Chapter 2
Chapter Two
A week later, Paige was floating on air as she practically skipped down the sidewalk to The Good Bean coffee shop, where she planned to indulge in an iced coffee and one of their fat, delicious blueberry muffins. She could already smell the blueberries before she even got to the door, and when she breezed into the café, the scent of cacao, baked goods, and fruit all combined to make her mouth water.
There was a line of about half a dozen people waiting to order, so she joined their ranks, humming to herself happily. After a difficult eighteen months of having to start a new life without her beloved mother in it, things were finally falling into place. It had always been just Paige and her mom, exploring the country and everything in it. Living in an RV had been an exciting adventure for a little girl, and her brain was filled with wonderful memories of everything they’d done together.
After her mom’s passing, Paige decided to stay on the road until she found a place she might want to start over in. And when she’d driven through the small mountain town of Firelight Mountain, she knew she’d stumbled upon what she’d been looking for. She’d bought a cottage in the town and had then begun planning to open her dream bookstore.
Paige had started looking for a retail space as soon as she’d settled in. It’d taken that long to find a commercial property big enough with the right equipment to house her bookstore, which she planned to name Turn the Paige . That had been her mom’s lighthearted suggestion, and she was going with it. She’d already designed a suitable logo for the business and had done some sketches of potential layouts.
She daydreamed as the line got shorter, and then suddenly she was rudely brought back to reality by the last voice on the planet she wanted to hear.
Asher fucking Stone.
She hadn’t noticed him three spots in front of her in the line. The man was a thorn in her side. A pain in the ass.
It didn’t help that the entire town loved him. The denizens of Firelight Mountain gushed about how wonderful he was. Kind. Caring. Helpful. The women swooned over him. The men were ebullient in their praise of him. The man was a fucking saint. All that, and he also happened to be the most gorgeous man she’d ever laid eyes on.
“I’ll have an espresso and…” Asher glanced over his shoulder at her as he was placing his order and gave her a wink. She sent him a scowl in return. “A blueberry muffin.”
That asshole! She’d once heard him tell someone he didn’t even like blueberry muffins, so why the hell was he ordering one now? Only doing it because he knew she could hear him, no doubt. Whatever. She hoped he choked on his blueberry muffin while she enjoyed every mouthful of hers.
He’d collected his order by the time she made it to the counter, and she was glad he was no longer in her line of sight.
“Hi, Paige! How’s it going? Do you want your usual?”
She gave the young woman behind the counter a broad smile. “Hi, Trisha. Everything’s good, thank you! I’d love my usual, please.”
The light-haired assistant entered her order into the system and pointed to the card reader when it was ready. Paige tapped her card and took the receipt, then stepped to the side to await her order.
Trisha bustled around to begin making orders while the other worker stepped up to the register. She leaned over behind the large glass case housing the pastries and baked goods, then straightened up, her brows furrowed. “I’m so sorry. We don’t have any more blueberry muffins left. Asher must have gotten the last one.”
Paige breathed in and out slowly as her blood began to boil. Now she knew why he’d ordered it. It took all she had not to stomp her foot and storm over to his table to snatch the blueberry muffin from him. The one that should have been hers.
She focused her attention back on Trisha. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“I asked if you wanted to pick a different muffin? We have chocolate chip, banana nut, lemon poppyseed, or apple cinnamon.”
“I’ll take an apple cinnamon, please.”
Paige watched as Trisha plated it up for her and added a free chocolate chip cookie, for which she was grateful. Once her coffee was also ready, she took her drink and plate with thanks and headed for a table in the far corner of the café. She loved to sit and watch the people in it with her. People watching was one of her favorite pastimes.
Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to reach her preferred table without passing by the one her nemesis was sitting at, but she gave it as wide a berth as possible as she neared him. But of course, he couldn’t just be a decent human being and let her go past without comment.
He pushed the plate with the untouched blueberry muffin toward her. “Want to split it with me, Freckles?” he offered in lieu of a greeting. She ran her gaze over his face, looking for any proof he was being insincere or trying to mock her, but his face was much like his last name. She hated that she couldn’t read him. Didn’t know if he was offering a truce or trying to rile her up even more.
Paige wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of knowing how pissed she was he’d purposely taken the muffin she’d been craving all day. “I’d rather dig a hole to the center of the earth with my tongue,” she proclaimed, before flouncing off to her table without glancing back.
The position of the table meant she was facing Asher’s back, and as she sat she couldn’t help but look at it, only to discover his shoulders were shaking. What the hell? Was he…
But then he turned and looked over at her, and she could see he was laughing . The insufferable man was laughing at her! In a fit of pique, she gave him the finger, which only seemed to make him laugh harder.
Ugh. She was done with Asher fucking Stone. He didn’t deserve a moment more of her time. Digging through her tote, she pulled out her e-reader and continued on with the romance she was currently reading. Which was a much better distraction than the sexy, muffin-stealing, first-class jerk whose gaze Paige just knew was directed her way without looking.