Chapter 5
Penny
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve seen or heard from Declan, and to say I’m a little sad is putting it mildly. I used to look forward to our simple chats every day, and now that they’re gone, it’s like I’m constantly waiting for my phone to ping to tell me he’s texted.
I’ve kept myself busy trying not to think of him by making sure Sage and Wren are one hundred percent confident behind the counter, making drinks and using the POS system. Both girls have exceeded every expectation I had, and tomorrow is Wren’s first day opening the shop by herself.
Today, after we close the shop, we’re all going to celebrate Jordan’s last day.
I went a little overboard by special ordering a caramel macchiato cake from Coastal Cravings, the shop where we get all of our pastries from, and a bunch of flowers.
The whole Beach Brew staff, plus her dad and boyfriend, are coming in for the party, and I know she’s going to be totally caught off guard.
By three-thirty, everyone has shown up, and we’re waiting for Jordan to arrive. I told her I had a gift for her and wanted her to stop by at four, so we still have a few more minutes before the party starts.
My back is turned toward the door, and I’m messing with the flowers, making sure they look perfect, when the door chimes. I almost blurt out surprise, but I catch myself at the last second.
“Dec!” my four-year-old yells and runs toward our new neighbor.
He’s dressed in a black button-down with the sleeves rolled up, dark jeans, and black combat-style boots. He looks edible.
I mean, good. He looks good.
I’m frozen in place as I watch my daughter fling herself at his legs and give him a hug. She’s only met him in person once and has already decided he’s her new friend.
Great.
Declan looks mildly uncomfortable, and a small laugh escapes me as I watch his arms shoot out to the side so as not to touch Autumn. That’s when a whole room of eyes snaps my way, and I realize we aren’t alone.
My mom and dad are looking back and forth between me and him, and I can see the gears turning in their heads.
Everyone in the room is confused.
I snap my mouth shut, and my dad takes the opportunity to cross over to where Autumn is hugging Declan’s legs.
“This is a private party,” my dad explains and pries Autumn off Declan.
Declan's whole demeanor changes. His back straightens, and he looks my father in the eye.
“I’m sorry, sir. I thought you were open. My coffee pot broke, and I’m throwing a party next door for the grand opening of my shop. I was hoping to get one last pick-me-up before tonight. I apologize, though. I’ll see myself out.”
I think that’s the most words I’ve ever heard him string together at once. His voice is all gravelly, and that glint of a tongue ring has me staring at his mouth.
My eyes flick away before I get any ideas.
Let’s not mention the grand opening of his shop: Blank Canvas Ink. I knew it was today. There’s a sign in his window that advertises it. But he hasn’t reached out to me in weeks, and I didn’t want to disturb him.
I can see Lucas out of the corner of my eye, assessing the conversation and profiling Declan on the spot. He’s an undercover cop, and I can tell he’s trying to see if Declan is good people or not.
“You own the tattoo shop?” my dad asks with interest.
“I do.”
“My wife, Briana, and I own this coffee shop.”
My mom takes the moment to introduce herself by shaking his hand. “It’s so nice to meet you. We were wondering when we would run into you. We were going to stop by once you were open to introduce ourselves.”
“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am. And you too, sir…”
“Alex.” My dad holds his hand out for a quick shake.
I feel a hand on my arm and turn to find Wren at my side. “I can make him a quick coffee if you want,” she says quietly.
I nod my head. “Yeah. Just a large black coffee.”
She quietly moves behind the counter and gets to work.
“Declan is my neighbor,” Autumn says to my mom and dad, and they both look at me.
I finally make my way toward them and push my hair behind my ears.
I’m nervous. Why am I nervous? Probably because there’s a room full of eyes watching us.
“Hi, Declan.”
“Hi,” he says back and stares at me with his yellow-green eyes.
My parents are watching us interact, and I’m pretty sure my face is turning bright red.
“So, you’ve met Penny… our daughter,” my dad chimes in. I catch the slight narrowing of his eyes toward Declan, but he pulls himself together and softens his expression before Declan can see it.
I could go climb into a hole right now and never come out.
“Yes, sir. Just once.”
Technically, he’s not lying. But I’m sure Lucas’s bullshit meter is going a million miles a minute behind me. I have no doubt he’s going to tell Jordan about this later, and I’ll have some explaining to do after she hears of this little interaction.
“I still have some setting up to do. I should get going.” Declan throws a thumb over his shoulder. “It was nice to meet you all.”
