She's Like The Wind (Angel Sands 2)

She shook her head. “Sorry, I was talking without thinking. Ignore me. You know better than anybody else what you’re doing.”

“No, tell me what you’d call the shops again.”

“Coastal Coffee?”

“By Déjà Brew,” he murmured, tapping it quickly into the notes on his phone. “Jesus, who told you that you had no head for business? You’re a genius.”

The glow spread down her neck, pinking up the top of her chest. “I just know beach towns. I’ve lived in one all my life.”

“What would you do differently to the coastal Déjà Brews?” he asked her, staring at her lips. It was taking everything he had not to clear the two strides between them and pull her against him. He wanted to feel them on his mouth, feel her hair as he knotted it in his hands. She was so damn enticing it made his body ache.

“I’d change the menu up. Maybe put more emphasis on meals rather than pastries. And the décor. It might be a bit cheesy, but I’d make it more beach-themed. Let’s face it, locals are going to come in to grab a coffee no matter what the place looks like, but tourists want the full experience. And they’re usually willing to pay extra for it.”

A pulse of excitement shot through him. “Yes they are,” he said, slowly nodding his head. “You’re right. They’re a completely different kind of customer.”

“It would be worth doing a little market research before you commit to anything,” Ally said, though she was glowing at his approval. “But the way I see it, if Disney can charge eight bucks for a cup of coffee, then Déjà Brew can probably find a way to mine the tourist gold too.”

“How come you never went to college?” he asked her. “You’re clearly bright enough.”

“How do you know I didn’t?”

“I’ve seen your resume, remember?”

She raised her eyebrows. “That’s not fair. You’re one up on me. I don’t know anything about you.”

“There’s not much to know. What you see is what you get,” he told her.

“I don’t believe that for a second.” The corner of her lip lifted into a smile. “You know, they should give employees their bosses’ resumes. We should know who we’re working for.”

“I’ll print you one out when we get home.” He couldn’t help grinning. He liked that she wanted to know more about him.

“Well, I didn’t go to college because I was chickenshit,” she said, adjusting her stance as if she was trying to get comfortable.

“You want to sit down? You’ve been standing for a while.”

“Yeah, my leg’s getting tired.”

He led her out of the store and down to the boardwalk, finding an empty bench seat overlooking the ocean. Helping her down, he took her crutches and sat next to her. There was only an inch or two between them. And it felt like too much and not enough all at the same time.

“So you were saying…” he said, when they were comfortable. “Something about being chickenshit?”

She laughed. “Yeah. I had an offer to go to Sacramento. I accepted it, too. And right until the last moment I really thought I could go there.” She was staring into the distance, her face forming a perfect profile. She sighed and it lifted her chest up. Nate tried not to look.

“So what happened?”

“I got scared.” She looked down at her hands, turning them palm up. “I’m not great at changes, and I was so afraid that if I went away something would happen to my dad. He tried to get me in the car to drive me up there, but I cried and cried until he got the message. I took a few classes at the community college, but really I spent most of my time working at the café.” She turned, her eyes still downcast as she gave him a rueful smile. “So there you go. I’m not exactly setting the world on fire.”

“It’s never too late.”

“I’m twenty-seven years old. And even if I could get an offer, I couldn’t afford the tuition. I made my bed when I was a teenager, now I get to lie on it for the rest of my life.”

“You sound defeated,” he remarked. What the hell had stopped her from reaching her potential? He wanted to dig it out of her.

She looked up. This time her expression was defiant. “No, I’m not,” she said, shaking her head. “I’ve accepted what happened. And I’m happy in Angel Sands. The only time I get embarrassed about my lack of college education is when I have a conversation like this one.”

“Would you like me to change the subject?” he asked, even though he didn’t want to. There was so much more he wanted to ask.

Her eyes caught his. “I’d like that a lot.”