Page 44 of Not That Ridiculous

It wasn’t a gentleahhhhh. There was a lot of noise and writhing.

There was a lot of everything.

It was perfect.

10

The morning after Kevin kissed me, humped me to orgasm up against my kitchen table, then had me make him another latte while he jogged back to his car, grabbed his tools and the hinges he’d picked up from B&Q on his lunch break and fixed my kitchen cabinets, Adam Blake strolled into The Chipped Cup.

The counter was clear, quiet jazz music was playing, and I was puttering about doing busywork—twitching things into place, tweaking cups on the shelf, measuring out another load of beans to run through the grinder and sniffing the air appreciatively—when the door opened, letting in the sound of traffic from the road outside. I glanced up and saw Adam.

He doesn’t know anything, I thought desperately. Be normal. No one can possibly guess what happened just by looking at you, even Adam. It’s no one’s business!

He stopped in front of me, cocked his head, and did a slow smile.

“Morning,” I said loudly. “How are you? Nice weather we’re having. Started rainy but it’s turned out lovely, hasn’t it? How’s Ray? What can I get you? Drink in or to go? Do you want a pastry with that?”

Great. Fantastic. That was spot on. Very normal. He wasn’t going to suspect a thing.

Adam’s smile deepened. “Hmm,” he said as he bent at the waist, leaning his forearms onto the counter.

“That’s fine,” I said. “Take your time. I’ll come back when you’re ready to order.” I turned on my heel to march into the back, the bell jingled as the door opened again and, yes.

Ofcourse.

Kevin and Craig walked in.

Tomorrow, Charlie, I’m gonna come into your coffee shop and do what I always do. Only tomorrow, you’re going to know the whole time that I’m thinking about this. About you. About doing this to you.

I heard Kevin’s voice in my head as loudly as when he’d said it in my ear last night.

My stomach plunged, my cheeks scorched with heat, and my eyes locked with Kevin’s across the room.

The little shit winked at me.

Adam made an amused sound, breaking my involuntary stare down with Kevin. “Charlie—” he began, but didn’t get any further.

Kevin bounced up to the counter. “Morning, Charlie,” he said cheerfully. “Hey, Adam.”

Adam, in full-on lounge mode, didn’t straighten. He simply turned his head to look up at Kevin. “Hello, Kevin. Good night last night, was it?”

Kevin glanced at me, eyebrows lifted, and he gave a little shrug. He opened his mouth to reply but before he could fall into the hole Adam had dug for him, I suavely redirected the conversation.

“Morning, Kevin,” I all but yelled. “How are you? Nice weather we’re having! Started rainy but it’s turned out lovely, hasn’t it? What can I get you? Drink in or to go? Do you want a pastry with that?”

They both stared at me.

“Uh—” Kevin said.

Adam’s eyes sparkled.

Another regular walked in and joined the queue.

I clapped my hands briskly together. “Guys, come on,” I said. “You’re holding up my customers.”

“Weareyour customers,” Adam said mildly. Still sparkling.

I gestured impatiently at Gemma Richards, who was scrolling on her phone, hip cocked, as she waited. “Some people have places to be. Gemma, for example, has to be at work in ten minutes or she’ll get reprimanded for tardiness again.”

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