Wren takes the moment to step up and hand Declan the large coffee. “This is for you,” she says softly. The girl is so sweet, it’s ridiculous.
Declan eyes the coffee for half a second before taking it from her, surprise written all over his face. “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that.”
She nods her head and steps back.
“How much do I owe you?” He looks at me as he asks the question.
“Oh no. This one is on us,” my mom says with a smile on her face.
“That’s really generous of you. Here…” He pulls out his wallet from his back pocket with his free hand and takes out a ten-dollar bill. “This is for…” He looks toward Wren.
She tells him her name, and he walks toward her and hands her the ten-dollar bill. “Thank you,” he says and then smiles at her.
Fucking hell.
He has dimples. I forgot he has dimples. Actually. No, I didn’t. When he laughed at Autumn the other week, I saw the dimples, but was too busy looking at his tattoos to give them a second look.
Now that he’s here, standing in front of my family and friends, his smile is like looking straight into the sun. It makes him even hotter than he already is.
“It was nice meeting you all. Thank you, again,” he says and makes eye contact with me one more time before heading toward the door.
Just as he opens it, he turns back around. “The party starts at five, there’s going to be food and drinks. You’re all welcome to come over.”
“Can we go, mommy?” Autumn bounces on her feet as she asks the question.
I hesitate. I know he’s just trying to be nice to us all, and I feel like we would be intruding if we went. “We’ll see, baby girl. We still have to celebrate Auntie Jay.” That’s as close to an answer as I can give her at the moment.
I look up at Declan, and he’s staring at me once again. When I feel like the air has been sucked out of the room, he gives me a small smile and then nods to my mom and dad, who tell him they’ll stop by.
“Bye, Dec!” Autumn says as he heads out the door. He turns, and his lips tilt up on one side as he gives her a little wave before finally leaving.
I feel like I can breathe now that he’s left the coffee shop, and everyone has gone back to chatting amongst themselves except for my mom and dad.
“You never told us you met your new neighbor,” my mom accuses me. “Autumn kept talking about a Dec, but we thought he was a kid at school because she called him her friend.”
I rub the bridge of my nose and sigh. “Yeah. We met him a few weeks back. We haven’t seen him since, though.” I shrug my shoulders. “It’s not a big deal.”
She leans into whisper in my ear. “It is when he looks at my daughter like she’s his next snack.”
“What the hell, mom. No, he didn’t,” I whisper back to her.
She smirks at me and pats my shoulder. “Keep telling yourself that.”
Luckily, Jordan walks through the door, cutting off our conversation.
“Surprise!” everyone yells. And for the next hour, we celebrate Jordan’s last day.
~ ~ ~
“Why are we doing this again?” I ask as I swipe invisible dirt from my skirt.
“Um, because my boyfriend told me you could cut the sexual tension with a spoon when your new neighbor, whom I didn’t even know you had, walked through the door earlier.”
Right. I didn’t tell Jordan about Declan. He’s been my dirty little secret for months, and I liked keeping our friendship to myself. Well, I don’t think we’re friends anymore, but whatever.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her while I sit on the lid of the toilet in the coffee shop, and she puts on a coat of Chapstick. “Would it be a bad time to tell you he’s also the tattooed guy I matched with a few months ago?”
Her gaze snaps to mine. “What the fuck, Penny!” she yells.
I hold up my hands. “Calm down. To be fair, you had your own shit going on and I didn’t want to bother you with it.”
“Bother me with it? What are you talking about? You talking to a guy is not ‘bothering’ me, you jerk face.” She playfully slaps me on the shoulder. “Are you guys a thing? Tell me you’re a thing!”
I shake my head. “No. We kept our identities anonymous online and decided to be text buddies. When he showed up in Daybreak and I figured out it was him, I told him we should probably put our chats on hold. Plus, he’s a totally different person in real life than over messaging.”
“Interesting. Let’s table this conversation for later. I need to see this guy because Lucas says he looks like a Viking. Plus, people are going to start to wonder why we’ve been in here for so long.”
“Do we have to go? It’s weird between him and me now.”
“Yes! He invited everyone. Plus, I can network while I’m there.”
I groan. “Fine. Let’s go.”
Jordan’s dad and Lucas have already headed over, along with my mom, dad, and Autumn. Kyle, Sage, Wren, Jordan, and I are the only ones who haven’t gone over yet.
“What took you so long?” Kyle asks when we exit the bathroom.
I narrow my eyes at him. “I’ll take as long as I want to.”
“Be nice,” Jordan says to me, and I plant a fake smile on my face.