Page 12 of Purple Scales & Coffee Tales

Damn, I’d give anything to even get to first base with Taran.

I got so restless that I arrived at work half an hour before my shift started. It gave me time to print out a sign for the door, and to get into the groove of managing duties. Beth, my former manager, hadn’t returned yet when Megan Scott, property manager at Taran’s real estate office, had informed her of the change in leadership. I hadn’t been upset to see her go, and neither had any of my staff.

We had enough stock to last us for the rest of the month and only needed to get perishable items before the renovations would hopefully begin.

My shift passed in a jiffy, and before I knew it, it was almost time to close for the day. Taran would be here in twenty minutes.

“Bye, see you soon,” I called as I waved the last customers out and locked the door. After grabbing my bag from the staff room, I locked myself in the toilet, washed, put on fresh underwear, a pair of jeans, and my favourite shirt. The last thing I did was check my outfit in the floor-length mirror. I wanted to look cute but presentable.

Yep, that works.

A soft knock on the door zapped me like an electric shock, and I dashed over to let him in.

“Maeve!” He sounded as if he hadn’t seen me in years, not just days, and for a moment I was sure he wanted to hug me but thought betterof it, making me in turn unsure whether it was okay to want to fling yourself at your boss the moment you saw him. “It’s just my name on the title,” he’d said but we both knew it wasn’t true.

People like me would forever be employees of people like him.

“How was your day?” he asked, half turning away to put a nondescript paper bag on the counter.

Realising I’d been staring at him for the last minute or two, I shook my head to clear it. “Taran, hi. It’s good to see you. It was great actually. I’ve been letting it slip to our regular customers that we’re only closing for a bit to renovate, but that we will stick around, and they’ve been spending even more money here than before.”

The grin he gave me was unlike any I had ever seen on his face. That wasn’t shy, sweet Scales, but Taran ‘top of the food chain’ Atax.

“What?” I asked him, trying to laugh off the uncomfortable feeling of being regarded so intensely by an apex predator.

“I’m good.”

“Huh?”

“I knew you’d be the right woman for the job. My mother would be proud of my choice.” His smirk widened.

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I follow?”

“You’re resourceful and a born leader, boss,” he said silkily. “Very much like a Dragoness, so exactly the kind of person my mother would have chosen to run this business in her stead.”

“I think I’ll stop calling you Scales.” I contemplated him with my head tilted to the side.

“Why’s that?”

“I think Silver Tongue is the more apt nickname.”

“If you think my words are impressive, just wait until you see what else my tongue can do.” With a wink, he turned to the counter.

What the actual fuck just happened? Did Taran-freaking-Atax just make an oral sex joke?

“Struan Fox should be here in a few minutes, right?” he asked me in an offhand voice and handed me the bag. “I have something for you before he gets here.”

The bag was surprisingly heavy for its small size.

“Scales,” I began, mentally still stuck on the naughty comment, and pulled out a box.

You gotta be kidding me!

It was a Kraken XO Pro, the best smartphone currently on the market and the kind of device CEOs of big ass companies or professional influencers used.

“You’re not going to say that it’s too much or too expensive,” he said before I could get another word out, clearly knowing what thoughts were racing through my mind. “This job will require you to use your phone for work a lot. The display on your smartphone is too small for it. I could barely see anything on it the other day. That’s just not working in the long run, so take this as an onboarding present.”

He met my gaze, a half smile on his lips. “Okay?”

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