Page 35 of Mocha Kisses

“Then this is me giving you permission even though you don’t fucking need it. Be selfish, Luna. Take. We’re offering, sotake.” He leans forward and kisses me, cupping my cheek in his hand.

“As much as I’d love to watch this, I’m sorry to break up the fun.” Nova’s commanding voice is back and I pull away to see a gray-looking liquid in a mug sitting before me. Steam rises from it and Griffin grimaces at my side. I don’t understand why it’s here or what it is or why Rome hasn’t returned with coffee.Morecoffee. Nova rolls up his sleeves, those beautiful tattoos making an appearance. He has to be doing this on purpose to invoke a reaction.Or I’m just a horny bitch.“It’s good for you, an herbal remedy for energy.”

The gray liquid doesn’t look appetizing in the slightest. “But-”

“Angel,” he purrs, walking around the table to sit beside me, his elbows propped up on his knees. My eyes widen at the second use of the pet name and I try to even my breathing so he doesn’t see how much it affects me. “Rome mentioned that you were drinking coffee all night and that you had one this morning. No more. You need your sleep and energy, and your health is important.”

“You guys are talking about me?” I squeak and I should have known they would. Of course, they would. Communication is important. Hearing that it happens, though, is different. Griffin squeezes my knee but I’m still focused on Nova. I start to tell him that I’m not all that happy about it when my phone buzzes in my pocket.Probably Max.I slip it out and tense, quickly denying the call. It’ll go to voicemail and no doubt, they’ll get a message saying that my inbox is full.

I refuse to listen to the messages, knowing that it’ll throw me into a downward spiral of terror.

“Was that them? May I see?”

Nova’s hand is outstretched and I hesitate before dropping my phone into his palm. His fingers catch mine and we stay there for a few moments, tears welling up in my eyes at the unspoken promise in his. I really do feel protected between these three. “You’re going to find them, aren’t you?”

“I have a few people who can look into it. You guys work. I’ll just be upstairs if you need me, okay? I’ll have your phone back to you in a little bit. Thank you for trusting me with it.” A soft kiss on my wrist has me relaxing before he reminds me to drink my tea and then disappears up the stairs, leaving me alone with Griffin.

“No wonder you fell in love with him, Griffin. God, I think I died and went to heaven.”

“They’ll take care of you if you let them.”

I snort. “You make it sound like this is a forever thing.”

“And you make it sound like you’re leaving in two weeks. No, Luna, don’t do that. Just try, okay?”

I huff out a sigh and nod. I don’t want to plan for a happily ever after when it’s not promised and I’ve been let down before. Changing the topic slightly, I start fingering the pages of his manuscript before turning to him. “Yana is coming.”

The color drains from Griffin’s face and I laugh. “Why? What happened? Shit.”

I shrug. “Max mentioned Yana is trying to draw up some press before you do that press conference in Red Brook. Why, what’s wrong?” I sift through everything I know about Griffin Solace or at least the tattooed bad-boy writer that Yana created. I can’t remember most of the scandals but there were a few. “Were any of those stories true?”

“Not one. She’s never visited though. Well, once or twice. She just latches onto something, throws it to the public, and they eat it up. Spring Haven doesn’t read into any of that shit so I’m still the boy who never left but if Yana is coming here?”

I scoot closer to him and snuggle into his side, wrapping my arms around his waist and placing my chin on the edge of his shoulder. “We’ll figure it out.”

Griffin stares at me, those gray eyes brightening several shades. “You said we.”

“I did.”

“Fuck yeah, we’ll figure it out.”

I nod to his manuscript. “We also have to figure that out.”

“I can do that.”

“Before Yana gets here. She’s going to want to see progress and if we don’t have anything, she’ll spin some weirdass web of something that the press can latch onto. How they aren’t banging down your doors, I’ll never know.”

Griffin shrugs. “Probably the only thing Yana has ever done right. Threatened the press, saying that if they ever threaten my safety they’d be charged with trespassing. Well, Nova wrote up the contract and shoved it down Maximillian’s throat. Yana didn’t have much of a choice if they wanted me to write so she does a pretty good job of enforcing it. There’s a trickle here and there, looking for me, but for the most part, Spring Haven is just that—a haven.”

“Let’s hope Yana isn’t about to fuck all that up.” I know for a fact that our happiness will be short-lived. These three men have told me that I can be selfish in their own ways but when the PR manager shows up, it’s all hands off. After three days around these men, I’m not sure how I’ll survive. I take a sip of my tea and realize it doesn’t taste half as bad as it looks. However, if I have to drink it, I will not be shamed for putting a little more sugar in it. Well,a lot.

Luna

Timepassessoeasilywith Griffin that I don’t even notice when lunchtime rolls around until my stomach starts grumbling. Griffin falls into a fit of laughter as I just sit there, trying to get him to explain where the rest of chapter 23 is. He left me on a damn cliffhanger. He’s rewritten a few things but when he handed me another set of manuscript pages, I thought it was the entirety of the book. I should have checked.

“How was lunch, Noah?”

I clutch the device against my ear as I sag against the bed, my strength waning, “Help.”

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