But First, Coffee

by Sarah Darlington

  But Lana was very neat. And the clothes in the sink made it look like she’d changed in a hurry. I also found her cell phone on top of the pile. Two missed calls from me lit up the screen, and another from Abe.

  Something felt off.

  Very off.

  I breathed in deeply, trying to keep calm, before I pocketed her phone and left looking for someone who might know something.

  I found Kirk at his desk.

  “Have you seen Lana?”

  He paused, glancing up from his computer. It looked like he was working on a brand-new logo for Java Beans. Which also seemed strange to me. The logo Lana had on all her coffee cups and above each store, that I’d worn on my apron for two years, it was kind of like her signature. Even the ‘barista to-go’ truck, which had to be about as old as her company, had the same logo spray-painted on it. I didn’t know she had plans to change it.

  “What’s that? Is Lana rebranding?”

  He quickly closed the file. “Just a little side project I’ve been working on. What can I help you with? I don’t think Lana’s coming back today.”

  “Where did she go?”

  He shrugged. “She and Nancy left about an hour ago. I don’t know where. Probably to get their nails done. You know women.”

  He was lying. I could tell by the way he wasn’t looking me in the eyes. Besides that, Lana would never leave the office during work hours to get her nails done. And certainly not with Nancy. It annoyed me—because I liked Kirk. He seemed like a nice enough guy before this moment.

  “How much is Doug Maddox paying you?” I said through my teeth.

  He caught his breath.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

  I left him because I didn’t have time for this bullshit. I went into the middle of the office, not caring if I was about to indirectly tell everyone I was dating the boss. I needed to find Lana, and now. It was all that mattered. “Hello! People!” I shouted at the top of my lungs, climbing onto a table. “Time for a meeting. Everyone out of your offices.”

  Did Doug want to see me snap? Because I was about to go off a fucking cliff on these people.

  Slowly, hesitantly, people came out of their offices and congregated.

  “How many of you are on Doug Maddox’s payroll? Trust me, come Monday morning, if you’re still on it, you will be fired, and Lana will be taking the appropriate legal actions against you. You better ask yourself if falling under a bus is worth it for a man like Doug Maddox. But more than that, I’m worried about Lana’s safety. So, if anyone has any information about where she went, I would greatly appreciate it. Or information on where Nancy is.”

  “Well, Nancy quit,” one of the receptionists said. We hadn’t officially met yet, but I’d passed her on my way in a few times. “She walked out about an hour ago, with her blouse unbuttoned, and when she reached the elevators, she flipped the whole office off with both middle fingers. I thought it was kind of dramatic, especially for Nancy. And then Lana left with a man in a nice suit not long after that.”

  “Was the man Doug Maddox?”

  “I’m not sure who he was.”

  I guess, thankfully, not everyone was employed by Doug.

  “It was Doug Maddox,” Kirk added.

  I wasn’t sure what made him change his mind, maybe the threat of legal action, but at least he was being honest now.

  “Any idea where they went?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  Fuck. So Nancy had quit and Lana left here—willingly?—with Doug.

  Without another word, I left the office. I had my phone at my ear, calling Doug Maddox myself. I should have known he wouldn’t answer. After three calls, and after leaving him three very irate messages, I sank to my ass on the cement outside Lana’s building. I didn’t know what else to do. How else I could find her?

  One idea was stuck in my head.

  I didn’t want to involve Kitty any more than I needed to, but it seemed I would have to. That cellphone Doug had given her . . .. Maybe it had saved information in the map app. I needed a location—any location as where they might be. And then there was always the possibility that maybe, just maybe, if Kitty was the one calling, then he might answer.

  CHAPTER 31

  LANA

  I stepped into Weird and Wired’s corporate office. It was far trendier than my own office. No one wore suits or ties or even closed-toed shoes. The chairs at everyone’s desks were made from tree stumps. There was even a real live coffee bean tree growing from the floor in the middle of the office. It was airy and open, and my eyes were wide as I followed Doug through the place.

