Page 4 of Coffee and Christmas Kisses
“I’m West.” I reached across the counter to shake his hand and knocked over a display of chocolates as I did, my face heating immediately. “Shit, sorry.”
Cole shook his head, reaching to help me retrieve some of the chocolates. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”
I scooped the chocolates into a small pile and offered Cole my hand again. “It’s really nice to meet you, Cole.”
He took my hand and gripped it firmly, giving me a soft smile as he did. “Same.” We stood there for several long moments, hands clasped, not speaking, our gazes locked onto one another.
After a few seconds, April cleared her throat from the corner. “What are you doing in town, Cole? Visiting your family for the holidays?”
His hand slipped out of mine and he looked toward April. “Yeah, something like that.” He turned back to me, and when he spoke, his tone was soft and sincere. Something about it made me shiver. “Thanks again. I’ll just…” He gestured to a table on the opposite side of the room from where April sat.
“That’s probably for the best,” I murmured with a little grin, and went back to re-stacking the chocolate display.
The rest of the day was relatively uneventful. April eventually left to go about her business, and Cole visited the counter a couple more times to buy a sandwich and another pair of cookies. As expected, people were coming and going steadily, so I didn’t get the opportunity to chat with Cole again until it was time to close up shop. The day turned to evening and eventually I flipped the sign on the door to Closed.
“Oh, man,” Cole said, scrambling to stand up. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize it had gotten so late. Let me get out of your way.”
“It’s fine. I’ve got a ton of cleaning up to do anyway. Stay as long as you’d like.”
He settled back into his seat with a long, relieved exhale. “Thanks. I’ve got a little more work to finish up and I really will get going.”
“Take your time.” I made my way around the shop, wiping down tables and putting chairs up so that I could sweep and mop.
By the time I’d finished the sweeping up, Cole was packing his bag. “Everything was so delicious, by the way. Do you make it all here?”
I put the mop bucket down near where he was standing and let out a little regretful laugh. “No, not everything. I wish I had the time. I need an extra set of hands if I’m going to be baking all day. No, for now it’s just me, so I make some things—like the cookies—and the rest I buy from a bakery outside of town.”
He leaned forward and dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Those were my favorites anyway.”
The sound made my stomach squirm and heat flooded through my body, warming me to my core. I couldn’t stop the small smile on my face. “Thank you.”He’s just being polite, I chastised myself.No need to get your hopes up that he’s interested. Just because you’re both gay doesn’t mean anything.
“Well, thank you again, West. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?”
“If that’s okay, I mean. I’m here for the holidays, but I’ve still got work to get done—much to my mother’s disappointment—and I think this is the perfect location to set up shop.” I must have hesitated too long, because he spoke before I could get a word out. “If not, it’s okay. I don’t want to take up a table ifI’m a nuisance. I just thought…” He shrugged and grinned. “The company is nice here.”
I laughed self-consciously. “April’s definitely an interesting one.”
“I meant you.”
“Oh! Well, in that case… come by anytime and stay as long as you’d like.” I heard the words coming out of my mouth but I couldn’t believe them. Since when did I sound so calm and collected in the presence of a hot guy?
He nodded once more before hauling his laptop bag to his shoulder. “I think I’ll take you up on that,” he said, and stepped out of the shop and into the night.
Chapter Three
Cole
“You were told totake it easy!” I’d managed to avoid my mom most of the morning and into the afternoon, but the minute I’d picked up my laptop bag and tried to sneak out, she’d caught me, fixed me with one of her patentedMomlooks, and pounced.
I sighed and tried to force myself not to roll my eyes. “Mom, I told you—”
“I don’t care what you told me. You need to take it easy or you’re going to work yourself into an early grave.”
She was right. I knew she was right. But Iwastaking it easy. Well… easier, anyway. “I know,” I conceded. “But I just need to make sure these last few accounts get wrapped up. If I don’t and things fall through the cracks, the company stands to lose clients. And if the company loses clients, my job is at risk.”
“Do you honestly think your boss is going to fire you for doing what he told you to do? Taking a rest?”
