Coffee Cup Confessions - Trish Williford Page 0,23
And you’re in luck. It’s my last one.”
“Oh, thank heavens!” She pulls her wallet out of her purse and sighs. “I have a confession.”
My gaze moves to Jake, and he looks about as curious as I am. “Oh?”
“Every Sunday after church, my husband and I have lunch with our friends. The last time I hosted, I bought one of your cakes, and my friends thought I’d baked the cake. They were just so impressed and talked about it for weeks after that I couldn’t tell them I didn’t bake the cake. Well, tomorrow is my turn to host, and they’ve begged me to bake that wonderful cake again. I’m so sorry I’m taking credit for your hard work, dear. I feel quite awful about it.”
I can’t help but laugh, and it’s the first time in two weeks I have genuinely laughed. “It will be our little secret.”
She smiles in relief and pulls her wallet out of her purse. “You should really open your own bakery. You’re by far the best baker in town.”
“Wow, you’re going to make my head big,” I joke. “That’s my dream—to have my own bakery one day. For now, I really enjoy this. I also do wedding cakes in case you know anyone who’s getting married,” I tell her.
“My grandson is going to propose to his girlfriend soon, so I’ll send them your way.”
She walks away with her boxed cake, and I have no choice but to wait on the handsome customer who is next in line.
Jake is standing there patiently, his hands shoved in his pockets. “Can you take a break?”
“I’m technically not supposed to leave my area until I’m finished for the day,” I say.
He looks at what’s in my display case. “Is this what you have left?”
There are cookies, a few slices of lovers’ layer cake, cupcakes, and some candies.
“Yeah. I’ve been pretty busy this morning.”
“I’ll buy the rest.”
My eyes grow wide. “Excuse me?”
“You can’t leave your area until you’re finished for the day, so if you sell out, you’re done, right? Well, I’m going to buy the rest, so we can hang out.” He says it as if it’s not a big deal.
Crossing my arms, I look at him like he’s insane. “Do you have any idea how much that’s going to cost?”
He shrugs. “I don’t care. I’ll spend money to have time with you if I have to.”
“Now, I feel like a prostitute.” I snort.
He swallows hard and gives me a tight smile. “Not my intention. I’ll sell them at Mama Java’s. It’ll be good advertisement for you.”
“Really?” Hope sprouts in my heart at his suggestion. My baked goods in a coffee shop? That would be huge.
“Absolutely. Now, will you let me buy the rest?”
Before he can change his mind, I carefully bag everything and ring up the purchase. When I look down at my register, I cringe at the price. “Your total is one hundred forty-seven dollars.”
He hands me the cash without blinking an eye. “Will you go to Mama Java’s with me to drop this stuff off? Maybe grab a coffee?”
“Do you go anywhere else?”
“Well, I know their coffee is good, and they have this really comfortable couch that’s in a quiet area.”
Oh, that leather couch is nice.
I smile, knowing that he’s doing this just to spend time with me. “That sounds wonderful. I just have a few things to do here, and I’ll meet you there. Half hour?”
He grins. “I’ll have your latte ready.”
True to his word, there is a cup with black writing on the lid, waiting for me beside the comfortable leather couch.
I’ve missed your texts.
I laugh sadly at his message. “Is this going to be a thing? Writing on top of coffee lids?”
Jake shrugs from the other side of the couch. “They’re my coffee cup confessions.”
It’s hard to handle his cuteness and perfection.
“I’m so sorry I’ve been MIA.”
“Did I do something to offend you?” he asks.
“No. God, no. If anything, you have been such a welcome surprise. I mean, getting stood up on a blind date is usually my luck, but hitting it off with the hot coffee guy who was working that night just seems too good to be true. Things like this don’t happen to me.”
When he doesn’t look up from his coffee, I decide to continue to pass the awkward moment, “Uh, anyway, the reason I’ve been quiet is because I found out that my older sister is dating my ex-boyfriend.”
His head shoots up, and his eyes are wide. “What?”
“Yeah, tell me