Page 10 of Starting Over in Cedarwood

Sparks shot along Kevin’s arms and heat flowed in his body. He hadn’t felt this way in a long time. He wobbled for a split second, then righted himself and sat across from Shaun. “I like to be early, too. I ordered and Joe knows my usual. When he brings it, you can order.”

“Great.” Shaun turned his phone off, then tucked it into his front pocket. “Thank you.”

“You’re a gentleman.” Kevin switched his gaze between Shaun’s pocket and his eyes. “Not many people are okay with having their phone off for even a second. I kept mine on in case you changed your mind or had car trouble or something.” He tapped the button to silence his phone and jammed it into his pocket.

“When I’m with a date, I don’t answer the phone, but if I had car trouble, I’d let you know. Thanks for the concern.” Shaun rested his forearms on the table. “What did you order?”

“Caramel latte macchiato with extra foam,” Kevin said. “Joe should be bringing it over soon.” He nodded at Shaun. “I appreciate when my dinner date turns off the phone, because it makes me feel like I’m important.” He paused. “Here comes Joe. Have you met him? You said you haven’t been here before, right?”

“I haven’t met him,” Shaun said.

Kevin accepted his coffee. “Joe, this is Shaun. Shaun, this is Joe, the proprietor of the Coffee Bar.”

“Nice to meet you,” Shaun said. “I’ll have the same as Kevin and put both on my bill.”

“Sure thing.” Joe stood behind Shaun and mouthed,he’s cute—good luck.

Kevin massaged his forehead. At least Joe seemed to be in his corner. His friend was goofy, but helping make the situation less scary. “Do you like macchiato? It can be too strong.”

“I haven’t met a coffee I didn’t like.” Shaun fiddled with the sugar packets. “How long have you lived in Cedarwood?”

“All my life. I left during college and returned to work at the ballfield. I wanted to do communications, but I got in with food service and kept moving up, so I stayed.” Kevin shrugged. “My communications degree involved writing press releases and such, but I hated it. I like working with my hands and making the food just so, plus it’s a puzzle to put together when I have to work on the pricing and expenses.”

“I was going to ask why you didn’t try working for the paper, but you’ve got a good reason.” Shaun toyed with his napkin. “I’m better at writing than numbers. I can figure up how much it’ll cost per word to post an advertisement, but I’d rather write up the ad instead.”

Kevin fiddled with his cup, buying time until Shaun’s drink arrived. “I wanted to work for the paper. When I was in high school, I thought I might like to be a journalist, but communications seemed like a better bet career-wise and there weren’t any openings at the paper when I graduated. Remy’s gotten it back on solid ground, but I needed a job then, so I applied at the ballpark. I started off selling hot dogs at one of the stands and moved up from there.”

“Nice.” Shaun grinned. “I guess they saw your potential.”

Joe arrived with Shaun’s drink. “If you need anything else, just shout.” He winked at Kevin, then left again.

“So you love working at the ballpark?” Shaun asked, then sipped his drink.

“I was one of the few guys working there—no, I was one of the few workers there—that wasn’t trying to date a baseball player.” Kevin turned his cup around on the plate. “That was it. I didn’t want to do a player and I did my job, so I got the promotion.”

“Ah.” Shaun waggled his head. “You didn’t use the team as a dating pool.”

“It’s how I met Kyle, though, so it’s not all good,” Kevin said. “It hasn’t all been rosy.”

Shaun nodded, then sipped his drink again. “Kyle.”

“We dated a while, but Kyle demanded I stop working there and he hated my cat. There was a lot more, but he’s in the past and I shouldn’t have brought him up.”Damn.He’d pledged to himself to keep Kyle behind him. Still, he had to defend Leo. “He adopted the cat, but Leo didn’t like him and Kyle hated it. He wants to be the center of attention, so when he’s not, it drives him crazy.”

“That’s awful.”

“Leo’s a good cat, but he’s picky, which is why we get along.” Kevin pressed his lips together. He kept digging himself deeper into trouble. He’d talked too much about the cat and ended up sounding ridiculous.

“I had a dog, but he liked my mother and refused to leave when I moved, so she kept him,” Shaun said. “He stayed with her more than me, so it made sense. He keeps her company and she’s got someone to dote on, so it works out.”

Kevin nodded. He wasn’t sure what else to say so he didn’t make a fool of himself.Shit.He should fill the void instead of letting it get bigger. “What brought you to Cedarwood? Advertising?”

Shaun fiddled with his cup. “About four years ago, I ran a 5k race here in town. I thought the town was great—it’s so homey and quiet. I grew up in Las Vegas with the noise and action, but when my folks split and Mom moved to Cleveland, I followed. Then I ran the race here and fell in love with the town. My boyfriend wanted to live outside of Columbus, so we moved there. When we split, I needed a new start and found the job opening at the paper. It was fate.”

“Nice,” Kevin said. “You like to run?”

“I do.” Shaun grinned and held up his cup. “Do you?”

“There’s a great running path at the Metropark. Remy and Bobby run there. I’ve run the trails, too. The routes are a little daunting, but it’s good.” He wanted a running partner, but lost his words when he came to suggesting Shaun join him.

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