Page 34 of Cups of You

Amber rolled her eyes and sighed. “Of course not, but you are injured.” She let Jackie put her weight on her as they hobbled across the sidewalk and into Benjamin’s café.

The door had barely closed behind them when Jackie’s weight lifted significantly thanks to Benjamin’s help. He took Jackie’s other side helping guide her to a chair. Seeing him again made something tighten in Amber’s chest and she lingered as he fussed over making sure her aunt was comfortable.

“You want your usual, Ms. Jay?”

“You know it, Bennie.”

He smiled and Amber’s breath caught. She had forgotten just how attractive he was when he smiled.

“Anything for you Amber?”

His voice seemed even more melodic today and she almost lost herself in thinking how it would sound behind closed doors under the cover of heated darkness. She shook her thoughts away. Now was not time for a rebound, especially not with someone she could see becoming a friend.

A very attractive friend who was much kinder than anyone had any right to be.

“Um,” she replied trying to reboot her brain.All that money spent on a PhD and ‘um’ is what you go for? Brilliant.“A small latte for me today please.”

He nodded and walked back over to the counter. Amber gaze followed admiring his jeans and what he packed into them. He picked up two cups before looking at her again.

“You want it like always?”

You have no idea.

“Yes please,” she said trying to appear calm and unruffled. “And could you make a second one, but minus the extra shots of espresso?”

“Sure.” He picked up a second cup and moved to the espresso machine. They were silent as he worked, but it wasn’t awkward this time. Coffee-colored eyes looked up at her. “So, who is the extra cup for? You have a coffee date already?”

Amber shook her head. “Not even close. I’m taking it over to Willie.”

“Oh. In that case, we’ll keep one extra shot in,” he replied with a smirk. “Around this time, she could probably use a boost.”

“Oh? Do you know the coffee order of everyone in town?”

Benjamin shrugged. “Maybe not the exact order of everyone, but most people who work or have shops in town tend to come by and they usually order the same thing during the week. Willie sometimes comes by on her lunch break.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that.”

His smirk slid back into an open smile and Amber felt lighter than she had in days. “Well, stick around and you’ll be in the know in no time.”

“I probably will be since I didn’t get the job I applied for back in Chicago.”

“Which job?”

Amber sighed. It pained her to speak of it even though she knew it wasn’t a position she really wanted.

“It was a director position Josiah had talked me into applying for a couple weeks before I left to come down here. I had quit my old job to come here, but I had already been applying for others.” She rubbed at her forehead as she thought about so many missed possibilities.

“What was your old job?” Benjamin asked before setting the cups in front of her. “Couldn’t you just go back to it?”

“I was a branch manager at a library on the northwest side of town. Not glamorous, but I liked it.” Amber thought back to how much she enjoyed working there. “My branch was near a school, so we had a lot of programs targeting kids to get them reading. I loved watching them find new books to enjoy. I don’t know if you realized from Aunt Jackie’s story of me running away, but I am a bit of a book nerd. Always have been.”

Benjamin chuckled. “I kind of figured that.”

“Yeah,” Amber thought fondly about the events she had helped coordinate. “I would love to go back, but that location is desirable, so I know my position has already been filled.”

“I’m sorry.”

She shrugged. “I knew what to expect when I left. Well, I knew what to expect regarding that position. I could always apply to work at another branch in the city and just commute if needed.”

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