And it seems like I’m not the only one who wants a place like that in this town. It didn’t take long for word to spread about Bowl & Spoon, and soon, it was packed nearly every night – I haven’t had time to interview for staff yet, though I know that I need them, and so I’ve been stuck serving everyone who comes in here with my own fair hand.
As soon as things start to calm down, I’m going to hire someone else to come work here with me. I know I can afford it – well, I think I can. First I need to sit down and actually crunch the numbers and work out how much more I need to spend on fancy milk substitutes for the hipster crowd that comes in here. Honestly, my biggest fantasy right now is being able to take two consecutive nights off of work, and not have to worry about getting complaints from the people who have made this place their second home.
Because this place needs to succeed. I need it to work. It’s been my life ever since – well, ever since everything tipped on its head and changed earlier this year. I need all the distraction that I can get from that. I’m not going to let it slip through my fingers, even if it means working harder than I probably should.
I serve up my latest customer with a giant bowl of these fancy Froot Loop-esque things that I found in a Turkish food supply store across the county, and I smile at her until she is down in her booth with her friends. I am glad that this place has provided a spot for people like me, who were never that into the bar scene, to hang out. I just wish they would have taken a little more time to find it, you know? Give me a chance to handle the learning curve of dealing with huge lines of customers all at once...
"Hey."
I look up to see my next customer, and as soon as I do, I feel a little flutter in the pit of my stomach. It’s a guy. And a gorgeous one at that. I see plenty of well-groomed hipster types in here, but not many who have the aura that he does. He’s wearing just a tee and some jeans, but he looks like he could have walked off the front page of a modelling campaign. Muscular, strong, cropped hair to show off his handsome, sharp features. He smiles at me, and I manage to smile back.
"Hi," I greet him, trying to keep my voice perky. "What can I do for you?"
"I think I’d like a coffee," he replies, and he settles down onto one of the seats at the counter. The rest of the customers have already been dealt with, so I don’t mind him keeping me company. Honestly, the way that he is looking at me, it’s as though he wants more than just the drip coffee that I am about to give him.
"You run this place?" he asks me as I push the coffee over the counter towards him. I nod. I still can’t quite believe I can say that and mean it. I really run this place. It went from just an idea at the back of my mind to a full-blown business in a matter of months, and now, it’s all mine.
"Is it really just cereal and coffee?" he wonders aloud, and I nod again.
"That’s all we do," I reply, smiling at him. He laughs – for a moment, I think that he is laughing at me, but I see the warmth in his eyes and know he likes the idea as much as I do.
"Why?” he asks, still chuckling.
"Because this is somewhere I wanted to hang out, but it didn’t exist yet," I reply, with a shrug. "So I decided I would make sure that it did."
"How long have you been running it?”
"Three months," I reply. He whistles through his teeth.
"Doing pretty well for just being open for three months," he remarks, and I nod proudly. This place has taken off – and given everything that it represents for me, that matters.
"Yeah, word of mouth spreads quickly around here."
"So I see," he replies, and he takes a sip of his coffee and returns his gaze to me. There is something about the way that he looks at me, the way that his eyes meet mine, that makes it hard for me to think of anything else.
"And you do it all by yourself?"
"Hey, if you’re offering to hop the counter and give me some help, I’ve got a spare apron back here," I joke.
"I don’t think I’d be much good at that," he warns me. "You never get a break? It’s just you running this whole show?”
"A break?” I reply, snorting with laughter at the thought. "Last time I had a break, this place wasn’t even open yet. I haven’t been able to take any time off since then, been too busy making sure that it doesn’t go under."
"Sounds like you could use some time off," he remarks.
"You offering?” I shoot back as I go to dump some bowls into the sink.
"I might be," he replies, and when I look back to him, I can see something written on his face that sure as hell wasn’t there before.
Chapter Three
Landon
This girl – this girl is doing something to me that I didn’t even know was possible. I can’t take my eyes off of her. This is the chemistry that I’ve been looking for, in all the dates that I have been on up till now. Everything that I have been waiting for, it’s come down to this moment, and I don’t want to give up on it now that it’s right here in front of me.
With curly dark hair to match that curvy little body of hers, there’s no doubt that she’s hot. But someone with the nerve and the balls to open up a place like this, and run it themselves till they could get it off the ground? Yeah, that sounds like my kind of woman.
I need to know more about her. Everything about her.
And that’s exactly why I need to convince her to come to this destination wedding with me.
"What, you going to hire staff to cover for me for a couple of weeks?” She laughs, as she tucks a loose strand of hair back into her ponytail. "I like the offer, but–"
"I need a date to my sister’s wedding," I explain. "In Maui. Tomorrow."
She bursts out laughing, turns to me, eyebrows raised. I don’t laugh. I’m dead serious.
"Dude, what?” she asks. But I can see the flush to her cheeks, and I know that something about the proposition that I have just sent her way intrigues her.
"Maui," I repeat. "I need someone to come with me. I’ve been going on dates all week trying to find someone to take with me, and none of them have worked out."
"And what makes you think that I would?" she asks.
"Gut instinct," I reply. "I run a business. I know to trust what my intuition is telling me. So. You in?”
She eyes me for a moment, as though she is waiting for me to burst out laughing and tell her that this whole thing is nothing more than a joke on her – but I don’t. I cock my head to the side, raise an eyebrow.
She shakes her head.
"I can’t leave the business," she protests. "I’d love to take a vacation, trust me, but I can’t just leave all of this behind. I don’t have any staff, and if I did I’d need to train them all before I left, anyway – it's just not something I can do right now."
"I’m sure I could help with all of that," I reply. She sinks her teeth into her bottom lip. There is something about the pressure of them on her full mouth that makes me want to lean across the counter and kiss her, to taste the sweetness of those full lips against mine, but I know that I have to let her set the pace.