Baby Daddy Wanted (Crescent Cove 5)

Right.

The door opened and I swear, the molecules in the air charged and buzzed. I knew it was Murphy without looking. And I also knew I wasn’t going to sit here with Lucky when I could speak to the occupant of most of my thoughts lately.

Take the bull by the horns, Dixon. Or the horn. You know what to do.

“Be right back,” I muttered to Lucky before rising to rush back behind the counter. I grabbed an apron and slung it on while discreetly nudging the new girl, Clara, out of the way just as Murphy stepped up to the counter.

“Hi there,” I said brightly. “Lovely day outside, isn’t it?”

He blinked at me, obviously surprised I’d usurped Clara, who was still wearing a bewildered expression. Then he glanced over his shoulder at the big windows. “It’s raining.”

“Oh. Right. But rain is so…cleansing, don’t you agree? Like it falls down and you feel renewed. Refreshed. Or maybe that’s just me. I’m like a daisy, soaking up all that…water.”

He pressed his lips together. “Uh, sure.”

He thinks I’m a moron. Because I am.

Already my excitement at taking command of this situation was dwindling. He was a hard man to maneuver. Probably because he was so large in all the best ways. But he was also serious and completely unsusceptible to flirting. If that was even what I was doing. He probably thought I had a social disease.

Maybe I did.

“You seemed really friendly with Sage. I didn’t realize you two knew each other.”

Another good one. As if this town wasn’t the size of a postage stamp. Almost everyone knew each other it seemed like, which was why my sperm request had been the slingshot heard around the village.

He shocked the hell out of me by smiling. “Oh, sure. We’ve been friends since high school. Lost touch for a bit but now it’s like the old days.”

I grabbed a rag and scrubbed the already spotless counter. Better to give my uncharacteristic aggression—read seething jealousy—a place to go. “How nice. What were the old days like, exactly?”

Murphy’s smile dimmed. “We were pals. Dated some. Went to the prom together actually.” His fond laugh stomped on the left ventricle of my heart.

Hell, it probably squashed the whole thing.

“Wow, so then you must be real good friends, right?” I laughed and leaned across the counter to punch his arm. He stared down at where my fist had made contact—basically it was like a gnat tapping a Sequoia—and then back up at my face as if he was confused at the turn of the conversation.

As am I, Murphy. As am I.

“Not quite sure what you mean, but she’s a nice girl. So’s her husband. I mean, Oliver’s not a girl.” Murphy exhaled. “Can I just grab the order for Gideon’s crew, please?”

“Her husband is nice. But I bet he’d probably rip off the arm of anyone who tried to make the moves on Sage. Not that you couldn’t take him.” I punched him again, because that move had worked so well the first time. “You’re a big boy, right?”

Oh my God, I was dying inside. Millimeter by millimeter. Any second now, my body would turn to ash and just dissolve to the floor.

“The order,” Murphy said, his voice strangled.

“Right.” I glanced at Clara, who was wringing her hands and looking stupefied. She wasn’t the only one. “Can you snag that, please? I’m still on my break.”

Rather than asking me why the hell was I serving customers then—kind of, badly—Clara hurried to comply.

“Yes, better get back to your lunch date.” Murphy looked pointedly over his shoulder at Lucky, who was wiggling his fingers at me from our circular table.

Wasn’t that a kick? Not only had I fully embarrassed myself, Murphy was now asking me to go away.

I’d just go dunk my head in a puddle now. That way I could soak up more water like a dumb-ass daisy.

“I’m sorry,” I said in an undertone. I couldn’t look him in the face. “I’m sleep-deprived. And I’m trying to cut back on caffeine.”

With that brilliant explanation, I fled.