Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 404(@200wpm)___ 324(@250wpm)___ 270(@300wpm)
So why, then, was I so worried about what he thought? It’s not like I’d never been around a hot guy before. But there was more to it than that. There was more to Brady than that.
I felt that, under different circumstances, I’d want to know more about him—about his life, his thoughts, where he’s been, what his plans were, all of those things. He genuinely seemed like a nice guy, and it certainly didn’t hurt that he was pretty damn easy on the eyes.
But these weren’t normal circumstances, and while Brady wasn’t the enemy, the fact that he could even think about selling Patty’s Petals was enough to keep me from following my natural instinct to open up and engage a little more.
Those conflicting emotions—curiosity versus wariness—had been tugging at my mind ever since the moment I’d met Brady. Those emotions had kept me up for several nights and could very easily consume the rest of my day, if I allowed them to.
I had already probably spent too much time thinking about the things I didn’t have any control over that morning, but even though I knew better than to let the thoughts consume me, it was easier said than done.
I sighed as I pushed the stool back from the counter and stretched my legs. There weren’t many mornings when I could afford the luxury of sitting around until lunchtime, but today?
To hell with it.
Not even the beautiful, fresh shipment of flowers we’d received that morning could motivate me.
One thing that did motivate me to move, though, was the fact that it was time for lunch. Time for an excuse to get out of the shop for thirty minutes, even if it was just to walk next door to the coffee shop for a white chocolate mocha.
At least I’d be able to vent to Luca, the owner, for a few minutes. And if I sat at a table out front, I’d be able to see if Brady happened to pull up—a double win as far as I was concerned.
Without wasting another minute, I walked over to the door, flipped the sign from Open to Closed and stepped outside, letting the afternoon sun wash over me for a minute before walking the dozen or so feet over to the front door of Castle Coffee.
I’d barely even opened the door before I heard Luca’s familiar voice.
“Jo! The usual?”
With a grin and a nod, I stepped back outside and took a seat at one of the few empty patio tables. I might be losing my job, but at least I still had good friends. Luca and Naomi, and… well, that was about it, actually. But those two were usually more than enough to give me the kind of help and support I needed.
Especially now—and really, ever since Henry had passed away.
Henry had been another person who would’ve fallen into the “good friends” column—and more than that: a mentor, a father figure. I still felt the loss every single day, even if it was slowly getting easier to deal with.
“Beautiful day, isn’t it?” Luca’s sing-song voice pulled me from my thoughts and made me smile as he handed me my mocha.
It was practically impossible to feel too down when Luca was around—and not just because he was usually carrying that sweet, sweet goodness in a cup that I couldn’t get enough of.
He always had a nice thing to say about… well, everything, really.
“I was hoping you’d stop in today,” Luca said, grinning at me. “I wanted to ask you about your hot new boss—Henry’s son, right?”
I nodded and looked down at my drink to hide the frown that had immediately crossed my face at the mention of Brady. “Yeah, that’s him. He came in here?”
“For coffee the other day.” Luca’s eyes sparkled as he clasped his hands together and wiggled his eyebrows. “Two coffees, as I recall.”
“Oh, right. Yeah. He’s nice, I guess.”
I looked back up to see Luca staring at me incredulously. “Nice… you guess? This hot guy—do you think Henry was that hot like forty years ago or whatever? —anyway, this really hot guy swoops down out of nowhere and not only do you get to work with him, but he’s already buying you things, and that’s all I get? Nice? Surely you can give me a little more than that. I bet he’s less grumpy than Henry was, for sure.”
“I miss Henry being grumpy,” I said, flatly.
I did miss it, and everything else about Henry, too. Not to mention the stability and steadiness that he had provided in my life. No point in dwelling on that now, though.
But damn, could my friends stop crushing on Brady just a little? Them going on and on about him wasn’t really helping my emotional state.
I couldn’t totally blame them, of course. Brady was undeniably hot. And nice. And built, and sexy…