It was raining on Wednesday. It never rained in Los Angeles.

It had been overcast when Penny set out for Antidote on foot, but she’d assumed it was just marine layer like always. She changed her tune when the clouds started dumping water on her.

She was two-thirds of the way to Antidote, so she quickened her pace and kept going rather than turn back toward home. It couldn’t possibly rain for long; she’d just wait it out at the coffee shop.

By the time she ducked in the door, she was soaked to the skin.

“It’s raining!” she announced as she squeegeed water off her face.

“Yikes,” Elyse said.

“What are you doing out walking in the rain without an umbrella?” George asked, swiveling on his stool to frown at her. He was the only customer this morning. The rain must have kept everyone else away. Everyone with any sense, that is.

“It wasn’t raining when I left the house!” Penny shook out her arms, sending droplets of water flying in every direction. “It never rains in LA!” Her shoes were waterlogged and water dripped off her skirt onto the doormat like the drip line of a tree.

“Stay there,” Caleb said and disappeared into the back.

“Now you know better,” George said. “It only mostly never rains.”

Penny tried to squeeze the water out of her hair. It dripped down her back in a cold stream that made her shiver. “I used to check the weather every single day, you know. But it always said the same thing, so I quit.”

“Los Angeles rain likes to sneak up on you. And no one knows how to drive in it. You’re lucky you weren’t run over.”

Caleb came back with a stack of clean dishtowels. “It’s all we have,” he said apologetically.

“No, this is great. Thank you.” Penny grabbed one and toweled off her face and chest.

His gaze came to rest on her décolletage as she patted it dry. Thank goodness her dress had a bright, busy pattern, because the way it was sticking to her could have been very indecent otherwise.

Caleb cleared his throat and bent over to lay a towel out on the floor. “Step out of your shoes onto this.”

“I’m not allowed to be barefoot in a restaurant,” she protested.

“I promise not to call the health department on you—this time.” He put his hand under her elbow to steady her and nodded at the floor. “Come on.”

She let herself lean on him, her fingers closing around his large forearm—the very same forearm she’d gazed at longingly so many times—as she slipped out of her shoes. Too bad he’s wearing a sweatshirt, she thought as she stepped onto the dry towel, scrunching her wet toes in the cotton, or else I could be touching his bare skin right now. A shiver raced down her spine at the thought.

He thrust the stack of towels at her, then scooped up her shoes and began drying them off. She reached out to stop him. “Oh, no! You really don’t have to—”

He waved her off. “I don’t want to have to mop the floor behind you, do I?”

“I can do it! I don’t mind.”

He shook his head in exasperation. “Just dry yourself off.”

She did as instructed while he dried her shoes with the brisk efficiency of a valet out of a historical costume drama. It was both embarrassing and a huge turn-on at the same time. Penny blamed her longstanding crush on Mr. Carson from Downton Abbey.

When he was done, Caleb set her shoes on the floor and took Penny’s elbow again to help her step back into them. They were still damp and freezing cold, but at least they didn’t squelch like wet sponges anymore.

“You good?” he asked.

Penny nodded. She was holding on to his forearm again. His beautiful, thick forearm. She could feel the taut muscles even through his hoodie. She was great.

He let go of her and held out his hands for the damp towels. “Lavender latte?”

She nodded, smiling shyly. “Yes, please.”

His gaze skimmed over her body briefly before coming to rest on her face and lingering there. Penny stood there paralyzed as the moment stretched out. She’d never looked into his eyes from this close before. Usually there was a counter between them and at least three feet of space.

The corner of Caleb’s mouth twitched, and he tilted his head toward the counter. “Go sit down.”

She shook off the enchantment enough to give him a curt nod. “Yes, sir.”

His mouth twitched again as he turned away to carry the towels into the back.

Penny took her usual stool, shivering as her wet skirt pressed against her legs. She really wished she’d brought a sweater today. Of course, if she had, it would be just as soaked as the rest of her.

“You want the funnies?” George asked, offering a section of his newspaper. Penny shook her head and he went back to reading state and local news.

She crossed her arms and hunched forward as she watched Caleb make her lavender latte. When he brought it to her, she cupped her hands around the bowl-shaped cup gratefully, letting the warmth soak into her cold fingers.

“Your hair’s curly,” he observed.

Penny reached up to touch her wet hair, which had already started curling up as it dried. So much for all that time she’d spent straightening it this morning. She made a face as she ran her fingers through it, fruitlessly trying to smooth it down. “Yeah, it is.”

“It’s usually straight.”

“I work hard to get it that way.” She lifted her latte to her lips, sighing as the hot liquid warmed her from the inside out.

“We missed you yesterday.”

She lifted her eyes from her coffee. “We?” She’d had a doctor’s appointment, so she’d had to skip her coffee break.

He shrugged. “You know. Me and George.”

Penny smiled and took another sip of her latte. “I can’t believe you even noticed.”

“I always notice you,” Caleb said, and Penny’s stomach swooped like she was on a roller coaster.

George coughed and rubbed his chest. Caleb looked over at him and frowned. “You okay?”

George waved a hand as he reached into his pocket for a prescription bottle. “Just my angina acting up. Don’t mind me.”

A chill crept down the back of Penny’s neck, and she shivered. Caleb’s eyes slid over her arms, noting the goose bumps. “You’re freezing.”

“I’m fine.” She shivered again. Stupid body. Stop doing that.

He unzipped his hoodie. “Here. Put this on.”

“I couldn’t,” she protested. Even though she could. And she would.

“I’m not going to let you sit here freezing to death.” He shrugged it off his shoulders and passed it over the counter.

Penny accepted the navy blue bundle like she’d just been handed the Golden Fleece. It was soft and heavy, warm with residual body heat. Caleb’s body heat, she thought with an exhilarated rush. Putting it on was like being enveloped in a Caleb hug. Or what she imagined being enveloped in a Caleb hug must be like.

“Better?” he asked.

She nodded, clutching the hoodie against her chest like a security blanket. “You’re being so nice to me.”

The corners of his mouth pulled down. “You sound surprised.”

“Well…”

Until two weeks ago, he’d acted like the last thing in the world he wanted to do was talk to her, and now he was making her special drinks and sharing his clothes with her. Was she not supposed to be surprised?

“You didn’t think I was nice?”

“Not like this,” she said, and he looked down at his feet.

He’s shy, Penny realized. That must be why he never talked to anyone or smiled—or part of the reason, anyway.

George coughed again and rustled his newspaper. Caleb’s gaze flicked over to him, then back to the floor.

“Honestly, until last week, I thought you didn’t like me,” she said.

Caleb shook his head. “That’s not it.”

“Then why were you so distant? Why wouldn’t you ever talk to me?”

He shrugged one shoulder. “It’s just a habit.”

“Being unfriendly?”

“It’s easier,” he said to the floor.

“Than what?”

He rubbed his palms on his jeans. “Sometimes, if I’m too friendly, women assume I’m flirting with them.”

A mortified laugh bubbled out of her throat. “You didn’t think I was flirting with you, did you? Because I promise you I was not.” Caleb looked up with an expression of dismay, and she had the inexplicable feeling she’d landed a punch she hadn’t meant to throw.

George coughed again. She looked over at him and saw that he’d broken into a sweat. “George? Are you okay?”

He waved her off and got to his feet, swaying a little.

“George?” Caleb said.

George opened his mouth to speak, teetered, and started to crumple.

“George!” Penny leapt off her stool to grab him. He wasn’t a large man, but he was like deadweight in her arms. The best she could do was cushion the fall as they both slid to the floor.