Working Men 1 Box Set

Café de l’Amour-4

“A Coco-Mocha café au lait, please.”

It’s Monday already, and from the stupid sound of the drink order, I know it can only be one person. I look up to find Josh at the counter, grinning like a fool.

“A what?” I ask, wiping my hands on the washcloth.

“Listen carefully,” he says, as if I’m the dumb one. “Coco—that means coconut. Mocha—that means chocolate. And you know what a café au lait is.”

I shake my head, grinning. “You want coconut syrup and chocolate in a cup of coffee and milk? Jesus Christ, that’s disgusting.”

“It’s today’s special,” he says, picking up the clapboard. “Give me the chalk.”

I toss the chalk to him and begin making his drink. As I pour the coconut syrup into the cup, I grimace. It smells like tanning lotion and can’t taste much better.

As he writes on the board, Josh asks, “So how’s the boyfriend?”

“He isn’t my boyfriend yet,” I point out. “We’ve only had three dates.”

Josh ticks them off on his hand. “Lunch on Thursday. Friday night at the movies. Dinner on Saturday. So what, you didn’t see him on Sunday?”

“We stayed in on Sunday,” I say with a smirk. “It doesn’t count as another date if he doesn’t take you home after the last one.”

“Whoo!” Josh whoops loudly—thank God there are no other customers in the café. “When’s your next booty call?”

I snap the washcloth at Josh playfully. “A booty call is s*x only. We haven’t even—“

“Bullshit.” Josh covers his ears and talks over me. “Don’t lie to me, fucker. I know you two did it. You had to. How’d you spend the night without sleeping with him?”

I shake my head and smile at the memory. We slept together, yes, twined in each other’s arms in Seth’s full-size bed, but we didn’t have s*x. It was intimate, the two of us talking in the dark well into the night, each learning about the other, falling in love. Okay, maybe there was some touching, but nothing much. Not yet. We’re taking this slow.

With a glance at the clock, I notice it’s almost five. “He should be here soon to pick me up. We’re going back to my place tonight—”

“Gah!” Josh clamps his hands tighter onto his ears. “That’s TMI.”

“Sorry,” I say, but I’m not really. I’m gushing and I love talking about Seth. I’ll talk about him to anyone who will listen. Even my manager is getting tired of hearing about him, and he’s one of her best customers.

Josh finishes writing up his specialty drink and sits down at the bar. I hand him his glass. “What, no whipped cream?”

I roll my eyes and squirt cream all over the top of his drink. Stirring the cream into the hot liquid, he looks at me critically. “He’s completely out of your league, you know that?”

I shrug. “There’s just something about him that feels so right.”

Josh waggles his eyebrows at me. “And then there’s the sex.”

I fling the washcloth at him again as The bell above the door jingles. When I look up, Seth’s there, smiling just for me. “Speaking of. Hey, Seth.” I’m so happy to see him.

He leans over the counter and kisses me. “Hey, Aus.” He nods at Josh, then glances at his watch. “I’m a little early. You think I have time for a drink?”

“Anything for you,” I say, kissing him again.

“You two cut it out,” Josh calls from the bar. “I don’t want cooties in my drink.”

Seth laughs, taking a seat next to Josh as I make his drink. “And what are you drinking today?”

Josh pushes the cup over to him. “Coco-Mocha café au lait,” he says proudly, the words rolling off his tongue. “Have a sip.”

“I don’t think so.”

When I give Seth his drink, he catches my hand and pulls me across the bar for another kiss. “Miss me?”

“You know I did,” I murmur against his lips.

“You guys get a room already,” Josh grumbles.

I slap him with the washcloth one last time before I start to clean the espresso machine. Another ten minutes and I’ll leave with Seth. I can’t wait until my shift is up.

THE END