Page 10 of An Alaskan Wedding (Alaskan Grooms 1)

“Here, Grace.” Cameron handed her two slips of paper. “Hank comes in early for drinks to bring over to the firehouse. Extra whip on ’em, okay?”

“Got it!” Grace said, looking down at the slips for confirmation of the orders. One mochaccino. Four iced caramel macchiatos. Extra whipped cream.

She let out a sigh. It could have been much worse. At least it was the same drink times four. All she had to do was make two batches of caramel macchiato and serve ’em up in to-go cups. Then one batch of the mocha. There was a cheat sheet on the counter detailing all the ingredients in the most popular drinks. Thank You, God.

Everything stilled around her for a moment. It had been a long time since she’d thanked God for something. Matter of fact, before arriving in Love, she hadn’t thought about God at all for a very long time. They were at a stalemate. In her darkest hours He hadn’t answered her prayers, so she’d decided to ignore Him in return.

“You can do this, Grace,” she said out loud, deciding on positive affirmations to get her through this situation.

One by one she assembled the items and placed them in the blender. Grace stared at the contents she’d placed inside. Okay, this wasn’t so bad after all. It had never been her strong suit, but it wasn’t rocket science. She might be a little slow putting all the ingredients together, but this was looking good. Chewing her lip, she considered all the buttons on the blender, finally deciding to push the biggest one. Nothing. She waited a few beats and pressed again. Why wasn’t this thing working?

She bit her lip as she studied the machine. It wasn’t that different from the ones she’d used at Java Giant. Maybe a few more bells and whistles, but it had been four years since she’d worked for them. No doubt technology had advanced since then.

“Everything okay back here?”

The sound of Boone’s husky voice swept over her like a strong gust of wind. She wanted to let out a loud groan. Of course! It would have to be Boone of all people to discover her in a state of utter confusion. What was he doing here anyway? The crime rate must be pretty low in this town if he could hang out so regularly at his brother’s establishment.

“Just figuring things out,” she said in an upbeat voice. She turned her head to look at him, her insides fluttering at the sight of Boone in his crisp uniform. If she ever got arrested, it just might take the sting out of it if the arresting officer looked half as good as Boone did.

She turned back toward the machine and pressed the black button. Nothing. Again she pressed it, tapping her foot with impatience when nothing happened. A hint of embarrassment trickled through her. She didn’t want Boone to think she didn’t know what she was doing. Gulp. Even if it was the truth.

Boone leaned in so that he was peering over her shoulder. The scent of sandalwood rose to her nostrils. His shoulder grazed against her arm, causing her equilibrium to shatter.

“Um, Grace. You might want to plug it in first.”

Duh. She hadn’t even plugged it in.

Way to make yourself look like a novice, Grace.

With a sheepish look in Boone’s direction, she mumbled a thank-you and plugged the machine into the wall socket. A grinding noise rent the air as liquid began flying all over the place. She cried out as sprays of frosty macchiato blasted her in the face. Long arms reached in front of her and pressed the off button. Through the haze of slush on her eyelashes she watched as Boone grabbed a towel and began blotting her face with it.

“This is some first day of work,” she said in a flippant voice. Hopefully, she’d hidden her mortification from Boone.

Boone drew his eyebrows together and frowned at her. “Something tells me you’re no barista. Is this your first time?” His voice had a gruff edge.

“No,” she said in a small voice. “I’ve done this dozens of times. I just never got the hang of it before I quit.”

Boone raised an eyebrow. “Does Cameron know that?”

She bit down on her lip. Judging by the expression on Boone’s face, there was no other choice but to fess up. “Not really. When I applied for this job I might have slightly exaggerated my skills.” She sent him a pleading look. “And please don’t tell him. I need this position.”

His eyes narrowed. “You really want to be here, don’t you?” The corners of his mouth relaxed into the hint of a smile.

“Yes. I need to be here.” She was telling the truth. Being here in Love was paramount to digging up the information she needed for her series. Otherwise, it would be a puff piece. She didn’t do puff pieces!

Boone shifted from one foot to the other. “I don’t like keeping information from my brother. It’s not my way of doing things. But I also realize how difficult it must be to start a new life in a place where everything is a world apart from what you’re used to.” He narrowed his eyes and studied her. “I won’t say anything.”

“Thank you,” she gushed, feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders.

“I give you a lot of credit for uprooting your life in New York and coming here.”

Their gazes locked and held. It felt as if the ground was moving underneath her feet. Instinctively, she reached for the wooden counter to steady herself.

“What happened back here?” Suddenly, Cameron was standing in the doorway, a deep frown marring his features.

Grace took a step away from Boone. The last thing she wanted her boss to think was that she was getting overly familiar with his brother. “I didn’t mean to make a—” She began.

“It was my fault,” Boone interrupted. His voice sounded matter of fact and smooth as butter. “I leaned in too close and got clumsy.”

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