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She would miss the ocean if she left the city. If she could find a new place with both mountains and water, though, she would make peace in leaving it behind.
Steeling herself, she grabbed her bag from the passenger seat and got out of her car. Leaving the top down, she did a quick scan to make sure everything was tucked away before pushing her sunglasses up the bridge of her nose and throwing her purse over her shoulder.
The warm spring day enticed her to wear her red sundress with white polka dots. The skirt swooshed as she walked, pushing up her failing confidence as she stepped onto the sidewalk and pulled open the cafe door. The comforting aroma of ground coffee beans mixed with the sweet scent of baked goods brought a smile to Skylar’s face. She was a firm believer that there wasn’t much a good cup of coffee and pastry couldn’t fix.
Getting in line, she pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head, letting her eyes roam over the large blackboard menu on the wall behind the counter.
Blueberry Coffee Cake Ice Latte. Interesting, maybe next time. Salted Honey, Lavender Latte…
“Of course, there’s a line,” a gruff voice complained behind her.
Skylar’s back straightened. The deep baritone voice went straight to her core, making her stomach clench in response. His clipped tone left much to be desired regarding his personality, but it still struck a chord deep down inside her. Skylar rolled her eyes, wondering why her body only reacted to the self-centred jerks of the world.
How could that voice be so sexy and so irritating at the same time?
Ignoring the owner of the voice, she refused to turn around. Instead, she moved on to her pastry options. If she was going to have another couple of hours driving ahead of her, she needed some sugar-laced fuel.
Taking a step forward with the rest of the people in line, she craned her head around the person in front of her to see what sweet, sugary offerings they had.
A grunt followed by an under-the-breath “fuck” came from behind her.
Skylar closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Rather than a cool breeze causing goosebumps to run along her skin, it was the rich baritone voice behind her. Heat pooled in her stomach at the sounds, conflicting with how his harsh words were like nails on a chalkboard.
Swearing? Really? In a coffeehouse?
Skylar wasn’t a prude, but she thought it was better to communicate with more than four-letter words.
Turning her attention back to the display case as they moved a step forward, she focused on what she would order.
Carrot cake? Too messy. Strudel? Too sticky. Croissant? Too flaky.
A not-so-subtle huff came from behind her once again. The irritation laced in his lack of patience was starting to overcome her body’s automatic reaction to his voice. She wanted nothing more than to turn around and tell him there was no need to be so rude, but she also didn’t want to get involved. She was only halfway through a long road trip, and she didn’t need anything stressing her out before getting to Logan Creek. She could ignore him for another couple of minutes while she got her order and went on her merry way.
Yogurt parfait. Oh, that might be good to eat before I leave.
When it was her turn at the counter, she ordered her Iced Raspberry Latte, yogurt, and cinnamon bun alongside all the coffee Kade had asked for.
Screw being sticky. Those look delicious.
The barista rang up her order and then got to work on making the drinks and grinding the beans for the bags.
“Enough sugar?” The man with the sexy-as-sin voice behind her grunted.
This time, she could no longer bite her tongue. Spinning on the ball of her foot, she straightened her spine and pointed her finger. “Listen, you…”
The rest of her thought died on the tip of her tongue as she looked into the most gorgeous pair of brown eyes she’d ever seen. He was at least half a foot taller than her, even in her wedge sandals. He wore a backward baseball hat, rocked a neatly kept beard, and had colourful tattoos that wound up both arms, slipping underneath the black t-shirt that stretched across his arms and chest. She’d never been stunned speechless by the sight of a man before, but here she was, standing in the middle of a coffee shop with her mouth hanging open.
“Yes?” The handsome grizzly bear narrowed his eyes at her as he crossed his arms over his burly chest.
Skylar shook her head, bringing back her senses and reminding herself why she was angry at this handsome mountain man to begin with. “You’ve been nothing but rude since you walked in here. Impatient. Snarky. We are all entitled to order what we came here for. Just because you happened to walk in after me doesn’t mean that you have to be rude about it.”
“You also didn’t have to order half the store and hold up the line, either. Some of us have places to be.” His voice was flat, but his eyes narrowed at her as he spoke.
“Then I guess you should have worked out your time management better.” Skylar put her hands on her hips.
“Look, Vancouver Barbie,” the handsome bear continued as she scoffed. “My time management is none of your concern.”
“And neither is my sugar intake, you grumpy bear!” Skyler dropped her arms and shook out her hands.
