California Dreamin' 3 - Saving the Secret Prince by Canary Kristin

California Dreamin' 3 - Saving the Secret Prince by Canary Kristin

Author:Canary, Kristin [Canary, Kristin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B098KV4465
Publisher: Dreaming of You Press
Published: 2021-12-13T05:00:00+00:00


Chapter 9

It’s been five days since Topher and Frederick dropped me off at my front door after the parade, and I haven’t heard a word from them since. Not that I care about hearing from Frederick—he’s a nice enough guy.

But Topher … I thought we had at least the spark of something starting.

“Lauren, I’ve never met anyone quite like you.”

“If I were any other man …”

Why would he say those things unless he felt something for me?

“We just … wouldn’t be a good fit. We want different things.”

That seems like a paltry excuse. Maybe he doesn’t think his family would approve of me. They’re dignified and I’m definitely not. They run an impressive corporation and I … well, I’m standing here alongside Kayla making my hundredth americano for the day, a stained apron around my neck and a pair of worn Chuck Taylors on my feet.

It’s almost the end of my six-hour shift, and I’ve grown immune to the pep that the scent of ground coffee beans usually infuses into me. The whirr of the grinder at least has the decency to drown out my thoughts—and the impatient huffing of a twenty-something Little Miss Thang in her leopard-print fur jacket and tight jeans who’s looking at her pink-bedazzled phone and smacking on some gum.

“Is my coffee ready yet?” she whines.

The trusty old grinder has failed me. That, or she has an extraordinarily high-pitched voice. I turn and force a smile. “Almost!”

“Unbelievable. I’ve been waiting for, like, twenty minutes.”

“It’s been five,” I snap. “Five minutes.” And that is actually on the longer side of what any customer has to wait around here, and only because the line has been out the door all day long. I’m not sure what it is about the Friday before all the schools go on Christmas break, but the whole city has seemed extra crowded and busy wherever I go.

“Hey. You can’t be rude to me like that. I’m the customer.”

I really, really want to take this coffee and show her what I think about her customer-ness, but instead I grit my teeth and slide the coffee across the bar. “Here.”

“You can bet with this level of service, I won’t be back,” the woman practically screeches. Then she turns on a heel and leaves.

“Argh,” I growl as I turn to Kayla, who has just finished serving an elderly couple—blessedly the last ones in what has been a never-ending line. “Why are some people such jerks?”

“Right? It’s been a day.”

“How’s it going out here?” And that would be Josh, Kayla’s husband and the Java Awakening manager, coming through the swinging door that leads to the kitchen. He’s wearing his usual—a Star Wars Who’s Your Daddy? T-shirt, a long-sleeved flannel over top, and thick-rimmed glasses. A beanie covers his brown hair.

“Nothing we can’t handle, Solo.” Kayla winks at him.

“I don’t doubt it for a moment, Leia.” Chuckling, Josh approaches, his eyes never leaving his wife’s. He’s looking at her like she’s a freaking goddess and he’s her most faithful worshiper.



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