Page 66 of Absolute Certainty
He eyed her, an amused smirk on his lips and a tilt of his head, gesturing for herto come closer. “Hey, you. Where are the others?”
“Hi. Just me today. It’s Willa’s birthday, so I’ve volunteered to make the coffee run.”
“Ah, well, the usual then?”
“Yes, please. And add one iced Americano, plus an Earl Grey. I’m getting them for Ethan and Christian, too.”
“Everything bagel?” he asked.
She bit back a bigger smile, and her heart did a little gallop. She assumed he’d forget about that particular detail. “Not today, but thank you.”
“You got it, sunshine.”
The endearment was so low on his lips that she was sure no one else could hear it. She wasn’t even sure he realized he’d said it. Sahar opened the digital wallet on her phone, getting ready to pay when his hand hovered over the keypad.
Looking up to face him, her eyebrows rose.
“It’s on me,” he said, and the numbers below her phone disappeared.
She shook her head. “You can’t keep doing that. Plus, it’s not just mine,” Sahar objected.
He winked. The bloody bastard gave her that specific wink again, and her insides turned to molten lava.
“As a manager, I think I can do whatever I want,” he said, nudging her to follow him to the area where he’d make the drinks.
“I know for a fact that’s not how it works. Jay, come on.”
“Tell Willa I say, ‘Happy Birthday.’”
Walking and talking concurrently, she suggested, “At least let me pay for Ethan and Christian.”
“Next time,” he returned, adding shots of espresso over ice.
“You said that last time,” she argued.
He plucked out a cardboard carrier from the stack, set it down, and then finishedmaking the iced Americano before placing it inside. “This time, I mean it.”
“How do I know that?”
“Trust me,” he said, then began working on Christian’s Earl Grey next.
She did.And that was the scariest part. Not about future coffee payments, but with everything else.
It was terrifying how quickly she was growing to trust him.
The faint jingle of the shop’s door opening caught Sahar’s attention, and she watched as Jay’s eyes flicked over her head. There was unmistakable recognition in them. She looked over her shoulder to where he’d given someone an upward nod, spotting a young woman, maybe in her early twenties, walking over to them.
A sweet grin rested on her pretty face.
Up close, Sahar could see the same shaped eyes, hers more hazel in color, and thick lashes with an acutely similar bone structure to Jay’s. She had to be his sister—Alex. There was no denying the relation between the two.
“I didn’t know you were coming in,” he said, pouring a splash of oat milk into what Sahar was sure was her lavender latte.
The petite woman shrugged. “Wasn’t planning on it, but I accidentally picked up mom’s phone instead of my own this morning, not knowing mine was in my bag. I wanted to drop it off, so you could take it back when you pick up Ellie.”
She turned to Sahar then, a sincere smile on her face. “Hi! I’m Alex,” she said, pointing her thumb in Jay’s direction, “his sister.”
Sahar smiled back. “I’ve heard such great things about you. It’s so nice to meet you, Alex. I’m Sahar.”
