With a warm cup full of caramel macchiato between her hands, Tory sat behind a small table in the corner of a coffee shop called The Roast, looking out onto the streets of her new home. Outside, everyone was rushing to get where they were going, coats and jackets dappled with raindrops as the clouds rolled in.

The humidity in the air not only made her hair frizz, but her knee ache. It was a manageable pain, nothing that would stop her from going into work. But it was still a reminder of something she would rather forget.

This was a new life for her, and she had resolved to put the past behind her. It wasn’t really going as well as she’d hoped, but settling into Black Oaks and having a new job were pretty good distractions.

Now, though, she could add a certain student to that list of diversions.

Pierce was a hard man to forget, especially thanks to his audacious advances. A smile tugged at the edges of Tory’s mouth. There had been something about him that left a lasting impression, whether she wanted to admit it or not.

And damn if he hadn’t been as handsome as a movie star with the body of an action hero.

Still, it hardly mattered what he looked like. Tory had her plate full as it was, and the last thing she needed was to get involved with someone, whoever that someone was. She had never been that good at dating, and the past year had only served to make her more jaded.

Safe to say, a romantic she was not.

Tory was pulled out of her thoughts when someone came barreling through the door, huge black umbrella in hand. Fluffing out her damp, blonde hair, the woman closed her umbrella, smiling at the barista behind the counter.

Tory recognized her immediately. It was Joanne, the bride from yesterday. Joanne noticed her, too, giving Tory a small wave as she placed her order. Tory waved back, forcing a smile on her face.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like Joanne. The woman was perfectly nice, pleasant and polite, but with all the new faces she had had to acquaint herself with at the dance studio, the last thing Tory wanted to do was have more small talk with someone.

Where are you from? Why did you leave? How long have you danced?

The questions were all the same, predictable yet also uncomfortable every time she had to answer. Only her new boss knew about her injuries, and Tory was determined to keep it that way.

She didn’t need special treatment. All she yearned for was some semblance of normality again. Now was that too much to ask?

As she sipped her drink, Tory made herself as small as possible in her little corner, as if that would somehow turn her invisible to Joanne. Running away wasn’t really an option, unless she wanted to not only be the new girl in town, but the crazy new girl in town.

Just as she had feared, as soon as Joanne had her own cup in hand, the woman made her way over to her table, a smile on her perfectly painted coral lips.

“Tory, hey,” Joanne said, propping her umbrella against the wall. “Mind if I join you?”

“Of course not,” Tory replied, even as her shoulders tensed.

“I see you’ve already found the best coffee shop in Black Oak,” Joanne smiled, sipping her drink.

“It was just the closest one to the apartment I’m renting,” Tory shrugged. “But this macchiato is pretty great,” she added, holding up her cup.

“Would it be terribly obvious if I said something like, ‘I bet you had a favorite spot back in…’” Joanne grinned, tucking a blonde curl behind her ear.

Leaning back in her chair, Tory took a moment to appreciate the new approach to the old, familiar questions she kept getting pelted with. Joanne seemed to be genuinely interested in her response, not just making chit-chat.

“New York,” Tory offered. “And yeah, it was pretty obvious.”

Joanne laughed, folding her hands in her lap. An elegant engagement ring glinted on her ring finger, and it was the only piece of jewelry Tory could see the woman wear.

“You must be pretty tired of the third degree, huh?” Joanne asked. “Forgive us small-town folk. You’re what passes as news right now,” she added with a chuckle.

“Huh,” was all Tory could think to say.

What else could she say? Not only wasn’t she nearly interesting enough for that kind of attention, the thought of her moving to Black Oak being something that got the locals talking only made the town feel even smaller.

“It’s okay if you wanted to say it must be real boring here,” Joanne offered, making Tory nearly choke on her coffee.

“Uhh,” she stammered.

Joanne laughed, but not in a way that made Tory uncomfortable, or embarrassed. No, she found herself giggling along, instead. There was a frankness and an easygoing spirit to Joanne that she couldn’t help but like.

“I’m still getting used to everything, I guess,” Tory admitted, after she got her giggles under control. “It’s a far cry from New York.”

“I bet,” Joanne scoffed. “But I think you’ll find Black Oak has its charms. The men aren’t bad to look at, for example,” she grinned, giving her a knowing look.

“I hadn’t noticed,” Tory said lightly.

“Hmm,” Joanne mused. “I think they’ve noticed you, though. At least one of them.”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out who Joanne was talking about.

“You mean Pierce,” Tory said.

“You had someone else in mind?” Joanne quirked a brow at her.

Despite herself, Tory felt a blush creep up her cheeks. What the hell was going on with her? She didn’t blush. Nor did she get flustered by being asked about some guy she barely knew.

Still, the memory of being pressed against him filled her mind, and she found herself gripping her paper cup so tightly, it nearly crumpled in the middle.

“I didn’t come here to date,” Tory finally said. “And Pierce isn’t my type.”

Life was not permanent. Things could flip on a dime, circumstances and feelings changed, and the odds were never in your favor. These were all truths Tory knew. The last thing she wanted was another disappointment in her life.

No, her heart was not something she was willing to play fast and loose with. The risk was not worth it. Tory was going to focus on her new job, maybe even work on making a couple of friends, and that was that.

I need someone to share a bottle of wine with me from time to time. At a point, drinking alone just gets sad.

“Types,” Joanne scoffed. “There’s no such thing. You might think you’re into blond, blue-eyed pretty boys, but then you meet a hunk of a man with eyes as dark as the night, and suddenly, you’re done for,” she sighed, lost in thought for a moment.

“Is that what happened to you?” Tory asked, smiling to herself.

“You betcha,” Joanne replied. “When you know, you know.”

Tory tried to fight her curiosity, but now that Joanne had brought the subject up, she was itching to know more about Pierce. Just to confirm her suspicions about him, that was all. So she could put him out of her mind for good.

“Pierce doesn’t strike me as a one-woman man, though,” she carefully prodded.

“He hasn’t been serious about someone, that’s true,” Joanne admitted. “And lord knows he has no trouble with the ladies. He’s easy on the eyes and can talk his way out of a paper bag. But recently, he’s been… different,” Joanne said, hesitating for a moment. “Either way, you can’t make a decision about a man based on hearsay. You’ve got to listen to your gut.”

“I’m not good at that,” Tory replied.

As brash as she could be, she never made any decisions without carefully weighing the pros and cons. Feelings were fickle, facts were not. Maybe that was why none of her boyfriends lasted more than a few months? Love wasn’t logical, after all.

But Tory was. And her gut was just going to have to shut up and deal with it.