those in my opinion.”

Kate’s smile warped. “What do you mean—that’llmake human tongues tingle?”

“Speaking of names, this establishment doesn’t yet have one.” Shayne folded his arms and leaned against the counter. “I had all kinds of trouble telling the humans how to find a place with no name. I want to make a sign to hang out front.”

Kate sighed. “Lily and I haven’t been able to land on the right name yet. I know, it’s terrible business to open without one.” She tapped her chin in thought as she watched Dranian put away the cream and Mor scrub the drips off the front counter.

“What aboutFae Café?” Shayne suggested.

What was left of Kate’s smile faded and she dropped her arms to her sides. “You’re talking like you’re going to be here forever,” she said.

Shayne’s grin disappeared, too. Mor slowed his cleaning, and Dranian muttered something and disappeared through the door to the kitchen.

“I can’t enslave you forever. My conscience isn’t happy about even doing it up to this point,” Kate said, glancing down at the squeaky-clean tile floor. She chewed on her lip as she wandered to the coat hooks and pulled down the navy sweater. Her thumb ran over the soft fabric. She folded it and extended it to Mor.

“Give this back to your Prince when he turns up again.”

Mor looked like he wanted to say something. He took the sweater slowly.

“I think I’ve forced you to do these jobs for long enough. It’s not fair for me to ask you to help here, even if I need it. From now on, you don’t have to work in this café, or attend social events, or come to book club.”

The air turned strange. Kate fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. Then she pulled her coat from the hook, shrugged it on, and headed for the door to give them the space to leave quietly. A cold hollowness filled her chest when she thought about them not being there when she came back. The income they already earned her café in the first hour was more than she could have ever made on her own with her simple coffee recipes, unpublished books, and social media page for marketing.

Kate tugged her coat tighter and shivered as she walked over the fresh snow, scanning the streets for an off-duty patrol car. She guessed Connor would be stopping by at some point to give her an earful.

The trees had lost most of their leaves, but a few still clung to their branches, not ready to let go. Kate eyed them as she stuffed her hands into her pockets, wondering why she never thought to bring a hat and mittens.

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