Page 2 of Hot in the City
Chocolate, coffee and you
All I crave
He lowered his head towards hers, dipping his chin. Everything inside her tightened, heated. Cinnamon and manly spice, strong arms wrapped around her, his dark eyes flashing.
“Beth!” Beth’s old friend arrived in her usual full-on style, slamming the door and flouncing across the room.
Beth snapped her head up, rudely awakened from her daydream. Was her face completely red? She hoped no-one one could hear her heartbeat thumping like a jackhammer. She had been sitting at her usual table, still pondering today’s poem.
Chocolate, coffee and you. All I crave.
She could say those words to Samuel. If she were brave. Then the daydream had taken on a life of its own.
Jenny took a seat like she was perching on a throne, the queen of Beth’s table, dramatically arranging designer shopping bags beside her chair. Beth’s glance slipped to Samuel where he leaned on the counter. His raised eyebrow gave a hint of his thoughts. He probably thought she was a loner with no friends. How could he know she wanted him all to herself? Samuel was her secret indulgence.
Her love-life was officially extinct. That’s exactly what the coffee catch-up with her oldest friend was supposed to be about – kick-starting Beth’s apparently dormant sex drive. So here they were. Jenny talked her into meeting here, and now had grand plans to enrol Beth in a singles club or some such scheme, to get her back on the dating scene.
A year had gone by since Beth’s divorce, and everyone agreed it was time. Everyone suddenly tried to set her up with all the ‘suitable’, single, fifty-ish men they could find. Whether she liked it or not. When they last chatted on the phone, Jenny had informed Beth that she would “dry up” if she didn’t get some action soon. Little did Jenny know that Beth’s sex drive switched automatically to hyperdrive whenever she glanced Samuel’s way.
Beth had made an exception for Jenny, inviting her to meet at her favourite café. Jenny was her childhood friend who she hardly saw, since Jenny had moved interstate with a high-powered job and equally high-powered husband.
Samuel watched their table, openly, checking out Jenny from coiffed head to perfectly shod toe. Beth should have stood up for herself, should never have brought Jenny to her favourite café. Her friend was lithe and effortlessly elegant with the perfect blonde hairdo and immaculate black suit and heels. If Samuel wanted an older woman, he’d probably choose someone like Jenny.
Beth glanced down at her own outfit. Her offbeat style, combat boots and a second-hand 1970s floral dress today, turned heads for the wrong reasons. She didn’t really care anymore. Not usually. The ad agency where she worked as a copywriter was happy with alternative gear. She wore what she liked, what felt comfortable. That was one good thing about getting older – she was more confident in her own style and in her own skin. Except when a man she desired was watching another woman right in front of her.
“Beth, darling, look at you!” Jenny leaned over and air-kissed her cheek. “Your dress is so cute. And your hair is to die for, as always.” Jenny turned and snapped her fingers at Samuel as if he was her personal serving-boy.
Beth’s cheeks warmed. “Jenny, behave.” Her warning tone apparently fell on deaf ears.
“Why? Is that him? Hot café guy?” Jenny’s voice boomed across the café. Then her icy blue eyes evaluated him, thoroughly. Head to toe, all the good places in between. “He’s certainly hot. And he wants you too, I can tell.”
Beth’s cheeks heated. Her whole body was tinder dry, about to burst into flame with the flick of a struck match. Her gaze snapped across to the counter to find Samuel staring. Really, properly staring, as if he could see straight into her soul. Or at least into her dirtiest fantasies. As if he heard her thunderous heart beating from across the room and finally understood the pathetic, unrequited crush she nurtured deep inside.
He quickly turned away, busily stacking coffee mugs. Jenny didn’t notice the silent exchange and tottered over to the counter to place her order.
After a few minutes of boasting about her new home (on Jenny’s part), Beth was beginning to wonder if she and Jenny had anything in common anymore. Samuel delivered Jenny’s coffee to their table with a furtive glance in Beth’s direction. A quick but steamy glance.
Was she wrong, or was there definite smoulder in those coal ember eyes? And there she went. Whoosh. On fire.
“Where’s my chocolate truffle? I’ve heard they’re divine.” The superior note in Jenny’s voice made Beth’s stomach churn. Was her friend always so condescending?
Samuel shrugged, then walked over to another table of customers.
“Only for Beth. I see.” Jenny laughed loudly. “Never mind.”
Beth cringed inside, then downed her coffee in a single gulp, mind reeling.
Did Samuel like her? Chewing her divine truffle, she thought it through. Any attraction on his part seemed unlikely. He could have any hot young chick. Half of the students who came into the café asked him out. Girls and guys. Although, she’d never noticed him accept any of their invitations.
He was probably taken. She’d bet he had some supermodel girlfriend ready to give up her jet-setting lifestyle to have his babies. Or maybe he was a private person, an introvert like herself.
The conversation with Jenny lurched along. Beth prepared herself, sitting up straighter, then told her friend something important.
“I’ve got some news. A couple of my short stories are about to be published. There’s a book launch coming up and everything.” It was exciting, something Beth had worked long and hard to achieve. Her heart fluttered a little in her chest, finally having the chance to tell someone.
“Really? Some of your little stories? After all these years? Well, good on you. That’s so... fun.” Jenny touched Beth’s arm, giving her a little pat.
Beth’s heart sank like a stone in a cold bucket of water. Apparently, Jenny didn’t see the point, if a book wouldn’t sell a million copies. Her eyes stung, but she wouldn’t cry. She’d had enough of tears the last few years.
