Page 8 of Daily Grind
“Oh, I know. But Ilikethese guys.” Sam’s team had been supporting him since they’d moved in above. They could have bought their own coffee service—there were enough corporate ones running around Pittsburgh—but Sam had very specifically not done so.
I like supporting local business, and you can’t get more local than this!
Sam also bought a good deal of the coffee for his workers either on his own or the company card, so he wasn’t shocked when Eli handed that over to pay.
“How’s business?” Justin bounced on the balls of his feet and peered behind the counter.
“Good.”
Miranda rolled her eyes and bumped his shoulder. Justin raised both eyebrows at that.
“Well, it could be better. I had to fire Ethan.”
“The lazy kid with the diamond earrings?” Eli perched himself on a stool and rested his hands on his cane.
Yeah, that pretty much described Ethan. “That’s the one, though I’m sure they weren’t real diamonds.”
“Oh, they were,” Eli said. “Figured he wouldn’t last long because of it.”
Brian thought back to Ethan, then shook his head. “So, maybe he has some money. Didn’t mean he wouldn’t work.”
A huff of laughter. “I know that. But it struck me that this was a hobby to him—not a job.”
“It’s not a job for most people.” Brian’s good mood shattered when the reality of Eli’s words stabbed in. He finished Sam’s cappuccino and set it in the drink carrier. Thinner margins every day. “No one takes it seriously.”
“I did,” Justin said and there was a touch of longing in his voice. “It was a job forme.”
“You’re about the only one.” Two pumps of peppermint syrup for Fazil. “You know, I really—” He stopped himself.
Justin looked down and Eli rolled his eyes. “It’s fine,” he said. “Sam knows. I know. We did steal him away rather handily.”
Especially Eli, who had up and married Justin.
And damn, hadn’t Justin been a catch? Not that Brian would ever have made a move on an employee.
Unlike Eli.
But the whole affair had worked out in the end. They were all in a better place. Eli, Justin, and Sam.
Everyone but Brian. He missed Justin as an employee, and not just for his snark and spiked hair, but for his work ethic and reliability. “I wish I could find another you.”
Miranda placed the last of the drinks in the two carriers and Justin picked one up. “You can,” he said. “You will.”
Eli grabbed the other and Brian said his good-byes. Justin opened the door for Eli, and they were gone.
“Shit.” Brian scrubbed his hands on his jeans.
Miranda snorted, but it wasn’t a happy noise. Nor was her stare when he met her gaze. “None of us are ever going to stack up to him, are we?”
Embarrassment ripped through Brian. “I didn’t mean—”
“Of course you didn’t. Not with mejust standing here.” She kept her voice soft, but there was heat there.
His stomach dropped.Way to go, Bri.“You’re the best barista I have.”
“And yet…” She stabbed a hand at the door Eli and Justin had vanished through.
“I—” He hadn’t been thinking. At all. “I’m sorry, Mir. I just—the Ethan thing has me rattled.”
