The Coffee Girl

by Natalie Charles

  "Oh, just a sec," I said, pretending my cellphone had just vibrated. "Let me check to make sure…"

  I pulled up Jax's number and texted him. You have to come to the set. Now. Griff is trying to hit on me. I hit send.

  "Is it important?" Griff was still standing too close, trying to read over my shoulder. Had I never noticed that he had no manners at all? What was wrong with me?

  "I — I thought it was my doctor." I clung to the phone. "So, yeah, about that scene — ah!" My phone vibrated and I saw a message from Jax. On set now. Where are you?

  "Oh, looks like Jax is here." I beamed and texted our location. "You two know each other, right?"

  "Sure, I know Jax." Griff took a step back. "Are you two still…?"

  "Dating?" I shrugged casually. "We're working on things. We'll see what happens." I tucked the cell phone back into my pocket. "Hey, but you know, we should definitely get together tomorrow morning to run our scene. Definitely. Why don't I stop by your trailer around eight?"

  "In the morning?" His eyebrows nearly struck a cloud. "You like to get up early, huh? But sure. Stop by then."

  "Terrific."

  Jax came around the corner, driving a golf cart and carrying a giant bouquet of red and white roses. I gave him a wave and a sugary smile. "Hey, baby. Who are those for?"

  He pushed the bouquet gently into my arms. "Hi, sweetheart. I've been trying to reach you."

  Maybe I'd had too much sun, or maybe it was the glimpse of the tattoo that wrapped around his upper bicep, but Jax struck me then as a gorgeous knight on his white steed: dashing, powerful, and completely irresistible. Once again, he'd come to my rescue. I reached up to wrap my arms around his shoulders, bouquet of roses and all, and without a thought at all, I pulled him into a kiss. He moaned softly and reached down my back to pull my hips closer to his, dissolving the space between us. He tasted slightly minty, and his lips were soft and warm. Through his chest, I felt his heart thundering. We stayed that way for what felt like hours. Then I heard a shuffle behind us, and Griff clearing his throat.

  I stepped away with a soft giggle. "Sorry. It's just that I missed you."

  Jax grinned. "That's understandable. It's been about an hour now." He extended his hand to Griff. "Good to see you, man."

  "You too," Griff said.

  "Come on, baby," Jax said, pulling me by the waist. "Let's grab dinner."

  I laughed and waved at Griff with my fingers. "See you tomorrow, Griff."

  I climbed into the passenger seat of the cart. Once we were out of earshot, I slumped back against the seat and said, "Your timing was perfect. I think he was hitting on me."

  "Can you blame him?" Jax eyed me sidelong. "Is that why you kissed me? To make him jealous?"

  When I realized I didn't have an answer to his question, I was embarrassed. What had I been thinking? "I — I was just being spontaneous. We're dating, remember?" I deflected the scrutiny with a compliment and smelled the roses. "These were a nice touch."

  "Brennan made it clear that I'm to continue to date you. You're the new blog sweetheart, by the way."

  "That's nice." I frankly didn't care what the blogs said. I was due back at Hedda's, or else Jessie was going to send a search party. "I'm going to clean up and head back out again. I'm baking tonight."

  "I thought we were going to spend more time together?"

  "You sound like a real boyfriend." I patted his arm. "I'm on the set all day tomorrow. Can we catch up then? Be spotted having lunch or something?"

  "Okay." He sounded disappointed, which was altogether disconcerting to me.

  "Sorry, bud, but now we've got this big catering contract and it's all hands on deck." I shifted in my seat to face him as he pulled up the cart in front of the trailer. "My family needs my help."

  Jax mulled this over and nodded. "I get it. It's fine. Your family comes first."

  We'd arrived at the trailer by then. He waited outside while I changed and scrubbed off my makeup. I set the flowers in a bowl full of water and made a note to bring a vase the next morning. Then Jax drove me to the catering van, where Emily was waiting to drive us back to Archer Cove.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  The bakery was a scene of loosely organized chaos when I arrived. Dad and Emily and I unloaded the van while Jessie managed the kitchen, pulling baking sheets in and out of the ovens and then returning to add ingredients to the mixer. As I watched the scene, it occurred to me that maybe I'd made things worse for them, after all. Maybe in my effort to help the bakery, I'd only managed to make life more difficult. "How's it going?" I ventured to ask when I had a moment alone with my cousin.

