Aston nodded, slipping the fresh T-shirt over his head. “An apology and a cup of coffee,” he said. “Two birds with one stone.”
Three
There were bad days and then there were Bad Days.
This was the latter.
“What are you even doing here?” Hattie, the sweet but slightly high-strung young thing they’d hired at the start of the summer, was fretting behind her. “You didn’t have to come in.”
Gina sighed.
Hattie knew.
Gina wasn’t sure how word about Billy’s cheating had spread so quickly, but the girl had done nothing but hover and fret ever since she’d walked in the door, gaping at her like she was some lab experiment under a microscope.
Hattie might not have come right out and said ‘hey, sucks to hear that your boyfriend cheated on you’ but she didn’t have to. By the way she was hounding her, obviously Hattie knew.
Who else knows?
Gina’s stomach twisted at the thought. Didn’t matter. It was only a matter of time before everyone knew how the relationship she’d been bragging about had come to a crushing, humiliating end.
Again.
Gina grit her teeth, focusing on cleaning the steamer machine so she could move on to the next task of her morning routine. She normally would have had all this done ages ago but she’d been late.
She hated being late.
“I came in today because this is my shift,” she reminded the young girl. “I’m not about to leave my teammates and customers hanging because I’m having a bad day.”
Or rather a Bad Day.
She’d gone home right after the bizarre serenade, which might have been lovely if she hadn’t been heartbroken and sobbing as every single person in the amphitheater stared at her. Actually, her teenage self kept reminding her that it would have been incredible if, you know...her world hadn’t just come crashing down around her ears.
But considering the fact that her heart had been broken and ugly tears had been streaming, it hadn’t been so perfect. It’d been rather miserable, actually.
She’d run away as soon as it had ended, turning off her phone because she didn’t quite trust herself not to answer if Billy called. Or worse—call him to tell him off.
She hadn’t been in any state to tell anyone off, and she’d known it. It would have only ended in angry tears, and that would have only added to her mortification.
So instead, she’d turned off her phone and kept far away from the device. She hadn’t even let herself turn on her laptop because she didn’t trust herself not to check social media.
In short, she didn’t trust herself.
Even now, she was terrified of losing her cool and letting Hattie, Billy, and everyone else in the world in on how badly she’d been hurt.
She tightened her grip on the rag in her hand. If she could just get through this one morning, this one confrontation without losing her cool…
“All I know is, I wouldn’t have just been late. I would have bailed altogether if I were you,” Hattie was saying.
Gina pressed her lips together to remind her young co-worker that she hadn’t asked for her opinion.
Did being late really matter when she fully planned to quit today? Probably not. But it was a point of pride at this point.
She might not have any pride left when it came to her love life, but she took pride in her work, dang it, and she was going to hold onto that with all she had.
She caught her reflection in the stainless steel machine and winced. Despite the makeup she’d thrown on this morning, her eyes were still puffy and bloodshot. That’s what she got for spending the better half of the night crying and the other half tossing and turning as she replayed every interaction she’d had with Billy these last few months.
Had she missed something?
She tossed down her rag with a huff. Of course she had. Her boyfriend had been cheating on her. Obviously she’d missed something.
The jingle of the bell over the door had Gina and Hattie whipping their heads toward the front entrance. Gina’s heart gave a lurch. Was it Billy?
But no. It was Samantha, the sweet, shy librarian who’d moved to town a little while back.
“Hi Samantha,” Gina called out as cheerily as she could.
As usual, Samantha ducked her head with a short nod and a blush in her cheeks. The blush was quickly hidden as her long blonde hair fell forward over her face with a dip of her chin, like a BYO-curtain she could hide behind.
Gina’s lips tugged up in the first real smile in twenty-four hours. Samantha was sweet when you got to know her, but getting to know her was a monumental feat.
There was shy and then there was Shy.
“The usual?” Hattie called out.
Samantha nodded, her smile hesitant like she might get scolded for having a ‘usual.’
In a town as small as Cyrano, Gina found it odd when people didn’t have a regular order. She knew most of the town by how they took their coffee. And those who didn’t drink coffee?
Well, she had her suspicions about them.
Hattie got to work on Samantha’s order and Gina turned back to finish her chores. She took a deep breath and repeated her speech to herself. She knew what she had to do. When Billy arrived, she’d ask him for a moment alone so they could talk. Once in the office she would calmly tell him that she knew he was cheating on her and tell him that this was her official two-week notice.
Oddly enough, mentally rehearsing that part of the speech was the hardest part. She had to bite the inside of her lip to keep tears at bay.
She loved it here at Java Lava. Maybe it wasn’t some big dream career, but for her it was perfect. Why should she have to leave?
She sighed as she reached for the cleaning spray for the counters.
Because she couldn’t keep working for the man who’d betrayed her trust and broken her heart, that was why.
She gave a short nod, swallowing the last of the tears.
She’d been over this in her head countless times. Now all she had to do was rip off the Band-Aid and—
“If I were you, I wouldn’t even step foot in this place again.” Hattie’s loud voice filled the back area, and Gina glanced over to see if Samantha was paying attention.
