Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
HUNTER
Pushing through the door of Muffin Top, the smell of roasted coffee beans was an instant hit to my senses.
I was in desperate need of caffeine after another shitty night of sleep.
The nightmares had been coming with regularity now.
For the past week and a half, I hadn’t been able to get more than four or five hours a night, and I was beginning to feel it.
Fortunately, the best coffee shop in the country was nestled right here in my little valley.
“Good morning. Welcome to Muffin Top,” the owner, Danika, greeted automatically at the chime over the door as I stepped inside.
Her smiling face was a welcomed sight as she looked up from the customer she was helping.
It was how she greeted each and every one of her patrons, and part of what made this place as successful as it was.
She made everyone feel welcome, as if they were her favorite customer.
I tipped my chin up in greeting and tacked myself onto the line that was at least seven people deep, praying that it would move quickly.
Normally it didn’t matter when I made it into the office.
Our boss, Lincoln Sheppard, wasn’t the type to enforce office hours or micro-manage.
As long as we didn’t fuck off and got our work done in a timely manner, he let us be.
But one of the women at Alpha Omega, Sage Caine, had taken it upon herself to make a coffee schedule, and today was my day to pick up drinks for the office.
And if I was late I risked being the target of her temper, something no human being on the planet wanted to be subject to.
It was terrifying how someone so tiny could have such attitude.
The line shuffled forward just as a soft, melodic laugh floated back from the counter and hit my ears. It was a laugh I’d heard plenty of times in the past month or so since she’d entered my orbit, but it never failed to make my body tighten. It had the most beautiful musical quality to it.
It was a laugh that felt like a sucker punch to the gut after a week and a half of not hearing it because I’d been avoiding Serenity Ryan and the Tap Room like my life depended on it.
Instead, I’d gone home night after night and stared at that goddamn invitation until my eyes began to cross.
Then I’d move outside and stare up at the stars. It was a vicious cycle.
I might not have seen her in person the past several days, but that kiss was still burned onto my brain, and no matter how hard I tried, I hadn’t been able to get Serenity out of my mind.
I felt myself leaning to the side for a better look at the front of the line. Sure enough, there she was. Her back was to me, but I recognized that long sun-kissed hair that hung down her back like a sheet of gold.
Her shapely body was showcased in a pair of jeans and a tee that nipped in at her waist, enhancing her hourglass figure.
It was no wonder she’d been so damn good at running honey pot cons on men for her family.
The woman had looks that could knock the breath right out of your lungs.
When she smiled it was always full out and uninhibited, making her hazel eyes sparkle.
There was a natural flush to the apples of her cheeks that was highlighted by a delicate nose and defined cheekbones. Then there was her body.
I’d seen her dressed down as she was just then, and I’d seen her after pulling out all the stops for a night out.
She could go from pin-up to sweet girl-next-door without much effort, and since she started working at the Tap Room, it had become impossible not to notice the way men’s eyes seemed to gravitate to her like a tractor beam.
The thing that threw me off though, was that she didn’t seem to notice.
Given what she and her family had been known for, I’d expected her to play it up whenever she worked the bar, but she wasn’t doing that.
Most nights, all that golden straw hair was pulled up in a messy bun at the top of her head to keep it out of her way.
If she wore any makeup—not that she needed it—it was always the bare minimum.
Her jeans were just tight enough, not painted on like some of the other waitresses looking to thicken tips, and she rocked the standard Tap Room T-shirts just like everyone else.
I’d be the first to admit that I’d made a snap judgement upon meeting Serenity Ryan, and I’d been dead wrong. After the night of her sister’s engagement party, I knew that beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Spending those hours with her, just the two of us, I’d gotten more than a glimpse of her personality.
She was quick to joke and just as quick to laugh.
She gave out those show-stopper smiles without hesitation.
I learned there was so much more to her than the wrapping.
She was clever as hell, cunning, smart. She was funny and nearly impossible to embarrass because she was the first to crack a joke at her own expense if it was warranted.
She was passionate, kind, and loyal to a fault. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for her family. The love she held for them was inspiring.
