Page 87 of Resting Beach Face
He smiled wanly. “Yeah, just a bruised ego. I’ll recover.”
“Good, because not to make this all about me or anything, but I’ve got a tough conversation coming up at home, and I came here because you’re cute and flirty and always have a smile for me.”
Danny huffed a small laugh, which was the goal. “As long as it’s not all about you.”
“I’m selfless like that,” I said with a grin.
“Well, anytime you want to help me make Abe jealous, say the word,” he said as he moved through the motions of making my drinks on autopilot. “Maybe we can work a little magic on Declan at the same time.”
“Oh. Uh…”
Danny’s eyes widened, and he paused in the act of spraying whipped cream on top of the hot chocolate. “Shut up. You and Declan?”
“Shh, no. I didn’t say that.”
“You didn’t have to.” Danny waggled his brows, getting a bit of his spunk back. “Guess I’ll have to pine away on my own.”
He finished the second drink and set it on the counter. I gave him my card to swipe. He ran the tab and handed it back. “Receipt?”
“Nope.”
“Tip?”
“Yeah.” I tapped in fifteen percent, then he finished the transaction.
“Always just the tip for the sad little barista,” he joked, though it was missing a bit of his usual pizzazz.
I hesitated. “Maybe I don’t need to make Declan jealous, but if you need help winning over Abe, let me know if I can do anything.”
His eyes brightened. “Really?”
I was almost sure I was going to regret offering by the spark in his eye. “Yeah. But nothing illegal and no sex.”
He lifted his hands. “I would never do Declan that way.”
I rolled my eyes. “And keep your big mouth shut about that, too.”
“Oh honey, you love my big mouth, but don’t you worry, I know how to swallow a secret.”
Reassured that Danny was his usual ridiculous self, I took my drinks and headed out to the truck.
I handed Katelyn hers. “Here, this counts as your birthday present.”
She scowled. “Please, it’s a bribe to get me home and you know it.”
“You’re wise beyond your years.”
I put the truck in Drive and headed inland, curving around the backside of the park and pulling up to our little house on a block of modest two-bedroom bungalows.
Katelyn drank down her bribe, slurping the last dregs of it by the time I got to our empty driveway.
Shit. Mom’s car wasn’t there.
I checked the time. There was a half hour until she should have left for work. Unless…her schedule changed again and I didn’t know it because I hadn’t been home to check for updates.
Great. She was usually our buffer when Dad was in one of his moods. We’d have to hope he was still sleeping.
“Come on, let’s go change and get cleaned up before my shift at the resort. Looks like you won’t have to tell Mom just yet.”
