I let the hand holding my hat fall to my side as I regarded the smiling little girl on Stella’s hip. “And how are you today, little one?”
Her grin was infectious. Even around the pacifier she had in her mouth, she smiled so wide that her chubby cheeks squished, her eyes almost closing. She grabbed for the pacifier and shook it at me with an endless string of babble.I couldn’t understand a single thing she was trying to tell me, but her animation made me chuckle. I nodded along enthusiastically, pretending that I had any inkling about what she was trying to say.
She didn’t have those same emerald eyes as her mother. Hers were chocolate brown. She looked like Stella, but her features were less sharp, more pudgy. Stella had bright blonde hair that fell in gentle waves down over her shoulders, but Charlie’s hair was darker, closer to brown, and curled in little spirals that currently were stuck up in every direction.
Stella hoisted her higher on her hip as she stepped out of the way of oncoming foot traffic. We were at the coffee shop’s entrance, yet I couldn’t be bothered to move. This mystery woman and her adorable, toothy toddler occupied every single one of my thoughts.
“I’ll just be heading out.” Stella said towards the floor asshe attempted to skirt around me, hiking a thumb in the direction of the door. I again put my hand out to catch her elbow, making sure to keep my touch light.
“Don’t leave on my account. I know I’m not the best thing to look at, but you should at least get some coffee in ya first before passing judgement.” I smirked.
I felt an undeniable pull, a potent chemistry that sparked a sudden urge to flirt; I couldn’t explain the inexplicable attraction to her. She had me absolutely twisted up in knots.
I had fought my thoughts of Stella last night at the bar with Wade. I started with beer; however, when those emerald eyes still haunted me, I’d promptly switched to bourbon, attempting to drown out the thoughts of the sadness that radiated in them and the primal urge to hunt down whoever had put it there.
“I wasn’t...” she started, but stopped abruptly as I approached the counter, ignoring her.
With a sly smile, I glanced back before shifting my attention to Angie, the local high school student who pitched in on weekends at the counter. I’d assisted her momma and daddy over on their farm on more than one occasion with herding their wayward livestock.
Stella’s gaze was nearly feral as she watched me ignore her and order coffee. Good, that was better than the sadness that seemed to follow her. She still had some spark left in her, this girl.
“Mornin’ Ange,” I greeted the barista. “Can I get my usual, plus an iced caramel latte with oat milk for Stella, and a blueberry muffin for the little one?”
“Sure thing, Max,” she said as she punched the items into the register.
Her slight head tilt, as she attempted a look at Stellabrooding behind me, didn’t escape my notice. I handed over my card and dropped a ten-dollar bill in the tip jar that read ‘college is expensive, tip your barista’.
Turning to face Stella, I saw a scorned woman’s stern expression. If she didn’t look so cute, I would have been a little worried, but the set of her shoulders and her crossed arms gave her the look of an overgrown petulant toddler.
“I can order my own food and drinks.” She huffed before stomping to a nearby table, grabbing a high chair for Charlie, and plopping into an adjacent seat with a thunk.
“I’m sure you’re capable, Trouble.” I remarked, inwardly chuckling as I slid her drink over to her on a single finger and put the bag with the muffin beside it. A peace offering.
“My intention wasn’t to belittle your ability to take care of yourself. I was just doing something nice because you look like someone pissed in your Cheerios this morning.”
She cocked her head to the left and narrowed her eyes. “Trouble?” she questioned as she broke off a piece of the muffin, setting it on the napkin she’d dutifully laid out in front of Charlie. The toddler fisted the muffin chunk, crumbling it into minuscule pieces before shoving her entire fist into her mouth.
“Seemed fitting - given the first time we met, you looked like you wereintrouble, or looking for trouble to getinto.” I responded with a quirk of my brow and a slight lift to one side of my lips.
I saw her face flush with a tinge of pink; this blush just made my desire to know her and the arousal I felt when her emerald eyes locked with mine stronger.
“Whatever you say, Cowboy.” She said with a slight uptick to the side of her own plush lips.
This girl was going to be the death of me. Cue instant hard-on.
Giving her a quick once over, I noticed that her bottom lip was plumper than her top, giving the impression that she’d been biting it. She had an angular face with a slender nose. Her gaze was gentle, yet not naïve. I sensed there was more to this woman than she let people see. She looked jaded, but not broken. My gaze was drawn to the slight smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose that spread up the apples of her cheeks and towards the edges of her eyes, giving her an air of innocence. She was breathtakingly beautiful.
“Mo! MO!” Charlie shouted, breaking me from my lust heated perusal. She slammed her tiny fists down on the table and stretched in the high chair for the muffin sitting in front of Stella. Stella’s breathy chuckle sent another rush of blood straight to my cock.
This woman’s impact on me felt unlike any other before. I’d always been the type to either take care of my needs myself or pick up a one nighter at a bar a couple hours west in Atlanta. This sensation of unfiltered desire was throwing me for a loop, yet I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about what she’d feel like with my hands gripping her waist, her head thrown back in ecstasy as I towered over her tiny frame.
Stella broke off a couple chunks of the muffin and placed them on the napkin in front of Charlie, who immediately continued her decimation of the breakfast pastry and seemed content with the mess she was making.
I watched as Stella shuffled crumbs off the top of the table into her awaiting hand at the edge, dumping them onto a napkin that she kept spread out in front of herself. I knew little about being a parent, as the thought of being a dad had rarely ever crossed my mind and the only true comparison I had wasmy own Ma - but if I had to take a guess, I’d say Stella was an excellent mother.
I watched as she sipped her coffee, eyes closing, as she relished the cool hit of caffeine she looked like she could use desperately. I averted my eyes before I started thinking again with my southern most head instead of the one between my shoulders again.
I found Stella captivating, yet knew nothing of her background. She’d turned up in town out of nowhere and looked like she could use a friend. I couldn’t let myself get attached to an enigma. I was at the point in my life where I needed stability and to settle down, not a one-night stand with this green-eyed blonde. Cresting thirty, and being a perpetual bachelor, only held appeal for so long.
