“Can I get you something to eat? Perhaps some coffee or juice?”
Joshua glanced up from his menu and had to shake himself back to the present. The waitress was gorgeous. Nowhere close to the type of women he typically dated, yet he was drawn to her as if the Goddess above had snapped her fingers and made it so. She was not quite a full foot shorter than him, he guessed about five-foot-two-ish. Not a tall blonde bombshell like he’d typically be drooling over. She had long dark hair that fell in ringlets and gorgeous light brown eyes with enough copper in them to make them shine as bright as the stars above.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to stare. Um, yes…I’ll, uh, coffee, please.”
“I’ll be right back.”
He put his finger up to stop her. “Great. First, I stumble over my own words like a teenager. Now, random diner coffee that will be disgustingly undrinkable.”
If only he’d had a hot minute to gather his wits and ask where a real coffee shop was located, he could go there instead and order something close to his normal obsession. But he’d been fixated on the woman before him. He was also pretty sure he’d seen her catch herself rolling her eyes—at him.
I am Joshua Thorston Englewoodie.
He had to pump the brakes on his temper. Of course, she wouldn’t know who he was. In a Podunk town like this, he was a regular Joe Blow, not the upper-class Englewoodie blue blood who was hounded by females up and down the East Coast looking for his ring—and his fortune.
Inhaling, he mentally talked himself off his bigheaded mountain, where only he and his ego managed to fit. While berating himself for being a dick-in-a-box, then chuckling like a teenage warlock at the SNL skit reference, something very familiar hit his senses. He crawled back over the last few minutes, and, yes, he had heard a coffee grinder.
No way, not in Goddess’s whirling of rainbows and puppy kisses is there any possibility of that.
Jenny finished grinding the freshly roasted brown beans until they were perfectly sized to be brewed. She wasn’t a big fan of the fancy coffee machine, so she pointed at it to do the work for her.
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?” DeeDee asked.
“See Mr. Goddess’s-gift-to-all-witches-and-probably-warlocks over at table six? I have a sneaking suspicion he’s a little too pretentious to drink something the rest of us immortals would be perfectly happy with.”
“He’s really cute, Jenny. Are you sure you’re not going out of your way for a very different reason? When’s the last time you used coconut milk and the frother?” DeeDee peered around her. “And caramel? Bobo Baby Boy’s favorite that you spoil him with every time Wanda’s son bats his big brown eyes at you for special hot chocolate that only you know how to make?”
“You know I adore him. Bo, I mean.” Jenny shrugged. “But that guy? He’s not that cute.” She dared a look over her shoulder at the stranger. Every strand of his light brown hair was in perfect place. He had a strong, chiseled jaw and the most fantastic green eyes she’d ever seen. “Fuck a duck. He caught me looking at him. Dammit, DeeDee. You have to take this to him. I…I can’t.” Jenny finished with a perfect zigzagged stream of caramel over the top of the white foam.
“No, my darling girl, it’s time for you to meet someone. And something tells me, when you go to all that trouble to make that drink, you’re already invested. Good luck, and I want details.”
DeeDee disappeared through the swinging doors in time to leave Jenny no other choice but to face the probably-was-a-model with all his tanned skin and perfectness. Grabbing a tray so she didn’t accidentally slosh the drink over the side of the mug onto the clean diner floor, she started his direction.
“What the…well, fuck a duck.”
“I’m so sorry, I’ll take it—” Jenny replied.
He reached out, placing his hand on the tray. “No, I never expected… How did you know how I like my coffee? This is the only way I drink it.”
All she could do was shrug. White noise filled the space around her. She watched his gorgeous pink lips moving, but heard nothing. Swallowing, she did indeed feel her tongue, so her familiar wasn’t back at her house holding it.
That whole “cat got your tongue” thing mortals teased about wasn’t funny. It was a serious issue with her and her turd-ass cat, as Gonzo did it from time to time, thinking he was a real comedian. A giant whooshing sound zapped her, and real-time kicked back in. His voice, low, smooth, and sexy as all hell, was about to melt her into a puddle of pink swirly-girly goo on the floor near his brown Gucci dress shoes.
Not once in her entire life in this realm had she had a reaction to any male in her small town. Strangers drifted in and out of the diner on their travels—again, nothing. One man, on a boring cloudy Tuesday, showed up out of nowhere and completely fried every freaking cell in her system.
“Are you all right?”
He was grinning at her. Jenny nodded as she started feeling all warm and tingly. Not the scared kind she felt when dreaming of traveling. It was way different. The kind that made her fidgety and afraid to open her mouth for fear she’d say something really dimwitted.
Tailored-suit guy was so far out of her league, she wished Zelda would come flouncing in the door. She’d know what to do, what to say. She was not only the town’s Shifter Wanker, she was a total badass. And she’d be able to go toe to toe with this guy, as she dressed in the same fancy labels. If nothing else, at least Zelda could whisper to her what to say to the beautiful man.
“You’re sure you’re all right? Would you like to sit with me? I promise I don’t bite.” He winked.
Jenny felt her face heat to at least a blistering sunburn level, and all she could do was stare at him wide-eyed. No one had ever said anything so overtly flirty to her. A bite was nothing to joke about. A bite could take them from strangers to committed in less time than his unreasonably high-maintenance coffee took to produce.
“Um… I should… I need…tables. Work. Hope you like the coffee.” Jenny took five swings at a complete sentence before she got one out. “Goddess above, why am I such a moron?” she asked quietly as she walked back behind the counter.
Lost in her own head doing math while arranging her tickets, Jenny felt a tug on her shorts. “Hey, my favorite buddy in the whole realm, how are you?” Jenny picked up Bo and sat him on the counter beside her pile of papers.
“I’d be better if…you know.” He tilted his head and grinned.
She shook her head at the four-year-old. “You know I can’t resist that beautiful smile of yours, lil’ man. Of course. Do you want whipped cream, caramel, and a cherry?”
She was trying to stay as serious as he was as he contemplated the very life-altering decision she’d given him to make. He tapped his chin several times as he really took his time. It was all she could do not to smile, but she knew how it felt to have someone make fun of her. It was an awful feeling to have people think you were dumb.
“You know what, didn’t your tummy hurt the last time we put both the whipped cream and the caramel on top? Should you maybe just have caramel?”
Wanda patted her son’s leg as she passed by. “Jenny spoils you, son. And I’d say you should eat breakfast before your hot chocolate, but I’m just the mom here. What do I know?”
“Mom, can I please have it? What if Miss Jenny makes it for me with my food?”
“What a very political way to respond. A little give and take on both sides. Bobo Baby Boy, you’re going to be the next mayor of Assjacket someday, kiddo. That’s what I think.” Jenny smiled, hugging the sweet little boy to her chest.