Cafe Love: Cupid's Cafe Box Set Books 2-4

by Ashley Lauren

“Yes, and I told you that I had too much work to go to the party tonight,” Tasha answered.

  Emmitt walked in, shaking his head. “It’s just for a little while. C’mon, it’ll be fun,” he pressed, sounding a lot like Katy at that moment.

  Tasha just rolled her eyes at him. “I just can’t Emmitt. I’m sorry.” Tasha said, walking back to the couch.

  “Oh come on, there will be chocolate,” he cajoled.

  “I have chocolate right here,” Tasha challenged, pointing to her large bowl of candy.

  “Better chocolate.” Emmitt walked up to her, taking her hands in his. “If you won’t do it for the chocolate… then at least do it for me.”

  He gave her a puppy dog face and her heart tightened. How am I supposed to say no to that?

  “Fine.” She sighed, rolling her eyes. “But I’m not dressing up.” Tasha felt a sense of déjà vu and shook her head.

  “Aww, c’mon! You look so cute in your Cinderella costume! Plus, if I go as a prince and you’re not a princess, then who knows what other princess might claim me for the night…” he teased her. “Please?”

  Tasha looked into his green eyes and bit her lip. In the end, she knew she wouldn’t be able to say no.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Tasha eventually changed into her Cinderella costume, the bright blue mask tied around her face.

  “I’m glad I know how beautiful you really are behind that mask,” Emmitt said, leaning down and kissing her cheek, painting it a soft shade of pink.

  Tasha didn’t say a word, too embarrassed for a moment. The thought of their first kiss flashed through her mind.

  “Yeah,” she whispered, unable to say anything else.

  Emmitt chuckled at her shyness, finding it endearing. He took her hand, leading them to his car. He made sure she was comfortably seated before he closed the door and seconds later, got in himself. He started the engine and drove toward the University, where the richer demographic lived.

  By this time of night, little kids were no longer running around, asking for candy. Only some of the teenagers dared to stay out past ten, laughing with one another, a mischievous look in their eyes. Cops were on high alert, knowing the trouble these kids could cause on a night like this.

  “Where’s this party again?” Tasha asked.

  “A friend of mine is hosting it at his house. He said it would be a lot of fun.” Emmitt assured her, reaching over and grabbing her hand, giving it a light squeeze. “I’m sure you’ll like it.”

  Eventually, they reached a large, mansion-like home. It had a large front yard with a green lawn, kept verdant despite the drought ever persistent in California.

  “Your friend lives here?” Tasha asked in disbelief. It was at least four stories high, with an impressive driveway and a large entrance.

  “Yep! He’s a cardiologist,” Emmitt replied and got out of the car, helping Tasha and making sure she was steady on her feet. “How do you even move around in that thing?” he asked, eyeing her puffy dress.

  “You know, I’m not really sure about that myself,” Tasha admitted, trying to hold it down so she wouldn’t knock anyone over with it.

  Emmitt just laughed, grabbing her hand and leading her into the house. Instantly, loud music bombarded them the second they walked through the door. Adults were all over the place, dressed in classic costumes while others opted for unique fashion statements. The smell of chocolate flooded Tasha’s senses as she saw a large buffet table, covered in treats. She eyed it hungrily, tugging on Emmitt’s arm until he figured out what was going on and allowed her to drag him over.

  “You really do love chocolate, don’t you?” he asked, pouring himself some apple cider.

  “Yeah,” Tasha mumbled, her mouth already full of chocolate cake.

  “Calm down,” Emmitt said, gently kissing off a bit of chocolate frosting that was on the corner of her lips. She blushed, looking down, feeling her heart quicken in her chest. How had I been lucky enough to find a guy like him?

  As they lingered around the chocolate bar, Emmitt’s friend greeted them. “Hey! I didn’t think you guys would make it.” Liam, the host of the party, was a large muscular man with a shaved head and a finely-groomed goatee.

  “I wouldn’t have missed it for the world, but Tasha here needed a little convincing,” Emmitt teased. “I don’t think she’s a big fan of parties,” Emmitt whispered at his friend, but still loud enough for Tasha to hear.

