Chapter Eighteen
“Calista, wake up!”
I shot up in bed, startling Dewdrop, who complained as she shot upright with me. Was he in my room? Oh, how improper! How absolutely, positively—
No, he wasn’t here. But why was he knocking on the door to the hall and not the door between our rooms?
“Calista, open this door!”
There had to be some kind of emergency. Had the Realm Guard found us?
Was he checking in right now? Were we already doomed before we could even start our day?
I rushed to look into the old mirror that hung about the desk.
I looked passable, but definitely not lovely.
With a sigh, I combed fingers through my hair, ran across the room, and threw the door open.
“Good morning, star bright! I made us espressos!”
Blinking at him, I wanted to wipe the silly grin right off his face. “Aleixo, it is morning.”
“Exactly. We haven’t had an official morning with one another…well, not like this. And what a beautiful morning it is.”
A beautiful morning? Such a thing did not exist. Any time that one had to pull themselves from the warm comforts of bed was not a beautiful time. How could someone even say such a thing? The very idea was preposterous.
He continued to speak, his voice grating on my ear as he entered the room.
“Once we’ve had a good drink, we could head down to the dining area and enjoy a lovely breakfast together.
I did really make these myself; Suzette was fine with me doing it.
Said it’s just the sort of thing husbands should do for their wives. ”
“Of course you’ve been with Suzette. You’re both such…such…” Words failed me. It wasn’t as though this was a good time to form a coherent thought. Every race in the realm should be sleeping—even the nocturnal Dewdrop usually slept most of the night, despite waking to hunt for a couple of hours.
“Such?” he questioned.
“I don’t know. I need to wake up.”
“Am I perfect or what?” He thrust the small espresso cup into my hand, beaming at me, while all I wanted to do was punch him in the face. It was a nice warm cup though, so I held it close and took a deep inhale. It certainly smelled good.
Raising it to my lips, I sipped on the warm beverage, excited to have the flavour embrace my body in a warm hug…only to be met with a thick, bitter black sludge that I struggled to swallow.
“Well? How is it? I’ve never made an espresso before, but I did watch you the other day and it looked easy enough.”
His effort was fantastic, but I could barely hold it together as I gave him a gritty smile with tight lips and mumbled, “Mm-hmm, mm-mm. Is very good.” I could barely speak proper fancy English. I swallowed the offending liquid and looked down at my cup. “Aren’t you going to drink yours?”
“Right!” He took a sip from his, then immediately gagged. “Oh, dear heavens above!” he gasped. “This is revolting!”
“It certainly is.” I sighed with relief, thrilled I wouldn’t need to finish the horrid thing he called an espresso.
Except now that I had the idea of espresso in my head, I didn’t really want to go this morning without one.
Every morning I had been away from home, I’d been munching on stale espresso buns just to keep up with the need for caffeine that I had every morning.
The one I’d made by the fire had been passable enough, but making one here?
In a kitchen? Knowing I was so close to a real one this morning made me crave one even more.
“You don’t have to finish yours. These are ghastly.”
“Thank you for the effort,” I tried. “Why don’t you show me to the kitchen, and I’ll make up some real espresso?”
It only took a few minutes to find our way there, given how small this little inn was.
The kitchen set up wasn’t quite up to the standard I was used to, but it was something, and I was relieved that I could get my daily cup of java.
That same obsession was what had earned me the unstoppable nickname of Java in my family.
“Wow,” Aleixo whispered next to me as he watched me work. Suzette was in and out of the kitchen as she served customers in her small dining room. “You are an artist.”
“Don’t be silly.” I bristled while I glowed inside. “You’ve seen me do this once before.”
“Not like this.”
“It’s just coffee,” I pointed out.
“It’s not just coffee. Every motion, every touch, is a work of art. I can tell this is what you love to do.”
“It’s a family business. We do this every day, rain or shine, no matter if someone enters our brewery or not.”
He stood behind me as I worked facing the counter. I could feel the warmth from his body as he kept a respectful distance between us. If I turned, if I looked up at him now, we would be the perfect distance for—
My thoughts ended suddenly as his hand brushed mine. “How did you make that design over yours?” I’d gone beyond making espressos now. My cup boasted a design of a coffee bean drizzled over a soft setting of cold foam.
“You can make it as well. I’ll show you.” Feeling out of sorts, I took his hand and wrapped mine around it. Guiding his hand slowly, I poured the cold foam, then the syrup. I knew without even looking that he was smiling, and I felt his head lean into mine ever so slightly.
We finished the design, but he still didn’t move, savouring the feel of holding each other, even just for a moment.
“Calista,” he whispered as his hand finally fell from mine, and he placed it on my elbow, turning me to face him.
His other hand raised, then his thumb brushed over my lips as he moved to cup my cheek.
I held my breath as he leaned closer still.
Our lips were destined to meet, and I closed my eyes, barely believing this moment was real.
“You two better eat before all the food runs out!”
Suzette came bustling in, rushing around to fill more plates before rushing out to the dining room, not even noticing the awkward silence between Aleixo and I.
“We should… We should eat,” I spoke up, not meeting his gaze. I tried to hide how breathless I was, but I knew my cheeks were flushed and I was trying to slow my heart rate, praying he couldn’t see the feelings reflected in my eyes.
“Calista…” His hand captured mine, but I pulled away.
“Now.”