Page 23 of Daily Grind
“Invite me to the wedding?”
She swung around, grinning. “Dude, how could I not? My mom still asks about you. She’d be horrified if I left you off the list.”
He laughed at that, and gave her a wave. Then she was gone, back out into the storm. A deep twist in his heart a few minutes later left him breathless, not because of Anita, or Vance, or the conversation with Miranda.
He missedRob. It wasSaturdayand he hadn’t yet appeared. He wantedthatvoice,thosefreckles,hislaugh. Not Anita’s.
He pulled out his phone, but as he was composing a text, the door blew open and a somewhat drenched, laughing Rob tumbled in.
“God, remind me to stick an umbrella in my car.”
That beaming smile pushed every single thought from Brian’s head. Rob washere.Brian’s heart sang with joy.
You have it so bad for this man.
Rob slicked back his hair, but it fell into dark red curls against his forehead. “I spent three years in London, you’d think I’d have learned by now, but no.”
More than one person eyed Rob and smiled. His damp t-shirt hugged his body in sinful ways.
“Need a towel?”
“Depends. Do you want me to drip on your lovely floor?”
Brian snorted, grabbed a towel from the back, and tossed it to Rob.
He snatched it out of the air. “I see the answer is no.” It didn’t take long for him to dry off his hair and face. He took a seat at the bar after setting the towel down on the stool. “Even my bum is wet. I swear, when I left, it was barely raining.”
“Welcome to Pittsburgh. If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.” Brian shoved his laptop out of the way and lowered his voice. “It’s good to see you.”
“Likewise.” His eyes had a green tint today, probably from his shirt. Or maybe the rain. Who knew?
Brian couldn’t breathe, not with his heart so full in his chest and warmth settling into his core. It wouldn’t take much to lean down and touch Rob’s cheek or pull those smiling lips against his. Except they were in Grounds N’at and he was working.
He exhaled. “Want something warm to drink?”
“Wouldn’t mind that at all.” Rob glanced at the menu board. “I don’t suppose you’d make me that dark orange coffee again?”
Any day. Every day. “Of course.” He even had some orange zest he could mix with the chocolate shavings. It took a few minutes, but Rob’s appreciative rumble when he set the drink down was worth the work.
He couldn’t help wonder if Rob sounded like that in bed and what the skin under that damp shirt tasted like. “I had a great time last night.” Despite the bumps in their conversations.
“So did I. Love to repeat it.”
A second date also promised more afterward. “Right now, I have all of next Sunday free.”
Rob sat up. “Do you?”
His eyes strayed to the laptop, but he nodded.
This time, the words were harder. “Are you sure?”
He lowered himself to the stool. “One of my baristas quit today.” His voice was a whisper. “It doesn’t affect Sunday’s schedule, but…”
Rob grunted and took a sip of his drink—and got whipped cream on the tip of his nose.
Without thinking, Brian reached out and swiped the cream off.
Rob caught his wrist. “Hey now, that’s mine.” He sucked the cream off, his mouth warm and slick, then let go. “Don’t you go stealing.”
