Page 3 of Then Came You

Gillian rolled her eyes. “You think every man in uniform is hot.”

“Not true, but he is. Those muscles, that smile, those eyes…delicious.”

“He’s a man, not a pastry,” Gillian said.

“Well, I’d take a bite of him!”

“Leave Officer Nichols alone. You have plenty of other men to choose from,” Lauren scolded.

Gillian hoped Lauren hadn’t said that for her benefit because she had no interest in the “hot cop.” “Are you still dating Cole,” she asked, anxious to move the conversation away from Sam.

Savannah flapped her hand. “Cole was last week. I’m over it.”

Lauren laughed. “You go through guys like I go through magazines. I flip through the pages, skim a few articles, and set it aside.”

“Well, there are a lot of magazines out there, and I don’t want to waste my time reading just one, if you know what I mean.”

“We know,” Gillian said.

Savannah turned to Lauren. “Enough about me. What’s going on with your friend Elliot?”

“Nothing. He’s dating someone.” Lauren started straightening things on the counter, her nervous tell.

“How can you be just friends with a guy? I’ll never understand it,” Savannah mused.

“You wouldn’t,” Lauren muttered.

The bell rang for the coffee shop, interrupting their talk of men, which was fine with Gillian.

“Back to work,” she said, relieved to get back to her comfort zone.

Work had been the one constant in her life since Owen had died. She’d poured (pun intended) herself into making A Latte Books (the name had been her idea) successful, and the business was growing. Having an accounting degree, her primary job was to manage their finances, but she wasn’t above pouring coffee or doing whatever it took to make the business run smoothly.

After serving the customer who’d just walked in, she busied herself with cleaning the coffee counter. Since school was back in session, they’d lost their summer help, so she, Lauren, and Savannah were picking up the slack until they hired more employees.

For the next few weeks, she’d probably see Sam a lot more than she’d like to since she’d be working at the coffee counter instead of in the back office like usual.

She scrubbed the countertop with more gusto than necessary, realizing she’d have to find a way to overcome her hang-up. A Latte Books was situated in the center of downtown Holly, and many of the local policemen, firemen, and EMT workers stopped in for a cup of coffee on their breaks. But there was something about Sam, in particular, that set her off.

She reached into a cabinet and pulled out a sleeve of foam coffee cups and lids. While she stacked them near the coffee machines, she rolled the question around in her head.

There was something disconcerting about Sam aside from his uniform. Whenever he looked at her, it was like he saw right through her. He acted overly familiar like he knew her when he didn’t really know her at all.

Maybe he was just being friendly, like Lauren had said, but she wondered if there were more to it than that. While he hadn’t flirted or said anything inappropriate, he sometimes eyed her with appreciation, almost like he admired her. But why?

What was there to admire about a person you barely knew? It didn’t make sense. If only he would behave like the majority of customers who came into the coffee shop. Most people just wanted their caffeine fix and a sugary treat to go with it. They’d take their order to go or sit quietly at a table and enjoy it before returning to their busy lives. Some were friendly, but most were merely polite, and Gillian was fine with that. She didn’t expect to make friends with every customer who walked in, and she definitely wasn’t looking for a boyfriend.

She simply wanted to work hard, read books, walk her dog, and be left alone. What was so wrong with that?

Chapter 2

Sam whipped the ball across his backyard. “Get it, Rocky!” The German shepherd caught the ball in his mouth and came trotting back with it.

“Good boy!”

Sam threw it again, knowing Rocky would play this game all afternoon if given the chance. While Rocky went bounding across the lawn, Sam remembered when he and Owen had discussed how much they loved their dogs, and he suspected Owen had exercised Cocoa as much as Sam did Rocky. Now that responsibility had fallen to Gillian.

The pretty brunette and part owner of A Latte Books had been on his mind a lot these days. He’d been looking for an opening to tell her that he’d known her late fiancé, but she’d barely looked at or talked to him other than what was required for taking his order.