Chapter 10

“He just left you there?” Kelly rubbed her fingertips over her temples. It was the end of the day and she’d obviously had a long one. Christmas was a crazy time of the year, and they’d had an influx of business, thanks to the Starbucks red cup controversy. The corporate conglomerate’s loss was Kelly’s gain.

“He paid the bill at least, and he asked for my card so he could call and plan another date. A proper first date he called it. But yeah, he left me there.” I sighed and leaned across the counter in the coffee shop.

Pat locked up behind me, grunting sourly when a customer banged on the door. “We’re closed,” he said gesturing to the white sign hanging from thin wire. “No, no, closed. Come back tomorrow!”

The guy whined something about caffeine withdrawals through the glass and banged again.

“Merry Christmas to you too,” Pat replied, then turned and marched off to the kitchen, grumbling about rudeness during the holiday season.

“I can’t wrap my mind around this guy. He pursues you like crazy, then ditches you at the restaurant. What the hell?” Kelly turned and made two cups of coffee, pumping the arm of the coffee grinder to fill the bowl beneath it. “I mean, a little mystery is good, but that’s just plain strange. And rude.”

“I didn’t even tell you the best part.”

“There’s always a best part with you,” Kelly said, then switched on the milk frothing machine. “Tell me.”

“He took a call first. I went to the bathroom because I felt like I was about to have a panic attack and when I came out, he was on the phone to someone and he mentioned me. He said her, like it was some kind of dirty word.”

“What?! No way,” Kelly said, huffing out air through her open mouth. She took out two cups for cappuccinos.

“Yes way. He told the guy or woman or whoever that he was with me. He hung up before I sat down, then told me he had to get to work. An emergency.” I accepted a cup from her and slurped the foam off the top. Ah, I felt better already.

“That’s suspicious as hell. What’s he playing at?”

“I don’t know, but it sure didn’t sound like a work call. It was way more, friendly, you know.”

“I wonder if it was another woman,” Kelly mused, drinking some of her own cappuccino and getting foam on her top lip. She didn’t wipe it off, so I took a napkin and swiped the milk moustache away for her. “Mmm, thanks.”

“Why would he tell another woman about me? No, it was something weirder. I don’t know who it was.”

“Maybe you should stay away from this guy,” she offered.

“That’s the plan,” I replied. Hopefully, I could pull that off. Though, the way he made me feel had me doubting it. Weak. In the knees, in the heart, in the soul. “I don’t know. I can’t —” I shook my head and focused on my cappuccino instead of my best friend’s expression.

“Spill,” she insisted. Kelly always knew when something was up with me. Like a bloodhound on the trail of an escapee.

“I dunno. It’s like … this should be a really simple thing to do, this whole ‘don’t see him again’ thing.”

“Yeah, definitely. But you want to see him again, don’t you?” Kelly pursed her lips. There was still foam in the corner of her mouth and she licked at it.

“I don’t know why. Okay, I do. He’s gorgeous and interesting, and he gives me this feeling.”

“A feeling in the nether regions?” Kelly asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Ew, no, stop,” I smacked her arm, then conceded the point with a head wiggle. “Yeah, that too.”

Kelly burst out laughing, then shifted her cappuccino cup aside and grasped me by the forearms. “You haven’t had anyone in a long time. Maybe this phone call was an innocent thing and you’re just jumping to conclusions because you’re afraid of getting involved.”

“Maybe,” I said, fighting the urge to chew on my nail.

“Or maybe, he’s a total psycho and he’s planning on murdering you while you sleep.”

I stared at her. “What the fuck?!”

Kelly laughed again, a snort escaping her this time. “My point is, what’s the worst that could happen? I’ve been begging you to go on a date for months now. If this is the guy who gets you all hot and bothered, then what are you waiting for?”

“Divine intervention,” I murmured. “Someone to wake me up.”

“Chances are, the attraction will fizzle and this will end up as a fling. A romance you can tell your grandkids about one day. The tame version, obviously. Then it won’t matter who he was on the phone with,” Kelly paused and patted my hand. “Or, you’ll end up together and will find out what the phone call was about anyway. It’s a win-win.”

I stared at her, a smile lifting the corners of my lips. ‘Convincing Kelly’ at her best. But I didn’t doubt her motives. She always wanted what was best for me. Apparently, she thought that was Gabe.

“I guess I’ll answer his call, then,” I said. “If he actually does call, of course.”

Kelly rolled her eyes at me. “Of course.”

Another customer banged on the door, rattling it in its frame.

“Hey!” Pat came charging out of the office. “Do you not see the sign? We’re closed — I tell you — closed. It’s after seven, go home!” He flapped his arms to shoo the hapless customer on the other side of the glass.

I stifled a giggle in my fist. Kelly joined me.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Pat grumbled, walking past us. But he paused and reserved a kiss for his wife, a chaste one on the cheek, which spoke of more to come. While I liked Pat, I couldn’t quite understand the Jekyll & Hyde routine. But Kelly adored him and he was certainly never boring. And the same could be said for the intriguing Gabe.