  Everyone stared.

  They clearly weren’t used to people in business attire parading through their hipster work place.

  I stepped into a large office with Doug. He left the blinds and the door open, thankfully, as we entered. I didn’t really know what I was doing here. Probably only wasting my valuable time. So far, I’d been safe. I’d only agreed to come, to see what he had to say, if we took separate cars, parked in separate lots, and entered the building separately.

  Doug would not be abducting me today.

  Not that that was his intention.

  I had no clue what his true intention was. I just needed to play this extra cautious. I’d even left my cell phone behind for Joe to find. It linked to the smart watch I always wore, but since it was styled like a normal watch, I didn’t know if Joe knew I owned one or if he knew how to find me that way. But if worst came to worst, a police officer with half a brain surely could find me that way, right?

  I sat across from Doug.

  “So you bought this company?” I gestured to the room. “As if it were nothing.”

  “Oh, it’s not nothing. It’s everything. And just in the nick of time too. I got a very interesting call from my cousin Leo last night.”

  There was a new, sharp edge to Doug’s voice. He said Leo’s name with so much hate that it made me feel very foolish for coming here. I wondered if Joe had made it back to the Java Beans office yet. If he’d found my phone. If he knew I was missing.

  Was he worried?

  Would he try to find me?

  My stomach churned. I hadn’t felt truly nervous until this moment.

  Doug kept talking.

  “My grandfather, God rest his heartless soul, died a few days ago. Upon his death, he gave his empire and all management of his bank accounts straight to my cousin. Leo now has control of everything, fucking everything, including control of my trust. I’m older than him. I have just as much right to that company and to that money as Leo does, but no . . . no matter what I’ve done in my life to redeem myself, I’ve always been pushed aside by my family. And now, Joe goes to New York, squawks to Leo.” He let out a frustrated growl from deep in his throat while the muscles in his jaw tightened and a vein in his forehead showed.

  I bit down on my lip, wondering if I stood up right now would he let me go.

  “Whatever,” Doug continued. “I bought Weird and Wired before Leo cut me off. I have enough houses and cars, liquid assets, that I will be fine. I’ll have to sell everything and live more conservatively now, but whatever. I pretty much hate all the useless shit I own anyway. So,” he tapped his fingers on his wooden desk, “I think you and Joe owe me something. Joe owes me for his little stunt with my cousin. And you owe me for starting Java Beans without me. Trading one coffee company for another coffee company—of equal value, mind you—should be a fair enough trade. What do you think?”

  I owed him nothing.

  Joe owed him nothing.

  Doug was delusional in his values of fairness. Spoken like a true, spoiled brat. No wonder his family barely tolerated him.

  “And what happens if I say no?” I asked, holding my ground, keeping my facial expressions even, not letting the anxiety I felt on the inside show on the outside. Afraid for my company that I’d built from the ground up, but also afraid because . . . damn, I was tempted. Oh so tempted.

  I’d always
loved Weird and Wired’s coffee more than my own. I admired their crazy coffee concoctions. Their line of green, mint coffee. Their Christmas hot chocolates. The way they stepped out of the box—in a way my company just didn’t.

  What if exchanging companies was a smart business move?

  “If you say no,” Doug answered, “then we’re going to have a problem.”

  Even if I was a little bit tempted, I couldn’t let Doug bully me.

  “No.” I stood. “The answer is no. A hell no! You don’t get to talk to me this way. You don’t get to try to manipulate me this way. If you ever come near me again, or Joe, or my business, then I will kill you. Simple as that. I’m not a bitch you want to mess with.”

  “You’re strangely protective of a man you haven’t known for all that long.”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Be careful with him. If you knew the Joe I once knew, you wouldn’t be trying to protect him. You’d be running from him.”

  One minute Doug was trying to force me into something. And in the next, he wanted to warn me about Joe? The only person I knew I needed to stay away from was him. “I can’t trust anything out of your mouth.”