  “Aww, I’m sorry to hear that. Why don’t you come dance with us? I’m sure you’ll have a blast.” Liam pulled her through the house, the music getting louder and louder as they went down a hallway.

  Tasha looked back at Emmitt, silently asking him to save her from the current situation, but he just smiled at her, following his friend. Soon enough, they were in a large open room. All the furniture had been moved to the sides. People were bunched together, dancing to the loud electronic music blaring from the speakers.

  Liam finally let go of Tasha’s hand, handing her off to Emmitt, who grabbed her with confidence.

  “May I have this dance?” he asked in a regal tone, trying to be charming.

  Tasha felt herself nodding, even though she rather disliked dancing, especially when it involved her bumping into people left and right.

  Emmitt smiled brightly at her response, his chiseled face lighting up. “Excellent!”

  He whisked her onto the dance floor, dancing with her. Even though there were people all around them and various girls were looking at Emmitt with longing, he never once took his eyes off his her. It was like she was the only girl in the world.

  Tasha was surprised to find that she was actually enjoying herself. Dancing in the large Cinderella dress wasn’t as hard as she thought it would be. In fact, it flared out enough that it kept people from invading her personal space and allowing her some breathing room. By the end of the night, she found herself smiling and laughing with everyone else, glad that she had decided to ditch her work and come to the party.

  Around midnight, Liam turned the music down, thanking everyone for coming out and spending Halloween with him. Emmitt smiled, sweat soaking his body. He had never danced so much in his entire life. He ran his fingers through his wet hair and admired Tasha who had a flushed face, making her look even more beautiful than ever. He leaned down, kissing the top of her head as everyone around them started to get off the dancefloor.

  “Are you ready to go home?” he asked her.

  Tasha nodded and together, they made it out to Emmitt’s car.

  “You know, that was actually a lot of fun. Thanks for making me go,” Tasha said in a soft voice.

  “I’m just glad you liked it.” He glanced over at her, presenting her with a warm smile. “Are you still up for brunch tomorrow morning?”

  “At ten, right?”

  Emmitt nodded. “I’ll be at your house around nine if that’s okay.”

  “That still works for me.”

  Emmitt stopped the car and Tasha looked up, surprised they had already reached her home. She leaned over and gave Emmitt a quick kiss goodbye.

  When she pulled back, he protested, “I don’t even get a real kiss?”

  “Sorry, it’s past midnight and this Cinderella still has a ton of work to do. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  She got out, opening the door for herself before Emmitt could do so. She waved and disappeared inside her house. Her shoulders drooped when she eyed the stack of papers on the couch. Had they multiplied while I was gone? She groaned, contemplating working on them, but then shook her head and opted to go to bed instead. She would just wake up early and do it before Emmitt showed up.

  Chapter Fourteen

  BRRRING! BRRRING!

  Tasha bolted upright in bed.

  “What…?” she mumbled, trying to orient herself and feeling a bit dizzy from sitting up so fast. She steadied herself with one hand and scrubbed her other hand through her long mop of curly hair, tangled from sleep.

  The doorbell rang again
and jolted the last dregs of sleep from her system.

  “I’m coming!” she called out and quickly ran to open the door.

  Emmitt stood there, wearing some dark-colored jeans and a purple hoodie.

  “Good morning Sleeping Beauty,” he teased, leaning forward and kissing her. He ran his fingers through her hair before making his way inside. “Don’t you usually wake up early?”

  “Yeah… shoot.” She looked over to the couch, seeing the stack of papers she had neglected. “Faith is going to kill me…”

  “No, she’s not. My sister isn’t that mean,” Emmitt replied.

  Tasha couldn’t help but fret over it. Faith had said she wanted everything graded and uploaded today. Maybe if she had a quick breakfast with Emmitt and then worked like crazy, she could have it all done by 2 pm. Faith hadn’t specified exactly when she wanted it done… though Tasha had a feeling, she had wanted it done early today.

