Total pages in book: 19
Estimated words: 17808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 89(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 17808 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 89(@200wpm)___ 71(@250wpm)___ 59(@300wpm)
I blushed.
His smile grew.
God, Ronan was beautiful. He had a dimple beneath the left side of his mouth and a beauty mark on the right side, between his top lip and his nose.
“Long day at work. I needed to shower first.” I looked at the photos on the walls, most taken by Ronan himself. I watched at the floor, at the customers, anywhere but at him. He was a shameless flirt, and he was the only person in the world who’d ever flirted with me—other than MakeYouSmile all those years ago. If I didn’t know he did it with everyone, I’d feel special, but I knew that’s just how he was. There was nothing special about me and I’d heard Ronan be playful like that with others too.
He stepped up to the register and crossed his muscular arms. The dark Extra Shot shirt pulled tight across his chest. “Well, I was worried. I missed you. My nights aren’t complete without hearing you pound away on your keyboard in the corner. Don’t tell anyone, but I even started saving the seat for you.” He winked.
It doesn’t mean anything, it doesn’t mean anything, it doesn’t mean anything.
Oh God. Why couldn’t I stop smiling? I knew it was one of those cheesy smiles, that probably made me look like an idiot—or the Joker. My cheeks hurt as it continued to grow but I still was powerless to stop it. He probably thought I was losing my mind. “I—”
“Did I just hear you tell him he’s your favorite customer? I thought that was me!” another patron joked, bursting my bubble of excitement. Ugh. See? Why did I turn into Smiley-Smilerson as if I really thought I was his fave?
“You’re all my favorites,” Ronan told him, then looked at me and whispered quietly, “It’s really you.”
I laughed and almost snorted. You know, just a typical day being Mickey Boring.
“You want your usual? Caramel latte, two extra pumps? Then later the potato soup and a ham sandwich?”
“You know my Thursday meal?” I didn’t eat certain meals on certain days at home but I did have specific meals at Extra Shot. It wasn’t as if they had a huge menu so it helped.
“I know all your meals, Freckles.”
Oh Jesus, this man. My knees nearly gave out as I fought back my swoon. “Yes, please.”
He rang me up, and I paid, trying not to make eye contact. I didn’t want Ronan to see what he did to me. Almost every love interest I’d written over the past year, since I’d started coming to Extra Shot, had a little piece of Ronan in him.
I made my way to the corner table, which was in fact open. I didn’t take that to mean Ronan had actually held it for me, though. He had to have been joking about that.
I pulled up a blank document. I was starting a new story today, which wouldn’t be happening until I got my drink. One of the baristas would deliver my dinner later in the evening.
Ronan was on a roll tonight because he brought my latte to me as well. Most of the time, someone else did that part.
“You’re a librarian, right?” He did this every once in a while, just asked me questions as if he was really curious or wanted to get to know me. I chalked it up to Ronan being a nice guy.
“Yes.”
“What do you work on here all the time? You type away for hours on end.”
My face heated, and I hoped like hell it wasn’t turning red. “Just…stuff…” I normally had a cover story, but I couldn’t remember it at the moment. That’s what Ronan did to me. He turned my brain to mush.
He cocked a dark brow. “Stuff, huh?”
“Yes, just stuff.” I should have known he would never let that go. Maybe I could just blurt it out. Maybe I should just say, Do you want to go skinny-dipping with me? And then he’d smile and fall madly in love with me before we got naked together. Or he could fall in love with me after the sex. I didn’t much care which came first, as long as they both happened.
“Hmm. There’s something interesting about you, Freckles. One of these days, you’re gonna tell me.”
If he could read my thoughts he wouldn’t think that. He’d likely run for the hills or never let me into Extra Shot again.
“There’s nothing interesting about me. I’m basically the definition of boring.” I also clearly had no idea how to sell myself. I was talking him out of wanting to get to know me. Go me.
Ronan laughed. “No, I don’t believe that at all. You fascinate me, and I’m a tough sell.”
“I do?” If only you knew I write kinky sex…kinky sex in your coffeehouse…kinky sex you read.
He grinned. “You do.” My eyes widened when he reached for me. If this were one of my novels, he’d pull me to my feet, crush my mouth with his, and then we’d stumble into the back room and fuck on every surface without giving a shit about cleanliness or customers. Or maybe he’d take me somewhere where we’d screw with people close by, risking getting caught. That was one of my biggest fantasies.