Page 75 of Starfish and Coffee
Matt kissed Alex in response. They both opened their mouths to the rush of lust, their moans mingling. Their tongues brushed and nothing about the connection tasted wild, young, and free like it once was. They weren’t going to reclaim their lost innocence on the ocean. This time it was warm, strong, and stormproof. Truly golden. Completely untouchable.
The kiss tasted like home.
“Let’s make another perfect day,” Matt finally answered when they broke apart, breathless and smiling. “We’ll start a collection.”
Epilogue
“We can have the first ten up in the next six months,” Devon Hastings said as he used the salt and pepper shakers to hold down the blueprints. “But I wish you’d let me in on the deal.”
“I’m contracting your firm to design and build the first fifty stores,” Matt said with a snort of incredulousness. “You’re in on the deal, Devon.”
“I want a cut of the business. Let me invest.”
“I don’t need venture capital,” Matt reminded him as he looked over the drawings. “Sorry.”
Devon huffed in frustration. “What happened to loyalty to your brothers?”
“Am I or am I not paying your firm an outrageous amount of money for this project?” Matt lifted his eyebrows without looking up. “I could’ve gotten a better deal.”
“But not with this level of quality. I got my best guys on this.”
“What do you think?” Matt turned to Alex sitting next to him at the table. “Good?”
Alex nodded, his eyes glued to the proposal. “Yeah, it’s essentially what we asked for.”
“Don’t think that because it’s Devon, you can’t voice your concerns. This is just a first-draft-type thing. It’s all open to change.”
Alex tilted his head to get a better look. “There are only four tables.”
“But it’s not a restaurant like the one you’ve got here. The concept you two are laying down is completely different. It’s express. People are going to get their coffee. Get their doughnuts and go.”
“Some people like to sit in coffee shops,” Alex argued. “Have their coffee. Hang out with their laptops. Be cool.”
“True,” Matt agreed. “We need comfy chairs too. Maybe a sofa.”
Devon turned to his laptop next to him on the table. “We can do that. We’re drawing up several different models—ones for smaller locations, and others for bigger strip centers and malls. Have you considered franchising them?”
“Not right now,” Matt said in annoyance. “We’re still working on establishing the business plan.”
“If you did franchise them, you’d give me first dibs, right?”
“But we’renotfranchising.”
“When are you going to let me fly you two down to Key West?” Devon changed his tactics and gave them both a wide smile. “You’re still in the honeymoon phase. Can’t be all work and no play.”
“He’s buttering us up.” Matt laughed as he turned to Alex. “That’s part of the game. He’s pretending to be open-minded and supportive to win brownie points.”
“I’m not pretending.” Devon sounded genuine. “A lot of people have given you shit since you came out. Was I one of them? Even before you approached me with this project I never cared. More women for me. Those were my exact words.”
“True.” Matt shrugged. “If we franchise, you’ll probably get first dibs.”
Alex laughed, surprised Matt gave in that easily. He put his arm on the booth bench behind Matt and looked around, keeping his eyes on things out of habit. At three in the afternoon, the lunch rush had died down and the servers were working on cleaning up. Holly was sitting by the register doing something on her phone, probably playing a word game.
“How’s business been?” Devon asked, pulling Alex’s attention back. “It seemed busy earlier.”
“Good,” Alex said with a smile. “Never underestimate the power of starfish doughnuts. Even Daryl started coming back for them.”
Matt shook his head. “And we thought money talked. Turns out grease and sugar win every time. I feel sort of guilty profiting off it when I won’t even eat the things.”
