The Fourteen Day Soul Detox by Rita Stradling Read Free Book Online

held up my hand, extending
out my fingers for emphasis.
    Chris whistled.
    Wringing out the towel, I nodded.
“Anyway, I’m going to get a head start on closing.”
    “You doing that birthday
sleepover thing with those hot lesbians?”
    I smacked him with the damp towel.
“Shut up you,” I said.
    He threw up his hands with a grin.
“Just asking. Touchy, touchy.”
    With quick efficient movements, I wiped
down the tables and chairs around the shop.
    The only remaining customer, a regular
who usually came in during the morning, called to me from across the
shop, “I’m just going to pack up here in a minute,
Jamie.”
    “No worries, Margret, we’re
still open for another hour. Just getting a head start,” I
said. “You want me to grab you any water or anything?”
    “Oh, no, I’m great, thanks
Jamie,” she said, turning back to her laptop.
    Leaning over, I cleared the kid’s
books from the coffee table before wiping it down.
    The door jingled behind me, but I
figured that Chris would handle the customers.
    A cookie had exploded across the couch
cushions and I was furiously wiping it away when I heard a low
familiar chuckle from right behind me.
    I jumped up and spun around.
    Cameron stood a few paces away, his
eyes still on my backside with a half-amused, half-heated look on his
face.
    “Enjoying the show?” I
asked, attempting to glare at him, but I had a hard time fighting a
grin.
    He stepped closer and said in a low
voice, “Loved the show.”
    “How long were you standing
there?”
    He just bobbed his eyebrows. Then he
narrowed his eyes. “I thought you weren’t going to be
here.”
    I shrugged. “Yeah, the whole
thing got canceled. I’m really not that disappointed.”
    Behind the counter, Chris widened his
eyes at me then shook his head.
    I focused back to Cameron. “You
want your usual?”
    He paused before saying, “Yeah,
that’d be great.”
    I walked around the counter, and set up
a double shot on the espresso machine.
    “Hey Chris, how’s it
going?” Cameron said as he walked up to the counter.
    “Good, Cam. You?”
    “I am doing perfectly, got a
great new client today and he’s got friends who need a lot of
custom work,” he said with a grin.
    “Oh good, that went well?”
I asked.
    “Better than I even thought it
would.” He gave me a grin and a wink. “Things are looking
up, fingers crossed.”
    I nodded. “Fingers crossed.”
    Chris’s gaze went back and forth
between us, and then he smiled at Cameron. “Well, I’m
happy for you, bro. You deserve good things coming your way.”
    “Thanks, buddy, I really
appreciate you saying that. So,” he drew out the word, “what’s
the favorite for today.”
    “Lunch or pastry?” Chris
asked
    “Banana muffins,” I said as
a fake-cough.
    “I’ll take a banana
muffin,” Cameron said with a grin and a quick glance over at
me.
    “Here’s your drink,”
I said, leaning over the register. As I handed him his dark roast
coffee with a double espresso shot in it, his fingers brushed over
mine. His thumb brushed across my hand once before I pulled it away.
    After insisting on paying, as he always
did, he held up his pastry bag and said, “Later.”
    “Yeah,” I said, biting my
lip as he turned away.
    The moment the door clanged closed
behind Cameron, Chris turned on me. “So when are you guys
getting married?”
    “Um, never. What are you talking
about?” I turned back to the espresso machine. Grabbing a
towel, I started scrubbing under the machine. “Speaking of
marriage, how’s Melissa? Isn’t it about time you put a
ring on her finger?”
    When I looked up at Chris, he was just
shaking his head at me. “Smooth,” he said.
    “What?” I said. “Cameron
and I are just friends. We’d never get married… in a
million years.”
    “Does he know that?” Chris
asked.
    “Yes, he knows that.” I
slammed the double filter holder down over the trash to empty the wet
grinds.
    “If you say so.” Chris
raised his hands in