MAYA
See you soon. : )
I chuckled, placing my phone back on the counter. I ran to the bathroom, socks sliding against the hardwood floors, and quickly fixed my hair before giving my neck a quick spritz of cologne.
Did Elsie like cologne? Would she likemine?
I shook my head at the thought. I was being ridiculous. I wasn’t trying to impress her; I only wanted to get to know her.
An idea formed in my mind. Elsie would probably shoot me down if our last conversation was any indication, but it was worth a shot. If I didn’t take the risk, there was no chance at all, and that thought had my feet moving toward the door.
Double checking that Luna had food and water, I gave her a quick belly rub before I slipped out of my house, climbed in my truck, and drove into town to find the woman that had stolen all the rational thoughts from my head.
Elsie
Quiet jazz music filtered through the speakers at my favorite local coffee shop. Maya sat across from me, engrossed in her phone, as I stared at my laptop trying to muster the motivation to finish that love-at-first-sight-meet-cute piece I’d been working on for a couple of weeks. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t bring myself to put my hands to the keyboard and type up the article.
It was also hard to focus when my mind kept spinning back to the fact that I hadn’t taken Maya’s advice to call Jameson. Every time I thought about contacting him all I saw was a relationship that would end in disaster. We’d develop feelings for each other, maybe even fall in love, then Jameson would pull off the mask I expected from everyone, and everything would fall apart. I would be broken; maybe even worse than before. I couldn’t put myself at risk like that.Not again.
If there was one thing I had learned, it was that I must keep myself safe, no matter the cost.
I slurped the remaining cold brew through my straw and begged my brain to focus. There were only a few other people in the coffee shop—a guy studying while jamming to whatever filtered through his humongous headphones, and a girl in the far corner clacking away on her tablet.The occasional ring of the bell over the door had me glancing up every few minutes.
As crafty as Maya was, I don’t know why it surprised me so much when I heard a familiar voice next to me.
“Fancy meeting you here.”
I closed my eyes, stomach sinking to the floor. My heart took off like it was running toward Chick-Fil-A on the first day of peppermint chip shakes.
Ugh.That cold brew might have been a bad idea.
Cracking an eye open, I glanced up at Jameson standing next to me and sighed.
“Jameson!” Maya crooned, and my suspicion grew. “What a pleasant surprise. Here.” She paused, kicking out a chair for him. It groaned against the wood floor. “Have a seat.”
I fixed my best friend with the most intense glare I could muster.
I’m going to get you for this, Maya.
“Hey, Elsie,” he said to me, a half-smile curling his lips. I was so annoyed at Maya that I was unable to wipe the scowl from my face. He chuckled, sliding into the seat across from me without waiting for a response.
Jameson was dressed in light wash jeans and a green quarter-zip pullover that hugged the muscles on his arms just right, and made his hazel eyes pop.
Stop ogling his muscles, Elsie. You need to get rid of him,Smart Elsie snapped in my head.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, unable to keep the bite from my tone.
Jameson flicked his eyes to Maya, who abruptly stood, chair squealing behind her.
She snatched her coffee up. “Well! Look at the time. I better get going.”
I really should have noticed the to-go cup sooner. The Roasted Bean always put iced coffee in big mason jars unless you were taking it to go. Maya never intended on staying long.
“Bye Els! I’ll see you later!” In all the time I’d known her, I had never seen my best friend run out of a building so fast.
Jameson’s amused gaze flitted to me. “This was all her idea,” he admitted, putting his hands up in surrender. “She told me you both were here and bribed me with coffee.”
“Of course, she did,” I muttered.
