Page 23 of The Barista's Beloved

“Those scones look good.” Ben pointed to the second row of baked goods..

“They are. I use a Mexican spice blend straight from my in-laws.” Sean pulled out the tray. “How many can I get you?”

“I want one,” Maeve said. She’d had a few of the recipes Jess and Sean cooked up together and she wasn’t about to turn this one down.

“In that case, I’ll take two,” Ben said.

“My treat,” Maeve blurted. She hated that his finances were something he was sensitive about, but she couldn’t let him pay for stuff when she could easily afford it. “You’re working pro bono, remember?”

“Pro bono? You lawyering again?” Sean asked as he pulled out three scones and dropped them into a parchment-lined bag.

“He’s going to save Youth Mentors,” Maeve told the baker, ignoring Ben’s wince.

“Don’t jinx me,” he said.

She looked up at him in alarm. “Is that a thing?”

He laughed. “No, we’ll win.” His easy statement rolled over her like a wave of warmth. “But I haven’t even started my research yet. Let’s not show our hand all over town. No offense, Sean,” he added quickly.

“None taken. I won’t spill your secret to any other lawyers who come in here to buy scones,” Sean said dryly.

They took their orders to go and headed out to the town square, angling their walk toward where they’d started. “Are you heading back to help out?” Ben asked.

Maeve shrugged. “If Joan needs me. If not, I’ll drive over to the distillery and work on a few things there. You?”

“I should probably go back to the Bean. I kind of ran out of there.”

She blinked. “You what?”

“Yeah, I heard the lawyer who served Joan with the papers talking on his phone and he pissed me off so much I ran straight over to help.”

She laughed. “Not the noblest motivation, but I’ll take it. I’m glad you did.”

“Me too.” They were both silent for a moment. “What do you have going on this week?”

She thought over her schedule. “Meeting a distributor tomorrow, and then running a tasting the day after. Oh! I have a date on Thursday.” She looked up with a smile, waiting to share her excitement with him.

“A date?” He swallowed, and she realized she couldn’t identify the expression on his usually mobile face.

She nodded and pushed her hair behind her ears. She didn’t know why she suddenly felt nervous talking to him about this, only that she did. But they were friends, and friends could talk about their dates, right?

“A guy at the deli asked me out. We’re going to meet at Frankie’s for drinks. I figure that way I’ve got built-in eyes on me in case he turns out to be a creep. And if he’s not, somebody can report back to Angelica and Naomi that they can lay off me.”

“You mean, if they don’t come barreling through the door to see for themselves within five minutes of you arriving.” He started walking again, and she skipped a couple of steps to catch up to his longer strides.

“Exactly.”

“So. Sex with a stranger?”

“A stranger of my choosing.” She mock shuddered and tucked her arm into his. “That was an awful night, although I’m glad we got to be friends because of it.”

“Our Mutual Embarrassment Society really panned out, huh?” His voice was still oddly rough.

“Sure did. What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Got any dates lined up?” She was morbidly curious. He was clearly interested in sex, but drunk propositions aside, not with her. Friendship without benefits. Surely, then, he must be looking elsewhere.

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