I shook my head. “That was incredible.” Waves of emotion pulsed as we stared into each other’s eyes. “You don’t have to, but if you’d like to stay over...”
“Mmm,” he purred against my throat before rolling to pull me against his chest. “Sleeping with the most beautiful girl in the world in my arms? Yes, please.”
Tucking against him, I placed my hand on his chest, not wanting this connection to ever end. I didn’t want to go back to nervous overthinking and being anxious about speaking with him. I couldn’t believe that I trusted any person this completely, especially a big man whom I’d only known a few days.
He stroked my hair and kissed the top of my head. “You’re amazing, Valerie,” he whispered.
I had nothing left to say, so I kissed his chest, snuggling in tighter before falling into the most comfortable sleep of my life.
CHAPTER TEN
* Dave *
I woke up in the morning with sunlight in my eyes, Valerie in my arms, and the feeling of great responsibility surrounding me. She had given herself to me so completely that I felt I needed to spend as much time with her as possible in order to get to know her inside and out. But for the moment, I had to work.
Kissing her forehead gently, I tried to sneak out of bed, but she held me tight.
“I’m sorry, I have to go open the shop,” I said. “My boss is going to freak out if I’m late.”
She finally opened her eyes, then raised an eyebrow. “You’re the boss.”
“Precisely. So I will freak out if I let myself down.”
She laughed, and I gave her a quick kiss before getting up to get dressed.
“I’ll get the rest of your sales page done today,” she yawned, stretching out across the bed like a giant starfish.
“You’re amazing. Thank you so much.” I leaned in to kiss her one more time, not wanting to leave. “I’ll see you soon,” I said.
“I’ll probably drop by the café in several hours,” she said. “Have a good morning.”
As I walked to my shop, I was incredibly grateful. Everything was going so well. Business at all three stores was picking up, and people were buying the freshly roasted coffee directly online. In fact, I had a big order to fulfill today, so it was a good thing I managed to open a few minutes early to get a head start on everything.
Two hours later, everything was going completely to hell.
Kevin had been late so I had to run back and forth between the front counter and the back area. Our deliveries of the morning muffins and scones were late, and it seemed like every single customer could not make up their mind about what they wanted. Every single thing was taking three times longer than it should have, and I was becoming incredibly frustrated.
When Pamela came in to work the mid-morning rush, I left her and Kevin to the counter so that I could concentrate on measuring and roasting the coffee beans.
The clock was ticking, and everything was going sideways. The roasting machine wasn’t reaching a high enough temperature, and I had no idea why.
Pulling it away from the wall, I grabbed a wrench and opened up the back. Everything seemed to be fine, but when I tried it again, only half of the surface heated.
I didn’t want to use the drum roaster, because I wanted to do smaller, controlled batches. But as I fired it up, it wasn’t coming on at all. For the first time ever, I might not be able to deliver an order on time, and I was hit by a wave of both rage and fear of potential embarrassment.
There must have been a blown fuse, because it had been working two days ago.
I went to the fuse box, which wouldn’t ope
n. I had no idea who would have bolted it shut, but I grabbed my wrench, muttering to myself as I wrestled my way inside. Sure enough, the fuse was blown, and when I reset the breaker, the drum roaster began to spark at the back.
“Fuck,” I roared, throwing the wrench at it before dashing over to unplug it. “You ignorant piece of shit,” I cursed loudly.
Looking up, I saw Valerie in the doorway with her camera, looking absolutely horrified. She was shaking like a leaf, her lovely eyes unblinking.
Then she ran out so fast there was no way I could catch her.
Instantly I felt hollow, my entire body filled with a dark cloud. I tried calling, but she didn’t pick up.