Page 44 of Every Star that Shines

“Say, I know it’s a little late for that latte I promised,” Caleb said, “but would you like a steamed hot chocolate?” He grinned. “I really want to show off my barista skills.”

Delanie’s chest warmed. He didn’t want her to go, either.

“Sure. I’d love that.”

He met her gaze with that intense look that stirred the butterflies in her ribcage. She drew in a deep breath.

I might be crazy to stay. But why do I feel like it would be crazier not to see where this might lead?

Caleb methodically filled the frothing jug with hot chocolate ingredients, hoping the familiar movements would ease the tension now bunching his shoulders, courtesy of Monica. She hadn’t come right out and said she didn’t approve of Delanie being here, but she didn’t have to—he knew that look well enough. But Monica had left him, not the other way around. If he chose to spend time with Delanie again now that the opportunity presented itself, Monica would have to get used to it. He hadn’t complained about Super Dave, after all. And why should he? Dave was a good guy.

Then again, he and Dave didn’t have the history that Monica and Delanie did.

While Delanie stood by and watched, Caleb finished steaming the milk and cocoa mixture in the stainless-steel jug, then released the button on his shiny home espresso machine and withdrew the jug from the steam wand. In smooth motions that were the result of long habit, he wiped down the wand, purged it with a burst of steam, and then poured the drink into a large homey stoneware mug, gratified at the perfect amount of froth bubbling to the top.

“Your order, m’lady,” he said in a posh British accent, handing it to Delanie with a little bow.

She laughed—that laugh he had missed so much—and took a sip.

“Mmm, delicious.”

When she pulled the mug away from her mouth, it was his turn to laugh.

“What?” she asked.

“You know it’s good when it leaves a froth moustache,” he said, searching for a napkin or something she could wipe it off with.

Touching her lip, she chuckled. “Oh.”

He considered letting her use the cleaning cloth, but decided that would be both unpleasant and unsanitary, so he settled on ripping a piece of paper towel off the roll hanging beneath the top cupboard. She took it from him and gingerly dabbed the creamy brown bubbles away.

“Could you show me how to do it?” she asked, gesturing at the empty mug he’d brought out for himself.

“Sure,” he said, pleased. He quickly rinsed the frothing pot and dried it, then handed it to her. “First, you put in two rounded teaspoons of cocoa.”

“Alright.” She picked up the metal scoop and the cocoa tin and followed his orders.

Caleb walked her through his hot chocolate recipe, looking over her shoulder as she did the steps.

“Okay, before we turn on the steam, let me explain how to do it,” he said, moving over to the machine. “First, place the jug beneath the steam wand so the wand is just below the surface of the milk. You want it to pull in a little air for a few seconds. And put the wand in off to the side so the milk will spin around in the pot.”

“Like this?”

She held the jug beneath the wand, but he could tell the wand was too deep. Without thinking, he overlaid his hand on hers to move the jug a little lower.

“That’s more like it.”

She glanced at his hand, then up at his face over her arm, and he became aware of how little space there was between them and the warmth of her slender fingers beneath his. Feeling his face grow warm, he dropped his hand. “Okay, that looks good. Now pull the jug down and we’ll do it for real. You always want to purge the wand after you have it in milk and wipe it down to keep it clean, but you also want to purge it right before you use it to get rid of excess water.”

He was about to show her what he meant when she set down the jug and copied the purging steps he’d done earlier. He grinned.

“Well, Delanie Fletcher, you always were a quick study.”

She smiled, obviously pleased. “I do alright.”

She went through the remaining steps to steam the chocolate milk in her jug, with him offering pointers only when needed. Less than a minute later, she was handing him a mug full of frothy chocolate to sample.

“Did I do okay?” she asked.

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