  "We'll get it done," Jessie said as she cracked eggs into what appeared to be a butter and sugar mixture. "How did the first day go? Were there any problems?"

  I leaned back against the counter and fluttered my lips in a sigh. "Gosh, Jess. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. I don't know whether I'm coming or going, and the sudden spotlight…Do you know that people stopped me for my autograph today? Me. A complete nobody."

  "Not anymore," she said, and blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. "This rush of business? It's not slowing down. You should've seen the lines today. Lots of the customers were asking where you were, or if you were with Jax." She chuckled. "Your dad had to amend the order for this week. They almost cleaned us out."

  "Oh. Wow."

  I pushed off the counter and walked mechanically toward the rack where we hung the aprons. Being an overnight celebrity should have been good news, but it left my bones rattling. I wasn't yet sure what any of this would mean, long-term. I had a sudden, overwhelming desire to run back to my apartment, shut the door, and hide under the covers. "Hey, Jess?"

  I stopped mid-thought to watch as my dad poured milk into a second mixer and Emily carefully stacked scones onto a tray. Jessie scooped a cup of flour and added it slowly to the mixture, sending puffs of white into the air. They needed my help, and all I wanted to do was leave.

  "Hmm?" Jessie raised a rubber spatula and swept it down the side of the bowl.

  I stood upright. This was no time to think about the bizarre turn my life had taken. I reached for an apron. "What can I help with?"

  She set me to work on scones. Jessie was determined to teach me something about baking, even if Hedda's was possibly short-lived and we were both weeks away from unemployment. I was slicing cold butter into the flour mixture when Dad called out over his shoulder, "Wren? Jax is here."

  He'd taken the back way, coming to the screen door in the kitchen. He was wearing a dark cashmere sweater and jeans. Casual, but definitely sexy. He smiled when he saw me. "Hey, Wren."

  "Hey." My smile sprouted straight from the warmth spreading through my center. "You — what are you doing here?"

  "I wasn't busy tonight." He stepped closer, keeping his gaze fixed on mine, lowering his voice. "I wanted to see you."

  There are moments you remember, times when you feel complete. Standing there, facing Jax, being the same as we always were but somehow entirely different — I felt the significance. No snark, no cameras. No reason to think he wasn't sincere. Heat bloomed across my cheeks as I leaned against the doorjamb. "Look. Things here are sort of…" I glanced over my shoulder at the flurry behind me.

  Jax followed my gaze. "Busy?"

  "Yeah. They need my help. Would you mind —"

  "Can I help, too?"

  The offer came so quickly and eagerly that I was caught off-guard. "Are you sure?"

  Jax inched closer, leaning down slightly. "Let me get this straight. My options are to head home alone or to stay here with you, right?"

  His voice was soft and deep, his words meant for my ears only. An electric current bristled across my skin. "Right."

  "Then where do I get my apron?"

  I grinned. "This way. I hope you like pink ruffles."

  I'm certain he could have pulled it off, but I didn't make him wear the ruffles. We found one of my dad's simple black aprons. I have to say, Ja
x even made that look kind of hot.

  "Okay." He rubbed his hands together. "What are we baking?"

  Jessie watched us with a sly smile, and I just knew that she was going to give me the third degree the second we were alone. I didn't care. "Tonight, the word is 'scones,'" I said.

  We baked scones for hours. Cranberry white chocolate chunk, orange, cinnamon chip, blueberry, and cherry chocolate. We melted butter, measured flour and sugar, and cut triangles of dough, all under Jessie's watchful eye. When the first batch came out of the oven, we sampled it.

  "Wren, these are delicious," she gasped.

  She sounded so surprised that I knew she was being honest. The thing is, they were. At least, they weren't half bad. "I had some help," I said, and bumped Jax with one hip.

  "You told me you couldn't bake," he said through a mouthful of cinnamon chip scone. "You've been holding out on us."

  "I followed the recipe." The modesty wasn't false — I was as flummoxed as anyone else by my success. It felt good to be flummoxed in a good kind of way for once.

