“I’m Nick Iverson, though you probably figured that out.”
His gruff cheeks burnt as red as an embarrassed school boy’s, and she snickered. The beans were running low. Emma reached deep into the bag, filling her smaller cup, just as Nick plunged his bucket in. Their arms bumped and she dropped her scoop. Surprised, she found Nick had bent closer to reach the bottom. She couldn’t look away from the distinguished nose with a bump on the bridge, the lines of life crinkled beside his eyes, and the tiny dimple in the middle of his wide chin. It wasn’t until he blinked that she realized she’d been staring into his eyes, the blue irises fracturing into a green-gray around the pupil.
The bag shifted under her, nearly tossing Emma onto her back. Nick rose and hefted the beans into the air. “It’s easier to pour the last bit out.” He did just that, creating a caffeinated cascade while she tried to make herself busy. That was always the best distraction.
“Does the other sack go in there too?” she asked, spotting the two medium roasts he’d brought in himself.
“There’s a bigger can for those here,” Nick said, slapping a trashcan-sized canister beside himself. Perfect. Emma worked her way around behind the large sack, stooped down, and wrapped her arms around it. Putting all her strength into it, she stood up as fast as possible. The bag jerked, but she fought it off and was able to get it into her hands.
She smiled at Nick. He grinned in response, and she took a careful step closer. The beans shuffled in her arms, the tumbling sound increasing. Emma’s toe knocked into a wayward bean, and she kept going, only to kick more. Nick’s smile dropped and he waved his hands.
“Stop!”
“What is…?” She tried to look down, even with the giant bag in the way, when a dozen small beads bounced against her foot.Oh no, those aren’t beads.
“The damn thing’s ripped!” Nick leaped for her, arms outstretched to take the bag, just as the bottom gave out. Slippery coffee beans gushed out across the floor. Emma dropped the bag far too late and tried to flee onto a rising ocean of beans. They cracked and popped under her feet, rolling her ankles. She realized she was falling just as the shelf went rushing past. Emma reached out to catch it and herself, but something else beat her to it.
An immovable force pressed against her back, hauling her back to her feet. She tried to steady herself and found it was Nick’s hand holding her safe. The two breathed a sigh of relief, which pressed her chest into his. Somehow, she’d slipped her leg in-between his, her thigh nearly brushing against his crotch. Emma tried to not think about the weight of what was almost caressing her leg when Nick’s hand dropped lower.
She gazed up at him, unable to escape the hard press rising over her leg. Nick bent closer and their fight against gravity failed. He cried out once, tumbling to his back and taking Emma with. She landed on top of him, his head smacking against the floor.
“Are you okay?” she cried out, terrified he’d suffered brain damage.
“Just…peachy. My ego on the other hand.” Nick moved as if to sit up when he suddenly jerked and laid back down. “Back’s not happy either. How about you?”
Emma placed her hands astride his shoulders and found her knees had straddled him too. The coffee beans cracked like bubble wrap, but the little buggers were still slippery. Her palm skidded, causing her cheek to fall to his chest. “This is going well,” she said, laughing at herself until fingers toyed with her ponytail and scooped down her neck.
Blinking, she looked up into Nick’s face to find the gruff scowl replaced by a tender smile. “I could think of worse ways to hurt myself.” His hand slipped down her back, pressing her tighter instead of away. Emma tipped her head, her eyes closing in anticipation.
“I’m back, so you can stop…”
Both adults panicked at the loud shout of a teenager. Emma flung away, skidding on the floor and managing to wedge herself in the gap. Nick scrambled on the beans, groaning hard and clutching his back. All the while, Skylar watched. “You seem to be having fun. Maybe I should come back later.”
“Ha.” Nick managed to hook a hand to the canister and hoisted himself up. “One of the damn bags ripped, again. If you’d been here…”
“I could have stopped Rob from using cheap sacks? I’m more powerful than I thought.”
Nick groaned first from Skylar, then as he rubbed his back. “There’s beans everywhere. Clean them up.”
“Can’t.” Skylar held up her phone. “It’s six. You know what that means.”
“Damn it. We’ll clean this up in the morning. Here.” Nick extended a hand to Emma. She wasn’t certain if she should take it with the way Skylar was watching, but refusing would make it look so much worse. Emma placed her fingers in Nick’s palm but used the shelf to guide herself out of the coffee bean avalanche. She didn’t need to fall a second time.
“What about dinner? I’m starving,” Skylar whined.
“When aren’t you a bottomless pit?” Nick wiped off his hands, then looked at his niece. “Did you find a dress?”
“Yes.”
“Can I see it?”
“No.”
Emma left the two of them to bicker over a rite of passage as she checked her phone. All of her messages about renting the cheapest places in town went unanswered. The motel was full. There was a fancy hotel with vacancies but the rooms started at two-fifty and only got worse from there. What was she going to do?
“Cream and sugar?”
She shook out of her funk to find Nick gazing at her. When she glanced at him, he smiled. “What do you want on your pizza?”
