Page 44 of The Rebound Play
“Come with me.” Dan takes my hand in his, the unexpected feel of skin against skin sending a delicious jolt through me, rendering my bones so they feel like liquid honey.
Wow. If I respond like this to a simple touch of his hand, how will I ever cope if he actually kisses me?
He leads me to the back of the store to the coffee shop, with the soft glow of lamps and the comforting presence of books surrounding us. One of the tables has been moved closer to the bookshelves, covered in a crisp white tablecloth, with a single unlit candle and a cardboard box labeled Maple Grounds sitting at the center. There are fairy lights hanging from the ceiling that I know weren’t there before, and as he clicks the light switch, they’re like little stars glowing around us.
“You did this?” I ask.
“I wanted to do something special for you, and I know how much books mean to you. The fact my sister runs this place made it a whole lot easier to manage.”
“Emmy’s the best.”
“She is,” he agrees.
I look around in wonder. Dan arranged all this with his sister … for me. If my brain had successfully squashed my greatest desire earlier this evening, it completely fails to have any impact whatsoever now. Hope is pumping through my very veins, telling me I could be about to get everything I’ve ever wanted, just as Clara said.
“Why don’t you take a seat?” Dan asks as he pulls out one of the chairs from the table.
“All right.” I take a seat and watch as he lights the candle. It casts a soft glow over the table, amping up the romance that already feels through the roof.
“Would you like a drink? I got Emmy to teach me how to make your favorite coffee. Mocha, right?”
“You learned how to use the coffee machine for me?” I ask in astonishment. Astonishment and pure, unadulterated delight, that is.
He grins. “Is that so hard to believe?”
“It’s … no, it’s not. You always were kind.”
Kind and thoughtful and everything wonderful.
He holds my gaze, and all my nerves evaporate like steam into the atmosphere. Sure, I may have been secretly wishing he was mine all these years, but there’s nothing to be nervous about anymore.
This is Dan. I know him. I love him. There’s nothing more to know.
“How about that coffee?” he asks.
“I’d love a mocha. Thank you.”
“One mocha coming up,” he says as he makes his way around the counter.
I sit and watch him wield the machine, the occasional huff leaving his lips, his brows pulled together. He looks totally adorable, this huge sports pro working the machine, and I smile as I watch him.
“You sure you don’t need any help?” I ask.
“Nope,” he replies. “You’re my guest. I’ve got this.”
“Guests can help out, you know. I was a part-time barista at a Seattle coffeehouse during college.”
“I heard about that,” he says before he grinds the beans.
“You did?”
“Ask around and you find out pretty quick that folks around here have a grand total of zero secrets.”
I’ve managed to keep my feelings about you secret from the folks in Maple Falls, I think as he tamps down the coffee into the bulb as though he’s some kind of coffee expert.
But then Clara guessed it. And although Blair’s not from Maple Falls, she’s in town right now and she knows. And so does Ellie.
Hmm. Okay, so maybe I haven’t kept my feelings for Dan all that secret.