Page 35 of Square Deal

Wanton desire simmered inside. Apparently, having one night of great sex started a chain reaction. Now my body just expected it. It was just too damn bad, because I was officially going celibate until I got my head back on straight.

I’d just start tomorrow since I already gave my favorite vibrator a workout this morning.

Yeah. Tomorrow.

The bells tied to the front door of Queen’s jingled as I yanked it open. It was toasty warm inside. My phone buzzed from inside my handbag. I dug around until I snagged it and pressed it to my ear. “Hannah Jane Hayes.”

My heart sank a little bit when the voice on the other end was just an employee calling to tell me that the couple I was supposed to meet with this morning was running late, but confirmed that they were coming.

I hung up and slid my phone back into my bag. Why was I disappointed? Who did I expect it to be?

The line slowly shuffled forward. I huffed, shifting my bag to my other arm, and fished out my debit card.

“Come here often?”

I turned around and was met with warm brown eyes and neatly clipped dark hair. He had a devastatingly handsome smile, and I could make out a faint dimple at the corner of his mouth.

“Every morning.” I smiled. “I work down the block.”

“What’s good?” he asked.

“You a first timer?”

“I’m in town on some business,” he said, pointing to the stitched logo on his polo shirt that sported the name of a construction company based out of New Bern.

“Well,” I said, turning back to face the menu board. “The coffee’s great. Espresso is great—they roast all the beans right here, so it’s super fresh. If coffee isn’t your thing, they have a ton of tea. My friend, Erica, swears by their chamomile.”

“And what do you get?” he asked, flashing that brilliant smile again.

“Extra-large vanilla latte with nonfat milk and an extra shot of espresso.”

He chuckled. “Caffeine fiend, huh?”

I smiled, tucking my hair behind my ear. “Something like that.Long workdays, you know?”And the inability to sleep after Isaac dropped the stupid bomb of “let’s have contractually obligated sex.”

“Yeah, I get it.” He studied my face in a way that made it obvious he was thinking of nothing other than me.

I was immediately sucked into his orbit. And, like the sappy fool I was, I fell like an anvil off the Empire State Building.

“Sounds like we have a lot in common,” he said as the line shuffled forward again.

Oh shit—I was doing it! I was flirting! In line! At the coffee shop! With a handsome stranger!

Best. Day. Ever.

Suck it, Isaac Lawson!

“Anyone addicted to their morning caffeine is good in my book,” I said with a laugh.

He chuckled and nodded in agreement. He was slightly taller than me and was wearing the hell out of those khaki chinos. Extending his hand, he said, “Tucker Massengill.”

“Hannah Jane Hayes,” I said, shaking his hand. His grip around my hand lingered longer than was business appropriate, and my inner hopeless romantic squealed in delight.

“Well, Miss Hayes, now that I know your morning coffee preferences, tell me—what do you drink after a long workday?”

Was he asking me out for drinks?It had been so long since I’d gotten an honest-to-goodness offer for a date. Not just when we both swiped right and agreed to meet so we could see if the other actually looked like their profile picture. “An old fashioned.”

He chuckled, “And if it’s been a really long day?”

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