After a long, awkward moment, he said, "Yeah. Chocolate's good."
Well, that was underwhelming.I tried again. "And they're all for you – to take home or whatever." I'd been trying to keep it light, but my voice had turned weirdly hopeful, and now I felt a little absurd.
Finally he smiled. "So you made these?"
At his smile, my stomach gave a little flutter, and I spoke without thinking. "Iwish."
Oh, crap.Nowthatsounded weird – although for the life of me, I couldn't quite figure out why. I rushed to continue. "I mean, no. I should've told you that from the start. They're from my roommate. Tessa."
He perked up. "Oh, yeah?"
His sudden interest caught me off guard. Still, I nodded. "She works at the coffee shop near the ferry dock. I think you might've met her once?"
He nodded. "A blonde, right?"
Of course he remembered. Tessa wasn't somebody you'd forget, especially if you were a guy. My cheeks warmed as I replied, "Uh, yeah."
He glanced in that general direction, but made no further comment. Even so, I could practically see the wheels turning in his head. He was definitely interested, but I had a sinking feeling that it wasn't in the cookies.
I tried to laugh. "She thinks she might've messed up your last order, and this was her way of making it up to you."
When Griff still said nothing, I kept going. "And, as far the box from the coffee shop…" I gave the dreaded box a furtive glance. "The good news is, no cranberries." Under my breath, I murmured, "But you might find a raisin or two. Or a million."
Whether Griff heard or not, I had no idea. He wasn't even looking at the raisin box. He was eyeing Tessa's cookies with renewed interest. "So…those are from your roommate?"
Hadn't I just said so?"Yeah…she baked them this morning."
Finally, he walked to the table and removed the top from the plastic container. He reached for a cookie and took a modest bite. He gave a slow nod and said, "Good cookie."
I should've been thrilled. And I was…mostly.
Still, I couldn't help but notice that he hadn't even tried one until he learned they were from Tessa. I gave myself a mental kick.Oh, come on. I couldn't know that. Not for sure.
More likely, I'd worn him down by not going away. I forced another smile. "Yeah, I know, right? I mean, I sampled a few for breakfast."
"Tell her thanks, alright?"
"Yeah, totally." I ran a nervous hand through my hair and tried to sound like it was no big deal. "Well…anyway, I guess I should open the shop, huh?"
I turned away, heading toward the front room, feeling confused and deflated for reasons I didn't quite understand.
But then, Griff called out after me. "Hey Maisie."
My heart skipped, and I turned to look. "Yeah?"
"So…about Tessa. What'sherstory?"
I froze. For a second, I thought I'd misheard. "What do you mean?" It felt like someone had dimmed the lights, even though nothing had changed.
His tone was overly casual as he replied, "I just mean, what's she up to?"
The question bothered me more than it should have, and I felt myself swallow. Griff and I had spent hours together at the shop. During all of that time, he had never once asked formystory.
But of course, I wasn't Tessa.
I didn't have a perfect face and perfect hair. I didn't make perfect cookies with the perfect amount of chocolate chips. I didn't say the perfect thing at the perfect time in the perfect tone to make guys notice.
I was just a regular girl – not hideous, but not a knockout either.And I certainly wasn't golden.
