Chapter 18
The next night, Caleb and Rhys did another trial run of the apple pie latte and the pumpkin chocolate chip one.
Rhys was still not satisfied with either of them.
Caleb thought they were both excellent, and he would rather take Rhys upstairs to bed than make either one of them again.
He’d caught Rhys watching him several times, letting his eyes move up and down over Caleb’s body. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore.
He moved behind Rhys and spoke right by his ear. “I want you.”
Rhys almost dropped the drink he was tasting, but he managed to sit it down on the counter before he looked at Caleb over his shoulder.
Caleb ran his tongue along the edge of Rhys’s ear. “Let’s go upstairs.”
He thought Rhys would protest and tell him they needed to get more work done first. Instead, he nodded. “Okay.”
Caleb led him upstairs, laid him out on the bed, and made him forget all about chocolate and pumpkin and apples and ratios of coffee and milk.
Touching Rhys soothed Caleb, and he was getting more addicted to him every time they fucked.
He was better than coffee. Better than any man Caleb had ever been with, and that scared him.
He wasn’t even ready to tell people they were working together, much less about the other things they were getting up to, and Caleb didn’t know if there was any chance for it lasting past the festival or not, but there was no way Rhys thought this was a mindless fling.
Caleb also knew Rhys might run away and shut him out any minute.
He needed to find the courage to actually talk to Rhys about what they were doing, but that might mean the end of whatever this was, and he wasn’t ready for that.
Maybe they could deal with that after the festival.
Winning the contest might make it easier.
A few days later, Caleb took a drink over to Jonah because he’d heard Jonah was running his shop alone, as one of his employees had called out that morning. Jonah always stopped by for coffee after lunch every day, and Caleb didn’t want him to go without his afternoon caffeine boost.
When he entered the Reading Room, he realized Rhys was at the counter chatting with Jonah.
He hesitated for a moment. How was he going to interact with the two of them and make it seem like he and Rhys were still barely acquainted?
He was acquainted with every inch of Rhys, inside and out.
He was acquainted with the sounds Rhys made when he came and the way he made Caleb’s chest tighten when he looked at Caleb with his eyes full of desire.
They were going to have to get used to being around other people; he couldn’t hide out at Cloud Nine forever.
He’d already turned down an invite from Tessa to go out for drinks again because he knew Rhys might be there.
He’d spent the whole night pissed off that he wasn’t seeing Rhys or their other friends.
Things couldn’t go on like this much longer.
He understood Rhys not wanting to tell his friends they were in whatever kind of situationship this was, but they would eventually have to know he and Rhys were working together.
At least that would make their level of friendship reasonable.
It wouldn’t be as hard to pretend if he only had to keep himself from touching Rhys or flirting too hard.
Of course, he would prefer to always be touching Rhys. He would prefer for all of this to be out in the open, but he didn’t want to be the focus of town gossip any more than Rhys did.
Jonah called out to Caleb, and he realized it was too late to dodge back out.
“Hi! I brought your coffee over since I heard you were on your own here.”
Jonah took the cup from his hand. “Thank you. How’d you know Luke called out sick?”
“As you’ve both warned me, information travels fast in town. Agnes told me. She always likes to have a long chat when she gets her after-lunch coffee fix.”
Jonah laughed. “That’s because she’s got a crush on you.”
Heat filled Caleb’s face. “That’s ridiculous. She’s older than my mother.”
“She can’t help but notice you, though, and it’s a thrill to have a new, attractive man in town.”
Rhys’s cheeks were bright red, and Caleb fought the urge to smile.
Jonah frowned. “Rhys, are you okay? Is it too hot in here?”
Rhys sputtered, then covered it with a cough. “No. I… I’m fine.”
Jonah gave Rhys a look that let Caleb know he didn’t believe Rhys, but he didn’t ask any more questions. “Okay, let me run and get the book you ordered.”
When Jonah disappeared into the back of the store, Rhys shocked Caleb by reaching for his hand. “I couldn’t help it. He started talking about the hot new man in town, and I…” He kept his voice so low Caleb could barely hear him, but he knew Rhys didn’t want Jonah to catch a word of what he said.
Caleb leaned over and put his mouth close to Rhys’s ear. “I won’t apologize for making you want me, and you know you’re hot too.”
“Stop. You’re going to make it worse.”
Caleb grinned. “Is that so bad?”
The second Jonah stepped back into the room, Rhys dropped Caleb’s hand like it had burned him. Jonah looked from one of them to the other. Caleb was sure he’d clocked them, but thankfully, he didn’t say anything.
Would Rhys put a stop to everything now? Caleb hoped to hell not. “I should get back to Cloud Nine.”
“Thanks again for bringing my coffee over,” Jonah said. “Will we see you at book club tomorrow night?”
“Not this month, maybe eventually. Between the shop and the hockey season starting, I can’t add anything else right now.
” Except fucking Rhys several nights a week, and since I’m doing that, I can’t be at book club with him.
Caleb definitely couldn’t keep this up much longer.
He hated lying to Jonah, even if he was really just being evasive.
Rhys glanced from Jonah to Caleb and back again. “You asked Caleb to join?”
“Of course, I try to get all my customers involved, especially ones who bring me pumpkin lattes.”
Caleb needed to get out of there. “See you later.” He waved to them both and hurried out the door.