Wait.My taste. At last, I have the perfect way to shut down this type of pushy chatter once and for all.
“My boyfriend and I are having dinner later.” There. Goodbye poor man’s Glen.
His smirk doesn’t reassure me he’s on his way out. “Do you just say you have a boyfriend to try to weed out the riff raff? Because I’m an exec for a tech firm. Six figures. Not every girl gets a chance like this.”
Look, I think of myself as a kind person, but barf.
“You’re done hitting on my girlfriend.”
Reed’s deep voice booming from behind me sparks up my spine like a Fourth of July firework. He’s pretty much always low-level annoyed, but I’ve never heard him threaten anyone before. He’s giving a command not a suggestion, and Mr. Tech Exec had better listen up or he won’t like consequences.
I’ve read a few possessive heroes in my time, but I’ve never actually lived out the fantasy. I have to say, it’s quickly becoming a favorite.
The guy’s gaze flicks over my shoulder. Reed’s presence immediately settles the anxiety that was churning up my stomach just a minute ago. I knew he was in the office, of course, but having him here proving he’s got my back is so much better.
When he lightly settles a hand at my waist, reassuring me this guy is handled? The absolute best.
The tourist flashes a sleek smile. “Relax. I’m just making conversation.”
“Conversation’s over.” Reed’s so close, I swear his voice rumbles through me, shaking up my cells with its vibrations.
A fake laugh rustles out of the guy. “Ego trip. I wasn’t interested.”
He turns and leaves, shaking his head the whole time as if we’re the ones causing problems.
I watch him stroll away to spoil some other woman’s day. “He’s probably going to leave us a bad review complaining about our poor customer service.”
“I can take it.” Reed crosses the shop to lock the front door and switch off theOpensign. He returns to me, leaning against the front counter in front of me with his hands at either side of his waist. Facing off but giving me space.
He’s been giving me space all day. I came into work today thinking we would hash out a few of the details of our fake dating plan. At leasttalkat some point. But he’s been in the back all shift, only coming out when we needed the extra hands over lunch.
Which was especially fun when a couple of our younger customers took a table and watched us a little too eagerly, laughing behind their hands. They even had their phones out, although I doubt anything they captured today resembled that viral video.
Which now has over a million views.
About a thousand of those were from me watching it on repeat last night. If I memorized the soft look on his face in the video, it’s only to help me be a better fake girlfriend. Or something like that.
Reed dips his head, leveling me a look like he’s trying to see through my skull. I’m not sure I want him to know what’s been on my mind.
“Does that happen very often?”
Oh. We’re still talking about the jerk. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Not the answer I wanted. And it is a big deal. You’re here by yourself sometimes. Do you ever feel unsafe?”
My instinct is to brush off his concern with an awkward laugh, but the sincerity in his eyes stops me. He’s taking this seriously. He’s takingmeseriously, and that dries up my impulse for self-deprecating laughter.
“Guys like that are really rare.” And, unfortunately, exist no matter where you work. I’m sure creepy women are out there somewhere, but I haven’t run into any.
He keeps that intense gaze trained on me. “Not rare enough.”
I get the feeling he’s about three seconds away from storming up the street to give the guy a piece of his mind. Possibly throughmild violence. I appreciate having my own personal Doberman, but it’s time to rein him in.
I run my hand over his arm as if I can caress his worries away. “I’m fine. Come on. You can help me close.”
I offer like it’s a prize instead of a chore, but he accepts the distraction. We work through our end-of-day cleaning and sanitizing checklist together. It’s not glamorous, but it’s satisfying to get the coffee shop sparkling again. We’re closed on Sundays, but Reed will come in to prep the cold brew and get everything ready for the Monday morning rush.
“What do you want to do for dinner?” he asks when we’re down to the last few steps.