Her intern responded by pointing to a Black man at the condiment station near the door. The man had closely cut hair with clean lines and an incredibly wide back that had her drawing nearer.
After securing a lid onto a disposable coffee cup, the man turned around, and it was a wonder Retta’s jaw didn’t come off its hinges when her mouth dropped.
Not-Steve, the man she’d mistaken as her coffee date, stood in front of her with his cup positioned for a drink.
How in a city of more than two million people, did she run into the one person she’d thoroughly embarrassed herself in front of? She’d think he’d tracked her down if his face didn’t mirror the shock she felt.
Slowly, however, his wide lips turned upward, and goose bumps formed on her arms at the emergence of his dimple. What was he doing here?
She forced herself not to shrink as he closed the distance between them. When she’d first seen him at the cafe, she hadn’t appreciated how built and tall he was. Naturally, the visual of him hoisting her over his shoulder came unencumbered.
“Hi, I’m Duncan,” the man said, taking a drink from his cup. “I own the gym next door.”
Duncan Gilmore watched the woman he met last week, blink several times behind glasses that sat firmly on her round nose.
In the coffee shop, she’d appeared and left as suddenly as a gust of wind. But standing in front of her now, Duncan had time to take in the soft details of her face that were accentuated because her hair was pulled back in a bun.
“Retta,” she said, schooling her features and sticking out her hand for him to shake.
He accepted it, taking note of the dusting of flour against her brown skin. Of course he remembered her. How could he not? He was also positive she recognized him too.
“Welcome to the neighborhood,” she said.
“Are we pretending like we’ve never met?” he whispered, liking the way her eyes widened slightly.
She shook her head. “That would be silly…unless you’d like to be my fifth favorite person.”
Duncan smiled, leaning his shoulder against the column beside him. “Don’t tell me you’re still embarrassed about the mix-up.”
The various gold earrings in her ear caught the light as she ducked her head. “Not one of my finest moments.”
“Okay, we can forget it. Let’s try this again,” Duncan said, straightening his posture. “It’s nice to meet you, Retta…for the very first time in my entire life.”
She snorted. “Welcome to the neighborhood.”
Despite having agreed seconds ago to forget their first meeting, Duncan was curious about how her real date had ultimately ended. He’d left fifteen minutes after their interaction with a fleeting wish that it hadn’t been a mistake.
“Well, I don’t want to mess with your day or nothing. I only dropped in to say hi,” Duncan said after shaking himself internally. This particular edition of introducing himself to the business owners in the complex had to end before he started asking the pretty baker invasive questions.
“Oh, actually, while you’re here, I should discuss something with you,” she said, stepping closer to him. “You’re new around here, so you wouldn’t know how things operate yet, but each business has their own parking spots. My staff and I have the three to the far left.”
Duncan frowned. “There was nothing about assigned parking in the rental agreement.”
“W-well, it’s more of an unofficial thing that we all follow,” she said.
“And let me guess, my gym gets the spaces nobody wants.”
Retta shoved her hands into the pockets of her overalls. “Yes.”
Several seconds of silence passed before something clicked. “You’re the one who’s been leaving the threatening Post-its on our cars.”
“Uh, yeah. They weren’t supposed to come off that way,” she said, squirming in place. “You really lose tone in writing.”
For weeks he and the staff had been finding notes that demanded they move. They hadn’t known who they were from, so they ignored them.
“I’ll have to discuss it with my business partner and get back to you,” Duncan said, already knowing it was going to be a battle. They weren’t going to give up the spots. “Do you have a card or something?”
“Yeah, give me a second,” Retta replied.
