Page 26 of Rushing Into Love

“Yes, Bree, there’s a coffeehouse.The Daily Grind.” Brooks rolled her eyes at me. “Peachtree Grove isn’t that provincial.”

“Great. Because I’m going to need some caffeine to power me through this pitch.”

* * *

I foundThe Daily Grind,thanks to my handy phone app and the fact that Peachtree Grove is roughly the size of a postage stamp. The sunny weather of the morning had vanished; dark clouds had blown in, bringing with them a definite chill in the air. I managed to make it inside just before the first clap of thunder.

After ordering a vanilla latte, I scooped up a prime spot, a quiet little table near the restrooms, and set up my home base—laptop, notebook, coffee, headphones. Everything I needed to get work done and perfect my pitch.

I got straight to crafting my pitch and was deep in the zone when there was a tap on my shoulder. Startled, I looked up to see a slightly damp Ryder, with Charlie shuffling beside him in a blue raincoat, clutching his hand.

I yanked my headphones out of my ears just in time to hear Ryder say, “Hey, twice in one day!”

“Ha! Yeah, I’m beginning to think you’re stalking me,” I joked, smiling up at him. Suddenly, the coffeehouse was a whole lot warmer; a hot blush stained my cheeks.

“To be fair, I was already in the store when you walked in this morning,” Ryder pointed out. “But itisstarting to feel like fate.”

He locked eyes with me and butterflies zipped around my stomach. I licked my lips, my mouth suddenly dry as toast. Thoughts swirled in my brain as I cast around for something to say. Millions of things I could have gone with, but naturally, I went with the weather. “It’s raining now, huh?”

Could I have come up with a less romantic comment?I mentally thrashed myself.

Ryder nodded at the window being pelted with huge slashes of rain. “Yeah, I’m just glad we made it inside before it started pouring.”

“Great timing!” I tried to recover, smiling over at Charlie. He had a rather large pout on his face.

“No. I wanted to splash in the puddles,” he grumped, kicking his rubber rainboots.

“Not when it’s raining this hard, bud. It’ll lighten up and then you can splash in puddles back home.”

“Order for Ryder!” the barista shouted from behind the bar. “Hot chocolate!”

“Do you guys want to join me?” I asked, gesturing to the empty seats at my table.

“Sure, why not?” Ryder shot me an easy smile, then walked to the bar to grab his drinks. I covertly admired his muscular rear, clad in perfectly form-fitting jeans.

Ambling back over to the table, he pulled a seat out for Charlie, then sat down directly across from me. Being this close to Ryder again, all thoughts of anything productive flew straight out of my head. So much for getting work done. All I could think about was the kiss in the park—and how his abs must look under that tight T-shirt.

“Wait a second, bud, that’s gonna be hot,” Ryder warned Charlie. “Here, let me take the lid off and blow on it.” Ryder carefully lifted the lid from the drink, steam billowing out of the cup. “I should have reminded them to make it half-temp,” he muttered under his breath, blowing on the steaming foam.

Charlie shifted anxiously in his seat, bouncing his legs up and down on the chair.

“Daddy, I can handle it!” he whined, reaching for the drink.

“Not yet, it’s too hot,” Ryder said, pulling the cup away.

But not fast enough.

“Oww!” Charlie shrieked as hot liquid splattered onto his hand. Reflexively, he hit the cup, knocking it over. The sticky, piping-hot cocoa gushed onto the table, oozing everywhere.

“Oh!” I cried out in surprise, pushing away from the table. I managed to dodge the wave of chocolate rushing towards me, moving before the stream hit the floor.

Ryder sprang into action, jumping out of his seat and grabbing my laptop just before liquid hit the computer.

“Charlie, are you okay?” I knelt down and inspected his little hand, which was now a bright red. “Let’s go get some cool water on that.” Leading him to the restroom, I ran the water full-blast over the burn.

“There, you should be better now,” I said, drying him off.

Walking back to the table, I commended Ryder. “Good save!” I held up my soggy notebook. “My reflexes aren’t nearly as good as yours.”

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