  “Well, trust that Joe has an attention span of a gnat. And you, Lana, you’re not the most interesting person on the planet. I might want your company, but I don’t want to see you hurt. Just be careful.”

  I groaned. I’d heard enough.

  “Goodbye, Doug Maddox, have a nice life,” I told him before I walked away.

  And I hoped never to see him again.

  CHAPTER 32

  JOE

  I threw open the front doors of Weird and Wired—feeling like a sheriff walking into a dirty saloon in the middle of an old western movie. I was irate. I was terrified. I was ready to crucify Doug if need be.

  People gasped at my entrance.

  I had a little notoriety in the coffee world. I’d been approached on a few different occasions by employees from other companies—including this one—to leave my barista job and come work as a barista for them. And I guess a few of these people recognized me.

  But I was loyal, so fucking loyal, to Java Beans. To Lana. If Doug hurt her in any capacity, I’d probably go to jail tonight. Maybe I’d let him manipulate me, but I would not let him do the same to my woman. Not ever.

  Kitty laughed from behind me at the genuine fear of those around me. But none of this was funny. I was about to start yelling at people, standing on another chair—eh . . . stump—if need be, until they told me where I could find Doug.

  I hadn’t needed to consult the phone Doug left behind with Kitty. Because there was one small detail Kitty knew that I didn’t know. When she’d met Doug yesterday, he’d told her flat out he’d bought Weird and Wired. And the moment Kitty told me that, I knew I’d find him and Lana here. I knew Doug’s style. His tactics. His way of using someone’s weakness to manipulate them. For me, my weakness was Kitty and the protectiveness I had for her. But for Lana, a woman without a weakness, it was Weird and Wired. She liked their coffee more than her own. Of course, Doug would see that and try to use that against her.

  But luckily, I didn’t have to go crazy on the innocent bystanders of this room, subjecting them to a lecture like the lecture I’d given the employees of Java Beans. Because a minute later there was Lana, across the room, her pretty blond hair and signature white-tailored suit hard to miss, hard to ignore.

  Our eyes connected and she hurried toward me, landing in my arms. Whatever Doug had been telling her today, it had left her a little emotional. There were tears in her eyes as she pressed her lips to mine, and whispered, “We need to go. Now.”

  “I need to talk to Doug.”

  “No, you don’t. I said everything I needed to say to him. It’s over.” She tugged on my arm. She was fierce when she wanted to be, controlled in every other moment, and mostly, so damn hard to resist.

  I brushed a thumb under each of her eyes, swiping away the tears. “What if it isn’t over?”

  “Doesn’t matter.” She stood on her toes to whisper in my ear, “I need you right now. At home. In bed.” She pulled back to gauge my reaction, her eyes so intense as they stared into mine, so needy, so vulnerable. Her chest rose and fell, and another big, fat tear slipped down her cheek.

  “Anything,” I complied.

  I’d never once seen her get emotional like this. Whatever she needed, I’d give it to her. Now before I started to get emotional too. I felt something swell in my chest just at the sight of her tears.

  “Well, I’m not done talking to Doug,” Kitty announced, about to cause more drama than need be. I caught her arm as she tried to storm past me in the direction Lana had just come from. “Let me go, Joe. You two fools think a man like Doug can just drop something. He can’t. He won’t.”

  “Let it be, Kitty. For now, let it be.”

  She wasn’t happy, but she listened to me. With a huff, she turned in the opposite direction and left. I held Lana’s hand tight, leading her out of the Weird and Wired office. Right this moment I felt weird and wired myself. I was so curious as to what was running through Lana’s mind, where her sudden need to get home and in my bed had come from. She was watching me intently, her eyes hungry—almost desperate—as we stepped onto the elevator with Kitty.

  My sister was with us—it wasn’t like I could act on anything. But I squeezed Lana’s ass as she leaned into me, trying to let her know she was all mine if she could only wait until we made it home.

  Kitty mumbled under her breath, oblivious to us. Angrier than she needed to be, especially given this had little to do with her. When we stepped outside again, into the light of the day, she immediately had her phone out—no, Doug’s phone out—texting someone.