She said something that made Danika and the other barista behind the counter throw their heads back in laughter before picking up her paper to-go cup and giving them both a wave before she turned to leave.
The minute she completed her twist, those bewitching eyes landed directly on me.
My stomach sank as she stutter-stepped in her boots and the smile fell from her face at the sight of me.
I felt like the world’s biggest asshole, but before I could react or issue an apology for how I’d left her the other night, I watched in fascination as she shored up her resolve right there in the middle of the coffee shop.
She shook off the hesitation that had hit her when she first spotted me. Squaring her shoulders, she pinned another smile—this one only slightly less brilliant—and started in my direction.
That was another thing I’d learned about Serenity that night.
The woman had more courage in her little finger than most men had in their entire bodies.
Where I’d taken the route of a chicken shit, avoiding her after an awkward encounter, it was obvious she was going to brush what had happened aside and move past it.
She stopped a few feet away, her fragrance, that subtle jasmine scent, just strong enough for me to catch over the smell of coffee and sugar.
“Hi,” she said without missing a beat.
“Hey, Wildcat.”
“You having a good morning?”
I felt the corner of my mouth tremble. This woman was something else. “I will be just as soon as I make it to the front of the line and have a cup of coffee in hand.”
She giggled as she lifted her own cup, the sound like chiming bells. “I feel that. I wasn’t much of a coffee drinker until I moved here, but this place has turned me into an addict.”
The tension in my shoulders slowly started to melt away. She was making this a hell of a lot easier than I deserved. “Well, welcome to the club, Serenity. We meet every morning between the hours of seven and ten in the morning. Then again around three PM.”
That earned me another smile. “Sere,” she said in return, giving me a moment of confusion.
“Huh?”
“Sere. Kind of like ‘hey Siri, start my get-funky playlist.’ It’s what my friends call me, and I figure there’s no reason we can’t be friends, right?”
A chuckle worked its way up my chest, the vibration rolling past my throat. “I don’t see any reason why not. Even though you have a playlist titled Get Funky.”
“Hey, don’t knock the playlist, man. I fire that thing up, and I guarantee, even a broody bastard like you couldn’t hesitate moving to the beat.”
“Highly unlikely.”
Her brows raised in challenge. “Want to bet?”
That was a lesson I’d learned the night of the engagement party. Those three words were dangerous coming out of her mouth. “Not a chance in hell. I learned never to bet you when we were playing pool.”
She reached out casual as could be and gave my chest a reaffirming pat. “Don’t sell yourself short. You held your own, buddy. If I remember correctly, we ended the night tied, two-two.”
Technically, we ended the night with her wrapped around me like I was a tree she wanted to climb and my dick trying to bust through the zipper of my jeans, but I kept that thought to myself.
She looked at the watch on her wrist and suddenly started to move away from me, walking backward as she said, “I need to get going, but it was nice running into you.”
“Same, sweetheart,” I said, actually meaning it.
She gave me a look, one corner of her mouth quirking up in a crooked smirk. “Does that mean you’ll stop avoiding the bar now that we broke through the awkward?” she asked, calling me on my shit without missing a single beat.
I couldn’t help it, I laughed full-on. “Yeah, Sere, that’s what it means.”
She hit me with that beaming grin I get in my gut.
“Great. Then I’ll see you tonight,” she said before turning on her boots and pushing her way out of the coffee shop and onto the sidewalk.
It wasn’t a suggestion or even a question.
That was her not-so-subtle way of telling me I’d be going to the Tap Room tonight, simply because she said so.
I finally made it to the front of the line and put in my order, feeling a hell of a lot better than I had when I first woke up this morning. My mood had picked up considerably by the time I made it into the office—with just two minutes to spare to avoid the eruption of Mount St. Sage.
I passed out the coffees before grabbing my own and heading toward my office. I’d just taken my first sip, the dark, rich flavor of the brew sparking on my tongue before traveling down and giving me that much needed hit I’d been looking for when my cell started to ring.
I reached to pull it out of my back pocket and smiled at the name on the screen. I swiped to answer as I rounded my desk and kicked the chair out so I could sit.