She had her head down, buried in a book, as usual.
Gina turned back to Hattie with a sigh. “I really can’t discuss this with you right now.”
Not when she hadn’t even confronted Billy yet. Heck, she hadn’t even told her brother or her friends yet.
She shoved that thought aside faster than it could take form.
The thought of telling her happily-in-love brother made her want to weep out of sheer humiliation. The fact that all of her former classmates would know, that Myrtle at the grocery store would know, that basically everyone in her entire world would know…
Gina groaned aloud.
“Seriously, Gina. It’s absolutely ridiculous that you’re cleaning counters right now,” Hattie said.
Gina paused and looked down at the shiny, clean countertop. It was a little ridiculous. The guy had betrayed her, and she was here cleaning his dirty countertops?
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Just because he was the owner didn’t change the fact that she loved this shop and its customers.
“If I were you, I’d still be in bed,” Hattie continued. “I’d be reveling in all this attention.”
“You’d be reveling?” Gina whipped around in horror. What kind of masochist would be reveling in the attention that comes from being cheated on?
Hattie held her hands up, rolling her eyes. “I know, I know. You don’t want to talk about it.”
“I really don’t,” Gina said.
“Fine.” Hattie looked absurdly bummed, not even trying to hide the fact that she wanted to hear all the dirty details of Gina’s heartbreak. “But I am going to miss you when you go off on your new, glamorous jet-setting life.”
Gina blinked. Hattie had obviously
lost her mind. Glamorous? Jet-setting?
Did Hattie truly believe she was working here for fun while sitting on a giant trust fund?
“But I’m happy for you,” Hattie continued in a rush, not seeming to notice Gina’s stare of disbelief. “I really am.”
“You’re...happy for me?” Gina asked.
Who said that? Seriously. Who said that to a person who’d just been cheated on?
“Of course!” Hattie shot her a beatific smile. “You deserve better than that creep Billy. I didn’t want to tell you before, but he kinda hits on anything that moves when you’re not around.”
“He—” Gina stopped, the words catching in her throat. “Does he flirt with you, Hattie?”
Hattie winced and then nodded.
Gina’s stomach churned dangerously with revulsion. This could not be happening. She’d truly thought that her Bad Day couldn’t get any worse. But now this?
She stared at her co-worker in shock.
Hattie was pretty, yes, but she was also young. She wasn’t even through college yet. Definitely not old enough to drink.
And Billy was hitting on her?
Horror flooded her belly. How much had she ever really known about her boyfriend?
“I don’t know how I’ll survive here without you,” Hattie said.
“First of all, you should never feel uncomfortable where you work,” Gina said. “If he hits on you, you have my permission to hit back. With fists.”
Hattie giggled, nodding as she grabbed a rag of her own and moved on to the tables alongside Gina. “Yes, ma’am.”
“Also, you’re going back to school next week,” she reminded the girl. “You won’t have to survive long without me. And don’t call me ma’am,” Gina added. “I’m not that much older than you.”
Hattie grinned. “Maybe not, but you’re about to be all rich and famous now so that makes you a ma’am.”
Gina stopped again. Rich and famous?
The girl had lost her everloving mind. She opened her mouth to ask Hattie what on earth she was talking about, but Hattie was moving on to another table and the front door bell dinged again.
Gina’s heart gave a jerk at the sound and she straightened with a start.
Still not Billy.
The newcomer was backlit and for a second she didn’t see his face. And when she did see the sunglasses, the baseball cap, and the five o’clock shadow on that oh-so-familiar face, she knew she was hallucinating.
There was no way Aston Rogue was standing in her coffee shop.
She wasn’t sure how long she stood there gaping, her mouth hanging open and her eyes so wide they hurt. Long enough for Hattie to gasp at her side.
Long enough for Hattie to whisper something totally nonsensical about how she’d known he’d be here today to see her.
To see who?
Was he here to see Hattie?
All the while he stood there, his eyes shuttered by those sunglasses, but his posture totally at ease. Like he was used to walking into a place and making everyone lose their minds.
Probably because he was.
“Hi,” she finally managed. “Welcome to Java Lava.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Gina saw Hattie turn to face her. Even Samantha swiveled to stare at her.
But Aston Rogue?
He smiled.
He smiled that warm aw shucks smile that never failed to make her knees weak and her heart turn to goo. Slowly he started to walk toward her—well, toward the front counter where a large sign said “Order Here.” But still. He was technically walking toward her.
The bell over the door dinged again, and for the first time since she’d arrived this morning, the sound of it didn’t make her heart leap with alarm.
Her heart was too preoccupied trying to pound its way past her ribcage to do any leaping.
“Gina,” Billy barked from the entrance, his voice low and curt and so...not Billy-like that it pulled Gina out of her Aston Rogue trance and had her turning her head to see Billy standing there just inside the doorway, his brows low and a scowl on his face.
All at once, reality returned and Gina nodded for Hattie to go behind the counter.
Of course Billy had to ruin her one chance to actually speak with Aston Rogue. But she needed to talk to Billy first and foremost. There was no use putting this off any longer. Swiping her clammy palms on her apron, she went to move past Aston Rogue, but he surprised her by placing a hand on her arm. “I wanted to apologize,” he said.
