Page 52 of Verses

“Probably not.”

Why didn’t that surprise me? “Are you a black coffee kind of guy?”

“Most of the time, yeah.”

“What about espresso?”

The way his lip twitched told me he wasn’t a fan. “If that’s all you have—”

“No. We also have a couple of standard brews. I have a dark Colombian roast and a breakfast blend. Which one sounds like it’s more up your alley?”

“How about the first one?”

“Deal. What size? Large?”

His smile nearly made me swoon. What the hell was wrong with me? “No, I better not. I’ve already had my fair share of java today. Let’s make it a medium.”

As he pulled his wallet out of his jeans pocket, I said, “Put that away.” He cocked his head in question as I added, “This time it’smytreat. You’re always buying me drinks at The Apothecary. It’s my turn.”

Although he was still pulling out his wallet, he said, “If you insist.”

“I do.”

As I filled the medium paper cup with coffee, the aroma of it wafting up into my nostrils, I caught him stuffing a five-dollar bill in the tip jar on the counter. “Thanks, Wolf. You don’t need to do that.”

“I sure as hell do—and you can’t stop me.”

I grinned, setting his cup on the counter. “So where are you headed to now?”

Cocking his head toward the nearest booth, he said, “Right there. I told you I was here for company, not coffee.”

Holy shit.

“I don’t take my lunch break for another forty-five minutes or so.”

“I can wait.”

But maybe I wouldn’t have to make him sit around biding his time. Clicking my headset, I waited patiently until I heard Ben ask, “What’s up?”

“Would you mind if I took my lunch early today? Like in a few minutes?”

As the pause stretched out, I anticipated that he was going to tell me he was too busy. Instead, he said, “Let me finish up what I’m doing and then I’ll be down.”

“Cool. Thanks!”

In the meantime, however, I had tables near Wolf that needed to be cleaned, so I grabbed a rag from the bucket of sanitized water and wrung it out before stepping around the counter.

As I began wiping the table closest to the booth where Wolf had just set his cup, I asked, “Is there something on your mind?” I figured it had to be band-related, despite how my girlie parts were all excited that he’d stopped by—so even though I could do a little flirting and chatting, I might as well find out what we were going to discuss.

“Far more than I’m willing to admit,” he said, resting his arm on the top of the booth rather than sitting in its seat.

What did that even mean?

Before my mind could start to dissect his words, Ben appeared at the counter. “All righty. I’m here.” Smart guy—he’d brought his laptop so he could continue whatever it was he’d been working on before I’d bugged him.

“Thanks, Ben.”

I wiped off another table quickly, though, and Wolf still hadn’t sat down. He asked, “Did you want to go somewhere to eat?”

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