Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 95008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 475(@200wpm)___ 380(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
“You want the usual?” I asked, glancing behind him at the line of cars.
“Please,” he confirmed, grinning. God. It should be against the laws of nature to be that good looking.
“I don’t know why you come through here to get plain black coffee,” I replied as I stepped back and got his drink ready. “You could make this at home.”
“I could,” he said easily as I handed him the plain drip coffee.
I waved him off as he tried to hand me money. Charlie and I never let our people pay. We told them it was the perk of knowing the barista. Truthfully, we just took it out of our tips at the end of each shift. We considered it an even trade since we got visits while we were working. Plus, they usually tipped really well even though they weren’t paying, so they ended up paying anyhow.
So, when Draco leaned further out the truck window and stuffed a twenty into the tip jar, I wasn’t surprised.
I sighed dramatically, not bothering to argue. He wasn’t going to take that twenty back, even though it was way too much. “Thank you.”
He sat there, looking at me as he took a sip of his coffee. “Way better than I could make at home,” he said quietly. “You out of here soon?”
“Not too much longer,” I replied, even though I had hours left.
“Good,” he said, still holding eye contact. “It’s getting nasty out here.”
“I’ll be alright.”
“Let me know if you need anything.”
I nodded and swallowed hard. We both knew the world would have to be ending before I asked him for help…probably not even then.
“See you later, sweetheart.”
I nodded and gave an awkward wave as he put the truck into gear and pulled away. As soon as he was far enough away not to see me, I took a step back into the little trailer and shook out my hands and smoothed back my hair. It didn’t matter how many times he showed up for coffee, it left me frazzled every time.
I cleared my throat and forced myself to lean toward the little window again and smiled, “Hey, what can I get ya?”
For the next hour, I kept a smile on my face as my eyes watered and the air grew even more difficult to deal with. By the time my boss showed up with her husband and turned the neon Open sign off, I was so congested, I sounded like a honking goose when I spoke.
“You head out,” she said, rubbing my back briskly as she passed me in the small space. “We’re gonna tow the whole cart outta here for now. Stash it somewhere I don’t have to worry about it.”
“Text me later?” I said, not bothering to ask any questions as I pulled off my apron.
“I’ll send out a group text in a couple hours,” Mallory replied, nodding as she quickly secured the supplies on the counters and in the sinks. “Go home.” She raised her head to look at me. “Check in, alright? Let me know how you guys are doing.”
“I will,” I agreed as I turned toward the door with a wave. Less than a minute later, I was driving home. I probably should’ve offered to stay and help Mallory pack up, but I knew I’d just be in the way. Plus, I couldn’t wait to take a shower. I smelled like an ashtray.
By the time I got to my front door, every thought of a shower had gone out the window and I felt like I was walking through mud. Damn, I was tired. After barely getting any sleep the night before and my four am shift at the coffee cart, I was beat. Thank God Mallory closed the cart early. I wasn’t sure how I would’ve made it to the end of my shift.
“Honey, I’m home,” I called out, opening the front door and tossing my purse onto the couch. “Are you?”
“Yep,” my roommate and best friend replied, popping up from behind the kitchen counter. I yelped in surprise.
“Jesus, were you hiding?” I asked, kicking off my shoes.
“No, I was looking for that cheese grater I borrowed from my mother so I can return it.”
“She’s probably bought a new one by now,” I said, walking past her toward my bedroom.
“Yeah, I know,” Charlie replied, following me. “But if I go over there without it, she’ll bug me about it the whole time.”
“Probably,” I agreed, pulling my phone out to check it for the tenth time that day. The news was saying that the wild fire in our area was getting closer. Zero containment were their exact words. Unpredictable winds. “Mallory closed up the shop,” I told Charlie as I sat on the edge of the bed. “She was having it towed somewhere out of the danger zone.”
“Sweet,” Charlie replied. We both worked at the shop, but we rarely had the same shift—which, if I was being honest, was probably a good thing. We spent enough time together as it was.