Page 5 of The Barista's Beloved

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She’d dragged him halfway down the long driveway of The Oakwell Inn before she came to her senses. Maeve stopped so abruptly that Ben bumped into her. “Oh, my god.” She let go of him and brought her hands to her face, feeling heat rising from her skin. “I’m not … I didn’t—”

He looped his fingers around her wrist and gently pried her hands down, though he didn’t let go once her face was revealed. “It’s okay. Me neither.”

She blew out a breath. “I just had to get out of there.”

“You’re not going to see me complaining.” He finally let go of her wrist and scrubbed his hand across his face. “That was…”

“Humiliating?” She loved her friends, but Angelica’s tendency to meddle was like some kind of virulent disease these days.

“Like they threw a party just to embarrass us,” he agreed.

She groaned. “I doubt my little outburst helped.”

He chuckled. “I enjoyed it.”

Would she ever stop blushing? “I hope you don’t think that I—”

“No, I get it. As excuses to get out of an embarrassing situation go, you could do worse.”

She laughed. “You’ve got a high opinion of yourself.”

He grinned at her. “I’m worth it.” He tucked her arm into his elbow. “You park down at the end of the drive?” She nodded, though he probably couldn’t see it in the deepening shadows of evening. “Me too. I’ll walk you to your car.”

They chatted amiably as they strolled down the path, and Maeve exhaled waves of relief that he wasn’t going to press the issue. He talked about being new in town, and then shared a few childhood stories about Max that she filed away for blackmail purposes later on. She filled him in on the people who’d been teasing her, and why—she even told him about the romance novel book club that Angelica had started.

And if that didn’t put him solidly in friend territory, she thought, nothing else could.

“I’m glad I got to meet you again,” she said as she unlocked her car.

“Me too.”

“Even if it wasn’t under the best of circumstances.” She rolled her eyes. “I still can’t believe they did that. Or that I reacted that way.”

He nudged her shoulder with his. “You did good. Did you see their faces?”

She giggled, remembering the way Sean’s eyes had nearly popped out of his head. And for all that Angelica and Naomi had been grinning, she’d seen them exchange swift glances as she dragged Ben out of the courtyard. “Surprised them, didn't I?”

“I don’t think I’ve seen Max look so shocked since his sister told him she’d lost her virginity.”

“To you?” Maeve dared to ask.

He looked horrified. “Good lord, no. I might be a d-bag, but I’m not that kind of jerk.”

“A d-bag, huh?”

He laid his hand over his heart and looked at her wide-eyed. “In the flesh.”

She laughed. “Well, maybe it’ll be good to have a d-bag in my corner. My friends always say I’m too nice.”

“I’ll give you jerk lessons anytime.”

After they said goodbye, Maeve slipped into her car and watched him walk down the street to his own. The view was very nice. Still, handsome as Ben might be, she was thankful that he’d understood that she’d been speaking out of pure rage and embarrassment back there. No matter what her rebellious body thought about his forearms or his butt, she suspected he was much better as a friend than as a boyfriend.

Especially given that he readily self-identified as a jerk.

That was enough to throw cold water on the smoldering image she’d had in the back of her mind of the two of them naked and writhing against each other. No matter how much the ache low in her belly contradicted her, she knew she was better off not following through on her reckless words by the fire.

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