Page 4 of Sycamore Circle

“Well... thanks again.”

“Of course.” Joy smiled but made sure to stay where she was until he walked out the door. Once he was out of sight, she leaned back with a sigh. She enjoyed working with Anthony, but sometimes he was so anxious to please that everything between them seemed harder.

“Excuse me.”

The guy she’d been trying not to notice was now standing next to her table. “Yes?”

“Can I, uh, buy you a cup of coffee?”

“Excuse me?”

He looked away, actually appearing like he was frustrated with himself. “I know. It’s a bad line, but we are in a coffee shop.” He shrugged. “What I’m attempting to do, and obviously not well, is get to know you.”

“Me?” She chided herself for answering him with a question—because heaven forbid she actually give him a complete answer.

“Yeah.” Looking even more uncomfortable, he shifted. “That is, um, if I’m not freaking you out. Or if your husband or boyfriend isn’t gonna kick my butt for being near you.”

She noticed there was a faint scar on his upper lip, which made her blush. Since when did she start staring at men’s lips? As another second passed, her brain kicked in.

This guy was trying to figure out if she was available. Her! “You’re not freaking me out.” Not too much, anyway.

Still looking like he would rather be getting his fingernails pulled out, he added, “Do you?”

She blinked. “Do I what?”

“Have a husband or boyfriend?”

“I’m not married.” Not anymore. “And, at the risk of sounding pretty pathetic, I don’t have a boyfriend at the moment either.”

Something warm entered his eyes. “That’s not pathetic.”

She shrugged. “It is what it is, right?” Thank goodness.

He looked a little more at ease though he still waited, seeming to want to give her a moment or two to get used to him. “I didn’t see a ring, so I guessed you weren’t. And just for the record, I’m not married either.”

“A lot of women don’t wear rings. Just like a lot of men don’t.”

“I reckon that’s true, but in my world, well, a man would want to make sure a woman like you had one.”

It took her a second to realize that he’d given her a compliment. As in, in his world, she was the type of woman a man would want the world to know she was taken. It was a little caveman like. Even more surprising.

Did men even think like that anymore?

Tony sure hadn’t.

He frowned. “Am I freaking you out again?”

“No. Um, maybe I should be, but no.”

“Listen, you’ll likely think this is a line, but I don’t do this. I don’t walk up to women in coffee shops and chat them up.” His jaw worked as he obviously continued to weigh his words. “If you let me buy you a cup of coffee, I promise I’ll leave as soon as you tell me to.”

Joy scanned his face again. She thought about saying no but then decided that she’d been gun-shy for too long. Besides, she met all her students for the first time in places like this. She’d come to realize that most people were good. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but yes. You can buy me a cup of coffee.”

His gaze warmed, making her heart start beating faster. “What may I get you?”

“A mocha latte?” Maybe she should’ve just asked for a plain cup of coffee, but the mochas at Sacred Grounds were divine.

“Yes, ma’am.” He smiled. Looking over at the counter, he received another sign. Miraculously, no one was in line. “Coming right up.”

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