Page 115 of Fake Married to the Grumps

Natalie joins me behind the table and picks up a plastic cup to scribble down our customer’s name. I grab the coffee beans and start the process of making a double mocha Americano coffee.

The earthy notes from the freshly ground coffee beans and the lazy undertones of caramel drift into my nostrils and relax my nerves.

Usually, I don’t need a cup of coffee to enjoy the pleasant sensation it provides. As I whip up some cream, I start humming the song playing in the background and smile to myself.

It’s a new beginning for Espresso Books. I’ve felt that way since my brother announced the previous owner sold off the building and business to some rich guy.

“I hear he’s loaded,” Natalie mentions once our customer has left. “The new owner.”

I turn towards her, wanting to hear more of what she knows about this new guy. “You think he’s gonna work here?”

My brother worked part-time as manager of Espresso Books for a long time, but he recently moved out of Golden Bay to work for an engineering firm, leaving me in our parent’s house alone.

Natalie’s lips twist into a smile as she says, “I hope he does. They say he’s a sports celeb—plays basketball, crazy handsome … like a Greek god.”

I chuckle as her eyes light up. Natalie always fawns over the hottest guys in town, and every time, her voice takes on this soft, melodramatic tone.

“He can’t be that good-looking,” I counter with a fluttery laugh, folding my arms over my chest. “No one is that good-looking, Nats.”

“Well, I am!” someone speaks from the entrance.

The deep-bass voice is a timbre of velvet and thunder. I freeze for a moment because its ruggedness sounds very familiar.

“Oh my …” Natalie squeals as the heavy thud of footsteps approaches us. I hesitate to turn around because I already know who I’ll see.

“Nice seeing you again, Gracie,” he says, his tone holding the hint of a smile. I envision his lips curving into a cocky smile even before I twirl around to look at him.

Trevor Hawkins is grinning at me like a Cheshire cat, his blue eyes unwavering as they lock with mine. “I never thought I’d see you again,” I whisper, drawing in a deep breath to steady my racing pulse.

Not since he turned me down six years ago.

As our eyes meet, I’m filled with a whirlwind of emotions. His grin widens in its usual cocky form, and his eyes have a twinkle I haven’t seen in a long time.

Trevor steps forward, and I instinctively back away from him, shocked that he’s here. “You … you’re the new boss?” I stutter shamefully, unable to hide the flush that creeps through me and spreads over my cheeks.

Trevor’s gaze sweeps over my body before his eyes meet mine again. “What? Were you expecting some hot-shot geek who can’t take his eyes off a book?”

“Yeah,” I answer without thinking, and Natalie pokes me in the side to caution me from saying anything foolish. The thing is, Natalie doesn’t know this man as well as I do.

Memories of the past flood my mind as we stare at each other. The years have aged him, but otherwise, he looks the same. Hiseyes are the same ocean blue that always made me melt, and there’s a flash of the dimple on his right cheek.

His chiseled jawline exudes strength in every way. I recall moments when we shared genuine laughs and smiles that made my heart race with excitement.

I mistook those moments for something more and made a complete fool of myself.

Trevor didn’t just turn me down back then. He completely humiliated me by taking another girl out to dinner the same night—merely two hours after I confessed my feelings to him.

I rememberthe ache that sliced through me as Iwatched them kiss from a corner of the restaurant he went to that night with his date. My brother asked me to meet him there that night for dinner, and seeing Trevor with another woman had hurt. The imagerevives the anger I felt rippling through me.

I haven’t dated anyone since, but Trevor has been all over the blogs with his extravagant dating life.And scandals.

Trevor’s eyes bounce around the café, then he looks at me again. “I’m excited that you’re here, Gracie. You know this place better than anyone else, so you’ll make it look easy for me.”

“Easy?” I scoff and fold my arms over my chest. “You’re joking if you think I’d be anything but easy on you, Trevor Hawkins.”

His full laugh, with its rich undertones, warms my insides immediately.Just like coffee,I think. The sound sparks something in me and makes me shiver.

“I mean it,” I say, silencing the stir inside me as he shrugs out of his leather jacket and flings it over one shoulder.

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