Page 40 of Liam
The man wrapped his fingers around the cup and breathed in the aroma. “Ah, the best part of my day. Thank you, Nylah.” He looked down the counter and yelled to Courtney. “You got a good one here, Court.”
“Don’t I know it,” she called back.
Nylah grinned. “You guys are too kind to me.”
Violet came up beside her, lowering her voice for Tex, one of their regulars. “Don’t tell anyone else, or another business owner will try to poach her away.”
Nylah laughed. “Not sure that will be happening, but glad people appreciate me.”
She moved down the counter, serving her next customer. Even though she was still fairly new to working at the coffee shop, she’d already started to recognize several of the regulars. It felt good. Familiar.
Her shift was almost over, and even though the morning had been busy, it was now midafternoon, and everything was dying off. It was the opposite of what she was used to. In bars, midafternoon was when things began to pick up.
She’d just slid a piece of pie over the counter when Courtney came up beside her.
“Hey, is your knee okay?”
She swallowed. Was it that obvious? “It’s a little agitated today.” Probably because she’d been doing daily shifts and not resting it nearly enough.
“You should have said something,” Courtney admonished quietly. “You finish up now.”
“No, I’ve still got”—Nylah looked up at the clock—“another half hour of my shift.”
“It’s not busy. We can manage fine, and I want you to rest.”
She nibbled her bottom lip. It wasn’t in her personality to leave a shift unfinished, but Courtney was right, it wasn’t busy. “Okay. If you’re sure?”
“Go.” Courtney gave her a light shove.
Nylah laughed and stepped into the back room to grab her phone and push it into her pocket. Then she waved goodbye to everyone and stepped outside. It was crazy to her that she could be so new to a town, yet it felt like home already. Maybe it was a small-town thing. Misty Peak was also a small town, and everyone who visited always commented it was homey, too.
Instead of walking to her car, she pivoted toward the street, heading to Blue Halo. As she walked, she pulled out her phone, smiling as she pressed a name in her contacts.
Liam answered on the second ring. “Well, this is a nice surprise…you calling me for a change.”
“Hey! I call you.”
“When?”
She nibbled her bottom lip, a grin on her face. “I can’t think of a time right now, but I definitely do.”
“Nylah, you’re a texter through and through.”
Dammit. He was right. But she’d been craving the sound of his voice. “Fine. I’m calling now because Courtney let me off half an hour early, so I thought I’d pop into your office and say hello.”
She scrunched her eyes. It sounded silly when she said it out loud. So silly, she almost took her words back and turned around to go to her car. The man was working. He wouldn’t have time to see her.
“Are you okay walking by yourself?”
The corners of her lips twitched. “You’re just down the road, Liam. I’m fine. But if you don’t have time—”
“Honey…if I didn’t have time, I’d make it. Come. Let me show you my office.”
Her fingers relaxed around the cell, and she walked a bit faster.
A guy crossing to her side of the street caught her attention. His gaze flashed to hers, only for a second, then flicked back to the street.
There was nothing that made him stand out—average height, dark hair, jeans and a button-up shirt—yet something about his brief glance at Nylah made her belly turn.
