Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Monday mornings were always hopping at Tamara’s coffee shop. Regulars came in from nearby offices, moms arrived with their small children in strollers, and tourists who’d noticed the line out the door obviously figured it must be a good bet if so many locals liked it.
Tamara had hired a couple of high school kids for the summer.
While they were still learning the ropes, she had them bussing the tables, washing dishes, and taking out the trash.
Meanwhile, Tamara sped around the shop trying to do everything at once: making coffees, answering questions, and filling orders, all while trying to look relaxed and greet people she knew.
A couple of the newcomers were looking at her as though they couldn’t work out whether she actually worked there or not.
Maybe it was the fact that she was wearing a light cotton dress more suited to a day on the beach than making coffee.
Or maybe it was the collection of beads and scarves, bracelets and rings that she always wore.
Well, that was who she was and she made excellent coffee without having to resort to wearing a boring uniform.
Tamara was thankful to be so busy this morning, because she was hoping it would stop her from thinking about anything else. Like kissing Nate.
A kiss that had been nothing short of incredible.
That is, until she’d pulled out of his arms and took off like a scared rabbit. The memory made her wince. Honestly, she was about as mature as her two teenage employees behind the counter. She’d been ignoring his messages ever since, unsure of what to say.
In the end, however, it turned out that work wasn’t enough to keep her from thinking about Nate.
He was too good to be true in a lot of ways.
He called himself a geek, but he looked more like a Hollywood leading man, and he was smart and funny.
Any woman in her right mind would want to kiss Nate Waterson.
She wasn’t sure who had kissed whom first. She’d been too lost in the heat of the moment, enjoying the closeness of their bodies on the dance floor. All she knew was that it had felt amazing. Until she’d blown it by running off.
Ugh. Instead of replaying Friday night over and over inside her head, she should be focusing on recommending the perfect coffee blend to that couple from New York at the counter, or creating an Excel spreadsheet to work out her cheesecake requirements for the next few months.
She tried both activities, but neither could even begin to distract her from what had happened between Nate and her on the dance floor. Nope, she had to face facts—nothing short of a direct meteor strike was likely to do that.
For about the ninetieth time that morning, Tamara recalled the way she’d pulled him out onto the dance floor by the hand, not taking no for an answer, because she didn’t like seeing him standing on the sidelines while everyone else had fun.
Maybe she should blame Lucas Crosby for writing and singing all those romantic songs.
They certainly seemed to have worked on the lovely Meg.
But she knew it wasn’t fair to blame someone else for the kiss when the truth was that she’d been completely swept away by Nate.
He’d looked fantastic in his black T-shirt that outlined every muscle in his arms and back, and his black horn-rimmed glasses.
It had been pure instinct to hold him tight as they danced a slow dance.
He was so great to be with, and she’d always loved his company.
But she’d never imagined they’d share a kiss so passionate it would take her breath away.
“Excuse me, can I place my order?”
Tamara looked up from her reverie to see a small crowd of people gathered around the counter, waiting for service. Snapping back to the present, she served them as quickly as she could, thankful no one had run out on her.
On any other day, working at her coffee shop was as good as meditation, the perfect activity to sink into when she didn’t want to think about the past. But today, she was a mess, just as she’d been all weekend.
Looking at the clock, Tamara realized that Nate had yet to make an appearance for his usual morning double espresso.
Instead, Liz had arrived and was talking excitedly about a new wedding.
Tamara barely heard a word. Normally, she would have demanded more details on pain of withholding coffee service.
Instead, her attention was on the door, waiting for the chiseled lines of Nate’s features to appear.
Each time the door swung open, a wave of disappointment coursed through her as she wished every one of her loyal customers were someone else.
Around ten, the rush started to thin out a little, and Tamara gave her new teen workers a fifteen-minute break. They were looking a little worse for wear, and she didn’t want them quitting on the first day.
Finally alone, she started to put the place back in order, tidying away some of the chaos that arose when so many customers came in at the same time. There were cups and plates everywhere, and she needed to get them loaded into the dishwasher and ready for the next busy period.
The wind chimes sounded as the door opened and someone came inside. “I’ll be right there,” Tamara called out from the back.
“Hi, Tamara.”
The mug she was holding slipped from her hands then hit the floor, breaking into dozens of pieces. Tamara knew that if she turned around, Nate and his handsome face would be looking back at her, but she didn’t know what to say, so she dropped to her knees to try to clear up the mess.
Of course, Nate was there in a flash to help, kneeling beside her while he hunted for fragments of broken porcelain.
He was just inches away, and he looked so gorgeous Tamara couldn’t concentrate on the job at hand.
She was too busy thinking about how much she wanted to kiss him again. Right this second.
It would be so easy. He was so close, and she didn’t think he would say no, and it would definitely save her from having to come up with something to say.
But she couldn’t. This path wasn’t meant for her to take.
She’d had her one true love already, and in her family, everyone had just one chance at finding true love.
Her parents, her siblings, her cousins… Wherever you looked in the Truscott family, they each found the person they wanted to spend their lives with, and then that was it.
When her second cousin’s husband passed away, there had been no suggestion of finding someone else.
Tamara had already found and lost her one true love.
It was sad, but it was true. So although she had casual dates from time to time, they were never destined to go very far.
The fun disappeared the moment things started to get serious, and she didn’t want that to happen with Nate.
People talked about staying friends with ex-lovers, but it never really worked.