  Jessie took another bite. "Seriously, what's your technique? These are really good."

  I turned the scone over in my hand and frowned at it, as if I could discern the answer to her question if only I studied it hard enough. "I'm not sure. I just mixed it all up."

  Dad took a bite of an orange scone. "Whatever you did, try to keep doing it. These are better than mine."

  "You're going to put us out of a job." Jessie chuckled and wiped her fingers on her apron. "All right. Back to work."

  As we baked, I was trying to figure out exactly what Jax and I were becoming. All I knew was that he wouldn't stray too far from my side, and my heart was getting a workout having him so close. Even so, by eleven o'clock I could barely keep my eyes open.

  I yawned into my elbow. "Are we finished? I have to get home."

  Jessie stifled her own yawn. "Yeah, I think we're done. Thanks for your help. You too, Jax."

  "Get home," said Dad. "Jessie and I will lock up."

  Emily had left earlier, so Jax and I were alone as we stepped outside into the warm summer night. "I'll walk you home," he said.

  "You don't have to."

  He didn't reply except to take my hand in his. His skin was warm, his hand strong. "Nice night."

  "Yes." The word squeezed around the knot in my throat.

  Archer Cove was far from city lights. As a result, the sky at night was inky dark but brilliantly lit with stars. I allowed myself to gaze up at them as we walked, lost in the expansive beauty of the display.

  Jax broke the silence. "What is it about you, Wren? I've wanted you from the second I saw you sitting at that bar, typing away on your laptop while wearing that ridiculous baseball cap." He stopped in his tracks and pulled me closer, pressing my hand against his heart. "You kissed me this afternoon. I know you weren't acting. You want me, too."

  I could barely breathe under the heat of his stare, the weight of my need for him. "Yes," I whispered, terrified at the confession.

  The earth shifted below us or we moved closer together, but his lips were pressing against mine, and I was tugging at him, running my hands over his beautiful shoulders and down his arms. I no longer cared if it was only one night and never again. I wanted that one night with Jax Cosgrove.

  "Quick," I whispered when I managed to break away from his kiss. "This way."

  We took the shortcut, crossing through neighboring yards and cutting across Crabby Andy's back lot. When we reached the steps to my apartment, I was grateful we'd missed the cooks' smoke break. I mounted the stairs and Jax stopped, pressing me against the rail to slide his lips down my neck and his fingers up the back of my shirt. I no longer remembered why I'd resisted his advances. His touch was magic.

  I heard a sharp intake of breath and felt the shudder pass through his frame. He pulled me closer and whispered, "This will change everything. Are you sure?"

  I set my hand against his cheek to feel the emerging stubble. "I've never been sure of anything in my life until now."

  We walked up the steps and I unlocked the door. We never made it past the kitchen.

  I'd like to say I was up early the next morning making coffee and scrambling eggs, charming my way to Jax's heart, but the truth was that when I awoke, Jax was already dressing. I stretched in the bed and smiled, feeling the heavy, decadent pleasure from the night before still settling in my limbs. "'Morning."

  He grinned as he pulled on his sweater. "'Morning, coffee girl."

  I brought the sheet up across my breasts, suddenly self-conscious of my nakedness. The sun was just starting to streak through the blinds in the window. My heart sagged. "You're leaving already?"

  "I have to go back to the inn to shower," he smiled. "I'll bring a change of clothes next time."

  Next time. There was a nice thought. I leaned back against the pillow, still fuzzy from the rush of our time together. Or maybe that was from the lack of sleep, because if I had invited Jax to spend the night with the expectation that we'd sleep, he'd shown me the error of my ways. Then again, I'd been happily complicit.

  He pressed one hand against the wall and leaned forward to give me a slow, drowsy kiss on the lips. "Will I see you later?" I asked.

  "Depends on whether you want me around."

  I reached forward to drag my fingers down his sweater. "I do."

  "Then I'll be wherever you are." He kissed me on the cheek and righted himself. "I'll see you on set. Unless you want a ride?"

  "I'll catch a ride with Emily."

