Page 22 of Knot That Difficult

I’m not sure “hi, you smell like beans” is the best way to start a conversation, though.

“All the coffee is in the back of my car,” he says. “There’s more than usual, so I was wondering if you all could help?—”

“Hi, Connor!” Skylar comes out of the back, making me jump in surprise. Connor notices my reaction and raises an eyebrow.

“Are you okay?” he asks, cocking his head slightly.

“Yup!” I squeak.

Have a normal conversation, Dev!

“We’ll grab the coffee. Don’t worry,” Skylar says, grinning at my reaction. “Luke and Jamie just got here, too.”

Suddenly, everyone is rushing out of the café, leaving Connor at the counter with me.

Damn them.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Connor runs a hand through his copper hair, and I want to tug at it.

I need to get it together. I like him, and the first step is to just talk to him and not collapse at the counter.

“I am. Do you want a cookie?” I blurt. Before he can answer, I hurry to the pastry display and pluck one of the raspberry vanilla macarons off the tray.

When April couldn’t talk to Donovan, the Alpha she thought was cute, I had her give him a cookie.

Now they’re mated.

“Here!” I wrap the macaron in a napkin and hand it to Connor, who looks at me, baffled. “We’re almost sold out of these. This is my custom flavor. Tell me if you like it!”

For some reason, that seems to work, and Connor visibly relaxes as he looks at the macaron. “If you made it, I’m sure it’s perfect.” He grins, and then brings the cookie to his mouth and takes a bite.

My face flames, and I wait for his reaction as he chews. His eyes widen in surprise. “Oh, wow, that’s delicious,” he mutters, and I laugh, the tension leaving my body.

“Good! That means your taste buds aren’t broken.”

“Maybe you’re just extremely talented.” But Connor’s smile is soft, and I can’t help but smile back.

That’s the other things about Connor.

He’s an Alpha, but he’s not some broody grump, at least from what I’ve seen when he visits the café.

His strength appears to come from his warmth and kindness.

It reminds me of Ben.

Connor seems to be a genuinely good person, besides being drop-dead gorgeous and smelling like sexy beans.

Maybe I had no reason to be nervous, after all.

“You know,” he continues. “There is something I wanted to ask you, if you have a second.”

For the first time, his eyes darken. His gaze falls to my lips, and suddenly I can’t breathe.

“Oh?”

“Can I—” He clears his throat. “MayI take you out to dinner?”

I blink. “Huh?”

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