  “What are you doing using that phone?” I demanded, about to try to snatch it from her.

  “It’s a perfectly good phone.”

  “So?”

  “So I moved the files, had Larry wipe it clean, and then I called the phone company this morning and had my number transferred onto it. No big deal. Anyway, I’m going to Larry’s. I need to relax.”

  And by ‘relax,’ she meant she needed to get fucked-up.

  “Kitty,” I groaned, still holding Lana’s hand tightly, a little torn at the moment between the two women in my life who needed me.

  “Don’t Kitty me. I’m a big girl. I know what I’m doing.” She gave me a quick hug. “I’ll be safe. I’m fine.”

  What more could I say to her? She was an adult. I had to trust that she’d make smart, safe choices. Larry seemed okay enough, trustworthyenough. “Can I take the car? Lana can drive you home, right?”

  Lana nodded.

  “Fine, you can take it,” I added. “Lana and I are going to the same place anyway.”

  “Of course you are.”

  Kitty left us, and I felt uneasy as she went. Being her brother was a full-time job, one I didn’t have a clue if I was doing right. I exhaled deeply, squinting up at the sun.

  “You’re doing the best you can,” Lana commented, softly tracing two fingers up and down my forearm, over one of my tattoos.

  “I feel like I’m more of a father than her brother.”

  “You’ll make a great father one day.”

  My eyes narrowed, and I looked down at her. Mulling over that smartass comment. “Will I now?”

  Her cheeks turned a pretty pink shade.

  Maybe she hadn’t said it sarcastically. Maybe she’d meant it. Was it a thought she’d had about me before? I wasn’t sure if I’d make a good father. But right this moment, I wouldn’t mind putting a baby in her. Or at least getting in a few rounds of practice for something in a very distant future.

  “Come on, take me home. That’s a conversation for a different day,” I whispered.

  Feeding off her energy, the lust that seemed to be radiating off her skin in waves, she led me to where she’d parked her car in a garage across the street.

  I hadn’t been in her car before. It was a white M
ercedes. It screamed Lana. Inside, I settled into the driver’s seat, playing with the clutch for a moment. I knew how to drive a manual, just not well. I stalled out once before falling into a groove as I sped down the street—a street I knew because of the bus route I normally used—heading toward my home.

  The sun was sinking in the sky, and I should have been exhausted or at least hungry. But I was neither. Only fighting the bulge in my pants, the increase in blood flow that kept wanting to surge south, the thumping of my heart, and the thoughts in my head that were spinning out of control.

  “What did Doug say to you?” I need to know. I needed to know what had made her emotional.

  “He wanted to trade companies. I told him no.”

  “Is that all?”

  “Um.” She rubbed her hands over her knees as we came to a stop at a traffic light. “He said . . .” she paused, “never mind, it was dumb.”

  “No, tell me.”

  “I’m embarrassed.”

  “Don’t be.

  “I’m not sure why I’m letting it get to me.” Her voice grew coarse, heavy with emotion once more. “He just pointed out something I already knew about myself.”

  “Which was?”

  “I’m boring.”

  I chuckled but stopped immediately when I realized she was serious.

  “I’m predictable. I’m safe. Part of me wanted to trade companies with Doug today. But did I do it? No. And it wasn’t because it was Doug asking, but because I’ve never taken a risk like that in my life. And you—” She tugged at the edge of her skirt, looking down at her lap. “You’re . . .. I’m so attracted to your ability to take risks. It’s so damn sexy. You’re fearless. You take chances and you take leaps and you don’t care who cares. Kitty called me out on it that day at the restaurant, and she was exactly right.”

  “But I like that you’re safe.”

  “You do?”

  “Yeah. I need safety. I need that balance, that person to keep me grounded and focused when my mind wants to run crazy. You’re that person. This thing we have going on, that we’ve started, it really is a perfect balance. I’ll be your risk, and you can be my safety.”