At least, that’s what she thought he said. She wasn’t able to hear much over the voice in her head screaming, Aston Rogue is touching me!
“Um...what?” She blinked up at the man who couldn’t possibly be real.
His smile widened, like he was amused by her incoherence.
Which was good. Great. She lived to amuse.
“Gina.” Billy barked her name so loudly Gina started and Aston’s brows hitched up slightly behind those sunglasses.
Slowly, Aston Rogue turned to face Billy, and Gina dragged her attention toward him as well.
Gina had never felt so torn in two. One part of her mind was a starstruck idiot blathering on about the fact that Aston was here, in her coffee shop, and his hand was still on her arm!
The other part was very much aware that Billy the traitorous, cheating jerk was standing there waiting for her to acknowledge him.
Her big speech was waiting to be said.
“Um, hi Billy,” she said.
Gah! Her voice came out way too soft and shaky. Where was that tough-girl tone she’d practiced in front of the mirror this morning?
Aston dropped his hand and she simultaneously felt inexplicably cold and bereft without his touch, and also...able to think. She cleared her throat and forced a smile on her face. “Billy, can I have a word—”
“How could you?” The anger in Billy’s voice had her lips parting in surprise.
“How could...I?” She was on the defense.
How was she on the defense?
She looked around as if someone might be able to explain what was happening. What she found was poor Samantha gawking with wide eyes, looking terrified on her behalf. A quick glance behind her showed Hattie no less wide-eyed but happily engrossed in this scene like Gina was the star of Hattie’s very own soap opera. And Aston Rogue…
Well, she couldn’t quite bring herself to look up at him.
Her cheeks were starting to burn with the realization that he’d heard her get scolded by her boss.
Her boyfriend.
Her boss-slash-boyfriend who would be her ex-boyfriend and her ex-boss in the very near future. She squared her shoulders. “Billy, if we could just talk in private—”
“You’ve made a fool of me,” Billy growled.
He literally growled.
She blinked a few times. The words refused to make sense. “I made a fool of you?”
Aston cleared his throat beside her. “Again, I’d like to apologize—”
“You have some nerve showing up here,” Billy said, turning his snarl on Aston.
Gina gasped. She couldn’t help it. Samantha and Hattie were deathly silent and her gasp seemed to ring in the air around them—high, squeaky, and so melodramatic she might as well have been some wimpy heroine in a horror movie.
“Billy, this is Aston Rogue,” she hissed, her eyes wide and her cheeks flaming with embarrassment now.
Whatever Billy’s problem with her might be, it had nothing to do with Aston, and now Java Lava would forever go down in history as the coffee shop where Aston Rogue was yelled at by its cranky owner.
Billy’s brows drew down. “I know who he is, Gina. And I can’t believe you’d bring him here.” He threw his hands out, and that scowl morphed into a look of hurt that left her more bewildered than anything else.
“I have no idea what’s going on right now,” she muttered.
She was talking to herself but out of the corner of her eye she saw Aston’s head swivel so he was sta
ring at her. She could feel his eyes on her, even if she didn’t look over to see.
Billy planted his hands on his hips. “I think you owe me an explanation.”
Her jaw dropped at his tone. All that was missing was a ‘young lady’ at the end and he would have sounded exactly like her principal back in high school.
The silence in her beloved coffee shop was deafening as everyone waited for her to respond.
Even Aston appeared to be holding his breath beside her, though once again she couldn’t bring herself to look.
Billy’s words were bouncing off the walls of her skull, echoing and crashing over her as a wave of self-righteous anger and indignation nearly swept her off her feet.
“I owe you an explanation?” Her voice grew so shrill she saw Samantha wince from where she cowered.
Billy opened his mouth like he was about to retort but she didn’t give him a chance. Jabbing a finger in his direction, she fumed, “You are the one who cheated on me, Billy. I think it’s you who ought to start explaining.”
Billy’s eyes widened and his nostrils flared with panic.
She should have felt some sort of vindication, but all she felt was a lead weight in her stomach when he made no attempt to deny it.
He made no attempt to do anything but stare at her like she’d just announced her candidacy for president.
Another silence, and this time she didn’t just feel Aston’s stare, she was nearly knocked over by it. Heat seared her skin under his intense scrutiny.
Fine, sure, okay...maybe it wasn’t every day he saw some chick have a full-on breakdown while trying to get a cup of coffee. But did he really have to stare like this?
“You—” Billy started. “I didn’t—” He threw his hands up in the air. “That’s not the same thing.”
“The same as what?” Gina shot back. What was he even talking about?
The way he was glaring at her, the way the others were all staring…
She was missing something. Some piece of the puzzle. “Not the same thing as what?”
Maybe her confusion was obvious because Billy’s expression shifted—now he wasn’t just angry, he was exasperated that she wasn’t keeping up. “You could have told me you were seeing someone else.”
Fake Dating My Rockstar Roommate: A Sweet Standalone Romance (Fake Dates Book 3) Page 3