  I watched him walk out of the bedroom and moments later, I heard him shut the door behind him. The clock read four thirty. Time to get up.

  I showered quickly, dressed, and returned to Hedda's. Jessie was just coming down the stairs from her apartment, clutching a thermos. She narrowed her gaze at me. "What are you so pleased about?"

  "Nothing," I said, trying to sound nonchalant and failing miserably. Maybe I'm good at faking certain things. My talents end at deceiving my cousin. She can see straight through me.

  Jessie reached the bottom of the stairs. Her straight brown hair fell to her shoulders, still damp. "Jax forgot his sports car last night," she mused as she took a sip from the thermos. "It was still parked on the street when I got up this morning."

  "Huh. Weird."

  She smirked and unlocked the door to the bakery. "You're the only one who thinks so."

  We loaded the trays of food into the van without talking, and I figured I was going to get away without having to explain myself. Just as we were shutting the back doors to the van, Jessie said, "Still think my truffles are better than sex?"

  My pulse kicked into high gear at the thought of the night before, of Jax's body and whispers, and the thought that one of the biggest stars in Hollywood had seduced me. My skin was flushed, but I couldn't wipe the grin off my face. "I'm reconsidering my position. I may have spoken too soon."

  "Ha! I thought so." Jessie chuckled and jabbed a finger against my chest. "You owe me details. None of this 'don't kiss and tell' crap."

  "Fine. Just don't tell Dad anything, promise?"

  "Gross! Like I'd ever."

  Emily emerged from the bakery with a smile that was too bright for the hour. "Ready?"

  I glanced at Jessie, who quipped, "Your chariot awaits."

  Emily didn't know, and I didn't tell her. As we drove to Great Barrington, I reveled in my secret until I remembered that I'd promised to run lines with Griff. Nothing like seeing your ex-boyfriend to take the shine off a great fling.

  My stomach sparked at the thought. "Fling" — was that what it was? And from that little kernel sprouted a crop of self-doubt and dread. I'd gone from being a self-respecting woman to Jax's latest conquest. I felt sick. Reality is an ugly, ugly thing.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  The closer we got to the set, the more I believed that I'd made a mistake by spending the night with Jax. He wasn't interested in me beyond acquiring another trophy. The more I though
t about it, the more it made sense that he'd want me to believe he had real feelings for me, because then wouldn't I develop real feelings for him? I could just imagine the photographs caught by the paparazzi: me gazing adoringly into Jax's eyes. His agent and publicist would love that. As incredible as the night had been, I could no longer think about it without wanting to cry. He'd made a fool out of me. Even worse, I'd helped.

  I fumed for a while, waiting in the trailer for him to appear and convince me that I was mistaken and that our shared night had actually meant something. When he didn't, I stormed away to Griff's trailer and vowed that it would remain my deep, dark, pathetic secret that I'd allowed Jax Cosgrove to break my heart. Griff had dumped me in public and across the tabloids. I wouldn't allow Jax to know how he'd hurt me.

  When I arrived at the trailer, Griff answered the door shirtless, leaning against the doorjamb so that his arm fell over his head, his other arm hidden behind the door. He gave me a sexy, lopsided grin. I know what he'd intended for me to think, but all that kept running through my mind was that he'd waxed his chest, and it looked odd. "Hey, Wren," he purred. "You're early."

  I was ten minutes late. "Did I catch you at a bad time?"

  The grin deepened, showing off that dimple in his right cheek. "Not at all. Come on in." He stepped aside to allow me entrance. "I was just about to make some coffee. Would you like some?"

  "I'm all right, thanks."

  "You sure?" He picked up his cell. "I'm going to call that PA. What's his name — George." He gave me a knowing look. "The one that was bothering you yesterday."

  "He really wasn't —"

  He pressed a finger to my lips, holding the cell phone to his ear. "Shh. We both know what was going on there."

  I was about to defend poor George when Griff said, "Heya, George? It's Griff. Can you bring two coffees and some breakfast to my trailer?" He winked at me and my skin crawled. What had I seen in this guy? "Yeah, bring an assortment of whatever they have. Definitely some hard-boiled eggs. Bottled water. May as well bring some juice, too. I have company, and I want to make sure I have something she likes."