Page 2 of The Barista's Beloved

“You’re the third one this morning.” The other barista tossed her cup in a bin under the counter. “New guy’s hit or miss. He might not work out.”

Her jaw dropped. Captain America might get fired because she’d complained about her coffee? This was far worse than she’d imagined. She felt her stomach clenching. “Oh, don’t- don’t do that,” she said awkwardly. “He’ll get better.”

The other man snorted. “We’ll see. What’d you have?”

“Er, just a hazelnut latte.”

He nodded, and grabbed a fresh cup from the stack. “Give me a minute.” Then, to her horror, he turned. “Hey, Ben, come here!”

Maeve looked wildly around. Surely there was a rapidly opening sinkhole nearby she could leap into. No such natural disaster presented itself, and she came face-to-face with the handsome new guy once again, hoping he didn’t notice that her face was rapidly reddening to match the tint of her hair. He gave her a quick smile before turning to the other barista, as though she hadn’t just put his entire livelihood on the line. Her imagination was quickly providing her with images of him destitute. The stubble he currently sported would probably grow into a really attractive beard. Maybe he had a pet! It would starve! What had she done?

“Gotta remake the hazelnut latte,” the other barista said, completely unaware that there was a hapless dog/cat/bunny/hamster in dire straits.

“Oh, damn,” Captain America said. No, Ben. His name was Ben. “Sorry.” He turned to Maeve to apologize as well. “Sorry, it’s my first day.” He gave her a small smile.

She held in a small moan. She was going to get a man and his dog and/or hamster fired on his first day at work, all because she couldn’t hold her alcohol.

“Here,” the first barista was saying. “I think you forgot to release the valve on the roaster.”

“Got it.” Ben watched carefully as his fellow barista swiftly prepared Maeve’s drink. “Yeah, that’s the only thing I did differently. Won’t happen again.” He took the cup and capped it, scrawling an M on it with the nearby marker. “Maeve, right?”

He pronounced it right, which was a surprise. Most people butchered Irish names. “Yeah.”

“Here you go. Really sorry about that.”

She reached out to take the coffee, and his fingers brushed hers as he let go. She shivered. He noticed. His smile edged sideways a little and his eyes warmed further. She could feel herself getting even redder. “Um. Thanks. Sorry for, uh, the inconvenience.”

He held up a hand. “Don’t apologize! You needed a new cup. I did it wrong.”

She glanced at the other barista, who’d already hurried off to take care of another customer. “But if something happens—”

He chuckled. “I’m not going to lose my job over one poorly made coffee.”

“He said it was three,” she blurted without thinking. She didn’t want him to lose his job, but surely he needed to be aware that it was a possibility. Something Jess had said the other day drifted through her mind. Oh, for the confidence of a mediocre white man. Charming was one thing. Entitled was another. She pressed her lips together to avoid saying anything more out loud, though.

“Every one a learning experience,” Ben said. He aimed what was clearly intended to be a devastating smile at her.

She raised her eyebrows and lifted her coffee to her nose, taking a tentative sniff before she sipped. She let out a small, satisfied sigh as the warm liquid filtered through her. She looked up to see Ben still watching her, his lips parted slightly. “Thanks. I’ll get out of your way now.” She stepped back, and he visibly shook himself.

“It was nice to meet you, Maeve,” he said. “Next time you come in, coffee’s on me.”

She laughed. “Who’s making it?”

“Ouch.” He chuckled. “Enjoy your day.”

She slid away from the counter as he turned to catch the cup being handed to him by one of the other baristas. A few more sips of coffee as she headed out the door, and her hangover was definitely on the downswing.

A few minutes later, she pulled into the parking lot of Whitman’s Distillery feeling significantly better than she had at the start of the day. Good coffee and and even better eye candy went a long way to easing the shock of your best friend getting married.

Not that she wasn’t happy for Sean and Jess. She was just … she didn’t know what, exactly, but it felt a lot like lonely.

It might not amount to anything, but suddenly Maeve thought she might take Captain America up on his offer of coffee sometime. If nothing else, he was certainly pretty to look at.

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