  “Don’t worry. Go on and get dressed,” Emmitt urged her, giving her a little push toward the stairs.

  Tasha took one more look at her work, considering. She knew she should cancel and just get started working, but she wanted a little more time with Emmitt. Last night had been so much fun.

  2 pm would be fine. It was Sunday. Faith wouldn’t check the grades until tonight, Tasha reassured herself and when up to change.

  A few minutes later, she came back into the living room in a black, flared skirt and a white shirt.

  “Don’t you look gorgeous,” Emmitt commented, laying his hands on her hips and pulling her closer.

  A chorus of bells shattered the moment. Tasha jumped back from Emmitt, searching around for her phone. She found it under the stack of papers. She must have left it there the night before.

  The caller ID showed that it was Faith. Tasha’s heart stopped in her chest, and her gaze went to the stack of papers. Please, please don’t ask about the papers. Have some stupid errand for me to run. Just don’t ask about the papers.

  Hesitantly, she answered. “Hello?”

  “Tasha.” Her boss’s stern voice shot through the line, nearly paralyzing her.

  “Y-yes?” Tasha stammered.

  “Where are those grades I asked for? I was just looking over everything, and I see that all of the assignments still show up as ungraded. You had better have a valid reason for your tardiness. Though, you must already know I feel there is never a reason to be late. ” Faith’s voice was ice-cold as she reprimanded her assistant.

  “I… uh… well…” Tasha racked her mind for an excuse but already knew it was pointless.

  “Did you go out last night, even though I told you not to unless you had finished your work?” Faith pressed, sounding like a reprimanding mother.

  Tasha was trapped, backed into a corner by the cruel, but accurate, accusation. “Yes…” she admitted, feeling like a rock had lodged itself in her throat. It would be impossible for her to say anything else.

  “I thought as much.” Faith paused. “I cannot tolerate your haphazard behavior any further. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to let you go.”

  Tasha’s eyes grew big. She gulped, swallowing the large rock until it settled into her stomach. “You’re firing me?” she asked in disbelief.

  “Yes. Come and pack up your stuff on Monday.” With that, Faith hung up.

  Tasha stood there, completely bewildered. I just lost my job. How am I supposed to survive now? With bills to pay and rent due, she couldn’t afford to be unemployed. She allowed her arm to drop, her phone still clutched tightly in her hand.

  “Tasha…” Emmitt said, having heard the whole thing. He felt awful and was about to walk up to her and apologize when she shook her head, backing away.

  “I can’t believe you! You know how hard-headed your sister can be. You know how strict she is and yet, you still urged me to go to that stupid party. I tried to tell you that I couldn’t go because of all this work, but you wouldn’t listen to me. I just had to go and now look what happened. I’m out of a job because of you.” She walked forward, her face red with anger.

  “Tasha… I didn’t think…” Emmitt frowned, trying to find the words he needed to calm her.

  “That’s exactly right. You didn’t think. You didn’t think about how this would affect me. You just cared about yourself!” Tasha spat, her words slurring together as her emotions got the best of her. It felt like her body was on fire, but she didn’t care. She could no longer stand to be in her home a moment longer.

  Without thinking, she stormed out, running down the street and out of sight before Emmitt could move an inch and chase after her. As she turned the corner, she stopped, angry tears streaming down her cheeks. She knew how irrational it was for her to pin this whole thing on Emmitt, but she couldn’t control herself. She needed to clear her mind and get a hold of herself before she did something else she would regret.

  Chapter Fifteen

  When Tasha finally took note of her surroundings, she found herself on route to Cupid’s Café. Maybe a talk with Katy would help her. Sighing, she continued forward, seeing a happy family enter the restaurant, their cute little daughter, adorned with pigtails, looking ecstatic. Her mind was still going a mile a minute even as she sat at the counter, waiting for Katy to appear.

  For once, Katy wasn’t magically standing there, waiting for her. Instead, she was serving the family that was sitting at the end of the counter, placing their order. Tasha grabbed the sugar dispenser and started to play with it, her nerves getting the best of her. She found herself zoning out, and the chatter of the diner along with the clinking of forks against ceramic plates faded out.