She didn’t want to lose the amazing friendship she already had with him.
She didn’t want things falling apart, especially when they would still have to see each other every day.
They both stood, and finally she had to look at Nate. She had a feeling he could read every emotion track across her face, and she felt like a deer caught in headlights as they stared into each other’s eyes.
“Furface is here,” Nate said. “He’s waiting by the back door for you.”
“Furface?”
It took a moment to get her brain back on track. She’d been expecting him to say something about their kiss, or ask why she had run away from him on Friday night, or about the fact that she’d ignored his texts and phone calls over the weekend. But no. Nate was
pointing to the back door of the café where the small dog who had been coming by lately was looking in at them.
Thrilled for the chance to move away from the one person on earth she didn’t know how to talk to, Tamara grabbed the bowl of dog biscuits she kept under the counter and another bowl for water.
She put both bowls on the back step and then scratched the dog’s ears while he made short work of his breakfast.
By the time she came back inside, Nate was carefully wrapping the fragments of the broken mug in a paper towel. He threw them away, then gave her a serious look.
She swallowed, knowing what was about to happen.
“Tamara,” he said, “we need to talk about Friday night.”
She took a breath and wondered if he’d had to work up his courage to come over and begin the post-kiss conversation. Was there any chance that he was a little nervous like her?
“I know we do,” Tamara said quietly.
It was strange, having this sudden awkwardness between them.
From the moment they’d first met, Nate was someone she could talk to easily.
She looked forward to their conversations and would find herself saving up the events of the day so that she could tell him about them.
If they hadn’t kissed, things wouldn’t feel so weird now.
And suddenly, she knew what she needed to say.
“I’m sorry I didn’t answer your calls or texts over the weekend.”
Nate nodded.
She continued, “If I had, I would have told you I had a great time on Friday night, and our kiss was really lovely…” She paused. “But I can’t do it again.”
For a split second, she thought disappointment crossed Nate’s face. But just as quickly, he said, “You’re right. We’re such good friends, and it would be a shame to mess that up. I respect your decision, and I agree with you.”
Tamara was surprised by the wave of regret that flooded through her. Although she believed her words, it was as though a part of her had been hoping that Nate would declare himself and say he couldn’t live without her, and he wasn’t going to give up on her.
She blushed at the thought. She’d worked so hard at being level-headed, at getting her business off the ground, at not letting her feelings get the better of her.
But somewhere along the line, her brain had clearly turned to romantic mush.
Forever love might work out for the Married in Malibu crew and their glamorous clients, but she knew better for herself.
Which meant she needed to be practical about all this, however hard it was.
“Our kiss doesn’t have to change anything,” Nate added. “We can just act like it never happened.”
Act like it never happened?
Could Nate really just switch his feelings on and off like that?
How could she act as though their kiss never happened when it had been all she had been able to think about since Friday night?
It didn’t help that he looked so darned attractive in his black T-shirt and jeans.
Tamara was struck by the urge to kiss him again.
She had to remind herself what a bad idea it would be to act on that instinct.
With effort, she pushed away romantic thoughts about Nate.
Especially the ones that involved him kissing her again.
It wasn’t going to happen. She had to strengthen her resolve.
She put a smile on her face that she most certainly didn’t feel. “Super! So now that everything’s back to normal, what can I get you to drink? Do you want the usual?”
Tamara did her best to sound breezy, even though she didn’t feel breezy at all. She was a bundle of nerves.
“Sure,” Nate replied, and she was pretty certain his voice sounded a bit tight.
Tamara was grateful when the teens returned from their break—she’d momentarily forgotten about them.
As they promptly got to work getting the café ready for the lunch rush, she noticed the girls sneaking glances at Nate.
She knew what they were thinking, and she agreed with them: Nate was one seriously good-looking guy.
Tamara began making Nate’s double espresso, his coffee of choice for its big dose of caffeine crammed into a small space. It was something she did almost every morning, and it should have felt reassuringly normal. But it didn’t feel anywhere close to normal.
“Liz came in earlier,” Tamara said, racking her brain for ways to make casual conversation. “Sounds like you guys have a really exciting new wedding booked?”
“Yeah, although this one is going to be kind of complicated.”
“Maybe you’re going to need more coffee than usual for this project. Should I double my order for your special blend?”
Nate nodded and gave her a small smile, but she could tell his thoughts were elsewhere.
She said, “So what makes it so complicated? And I promise I won’t tell a soul any top-secret details.”
“The groom wants the wedding streamed online. My brain’s already buzzing.” He smiled then, a more genuine smile, and Tamara could see how much he loved his job.
“That kind of project sounds right up your alley,” she said.
Though she wasn’t technologically inclined, she had a fairly good idea of how smart and talented Nate was.
He’d rescued her when her business website had been hacked.
She’d been so impressed by how quickly he’d fixed the problem, but he didn’t think he’d done anything special and had shrugged off the praise.
He didn’t get as much of the limelight as the other staff at Married in Malibu, but without Nate she knew the weddings wouldn’t be half as great.
She said, “I imagine it will be a lot of work, though.”
“Yeah, that’s for sure, but it’ll be a great challenge. And, like you say, I’ll need a lot of coffee.” He laughed. “I’ll probably be over here twice as much.”
“Sounds great,” Tamara said. Better than great, actually, since seeing Nate twice as often was a thrilling prospect.
Even if it was going to kill her to just serve him coffee and chat as if they had never kissed.