  “Hey Tasha, is everything alright?”

  Katy’s voice broke her out of her trance. She looked up, seeing the charismatic woman standing there, a look of concern on her face.

  “Not really… I just got fired,” she admitted, repeatedly opening and closing the top of the sugar dispenser.

  “Oh no! That’s terrible, what happened?” Katy’s frown deepened before she turned around and started working the milkshake machine.

  Tasha desperately hoped that was an extra chocolaty milkshake for her.

  “Well… last night was Halloween. I didn’t have any plans to go out because I had so much work to do. But then Emmitt showed up and convinced me to go to a party his friend was throwing. It was a lot of fun… but putting the work off until today cost me my job…” Tasha sighed, spinning the sugar dispenser on the counter. An acidic taste built up in her mouth, feeling like it would corrode right through her teeth. She ground them together, trying to keep back the feeling of sickness that was slowly overwhelming her.

  “I’m so sorry to hear that,” Katy said, putting a large glass under the milkshake machine, filling it to the brim. “Is there any way you can plead your case to Faith?”

  “Fat chance of that. You know how she is, her way or the high way. There’s no chance she would listen to anything I have to say.”

  “You don’t know that until you try. I’m sure if you said that you went out to enjoy Halloween and were planning on getting everything done today, she’d understand.” Katy finished filling the top of the cup with whipped cream and a cherry. She handed the milkshake to Tasha and smiled. “It’s on the house.”

  Tasha grabbed it gratefully. Her hand wrapped around the cold glass. “Thanks.” A small smile lit her face and then her frown returned. “If I had just stayed home last night, none of this would be happening right now…”

  “Don’t beat yourself up over it. You’re a smart young woman. You’ll find another job. In fact, I could use help a few hours a week. One of my waitresses, Clarisse, wants to take a couple of weeks off. I know it’s not enough, but it could tide you through until you find something better,” Katy offered.

  Tasha looked up at Katy, tears forming in her eyes. “Really? You’d do that for me?”

  “Sure, I know you’ve had some experience working in that sandwich shop and you’ve seen me make enough milkshakes,” K
aty said with a smile. “I’m sure you’d be able to pick it up and help out.”

  Tasha was touched that Katy would offer. It wouldn’t be enough, that was sure, but it would help with rent this month.

  “Thanks. Let me ask around today. Can I let you know tomorrow?”

  “Sure, honey. You let me know if I can help in any other way.”

  Suddenly, the door chime rang as two customers walked into the diner. Katy looked up from Tasha and saw Emmitt and Faith. She smiled from ear to ear. Emmitt had such a good heart, and if he was dragging Faith with him, she was sure he’d found a way to fix Tasha’s problem.

  Katy studied Faith Mason. She hadn’t seen Charlotte’s little girl since she was about thirteen when she declared that hamburgers and ice cream were unhealthy for her. Even at thirteen, the girl had known what she wanted and didn’t want. Katy always thought that underneath that prickly exterior was a lonely little girl who was trying to keep the world away, and that thought made Katy a little sad.

  Faith completely baffled her mother, but Katy knew how much Charlotte loved her and wished that she’d find a wonderful man to settle down with. So, Katy watched Faith as she walked to the counter and wondered. Maybe her next project should be Faith. Now that the girl had finally set foot in her diner again, she could get a sense of her and see what she could do for Professor Mason.

  That settled, Katy busied herself with some task behind the counter, not wanting to get in the way.

  “Tasha.”

  Faith’s voice rang out in the diner, bringing Tasha’s worst nightmares to the forefront. How did my boss find me? Was she here to add insult to injury? She grasped her milkshake harder, her knuckles turning white with the effort. She dreaded turning around. So instead, she stared at the red cherry at the top of her glass, hoping she’d just go away. A futile hope, but she didn’t work for Faith anymore so she shouldn’t have to jump whenever she called.

  “Tasha.” Faith repeated herself, already sounding annoyed.