Loverboy (The Company #2) - Sarina Bowen Page 0,87

name is Monique. I’m here about the barista job,” she says. “If you’re on your way out, I could come back tomorrow morning. But I saw your sign in the window, and I’d love to fill out an application.”

I blink back my surprise. “Nice to meet you, Monique. Let me just grab that application. I’d be happy to stick around while you fill it out. The last barista quit, leaving me high and dry. He couldn’t even be bothered to give me two weeks’ notice.” My anger burns brightly as I say these words.

But my foolish gaze looks toward the street anyway. Ready for a glimpse, in case he passes by.

He doesn’t, though. So I nip into the office and grab an application, and a good pen. Then I bring it out to the young woman in front. “Here you go! Can I ask if you’ve worked as a barista before?”

“Oh, totally!” she says, giving me a beautiful smile. “My summer job is at Maxi’s Coffee in Peoria, Illinois. Our machine isn’t quite as pretty as yours. It’s a Cecilware two group. But I’m sure I won’t have a problem adapting. I’ll make you some test drinks if you want to see me in action.”

“Let’s do that,” I say, stepping behind the counter to flip Lola back on. “What’s your availability?”

“Well, Tuesday and Thursday aren’t good for me. But I piled all my classes onto those days, so that I could work the other five. NYU is expensive.”

Five days of availability, including weekends? I nearly squeal with joy. “I can work with that,” I say coolly. After all, Gunnar has turned me into a more cynical person than I used to be. It’s quite possible that Monique is some kind of spy. If there’s one murder plot afoot in my cafe, there could easily be a second one. Or a third. The world is full of liars with their own twisted agendas.

I watch Monique write her name onto my application in a pleasant, loopy script, her earrings swinging playfully as she writes.

Nope! my subconscious says. She’s a cheerful college student who needs money for beer and books.

The truth is that I’m just not cut out to see the world the way Gunnar sees it. I’m the kind of girl who expects people to be who they say they are, right up until the moment they let me down.

And I like myself this way. If Monique is secretly a caffeine-crazed alien with a secret mission to colonize the Earth, I’m not going to figure it out until her spacecraft touches down in the alley outside. That’s just the kind of girl I am.

Monique finishes the application and looks up. “Shall I make you a drink? What will it be?”

“A decaf latte, please. Lola is a little finicky with the tamp. I won’t take any points off if it takes you a couple of tries to get it right.”

“I’ll win her over,” Monique says, ducking behind the counter and heading right to the sink to wash her hands.

I’m smitten already.

Humming to herself, Monique grinds a shot of decaf and tamps it expertly, dusting the group head of stray grounds. And she cleans the frothing arm like a pro.

A few short minutes later I’m sipping an excellent latte with a foam bunny on it. “When can you start?” I ask.

“Well, I could come in tomorrow. I need the paycheck. Your, um, flyer in the window says something about a signing bonus.”

That was Gunnar’s big idea. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to take his guilt money. “It’s five hundred bucks after your first shift, and another five hundred after your first month.”

Her eyes light up. “That’s wonderful. I can buy my last two textbooks, and still have money for beer.”

“Be here tomorrow before seven,” I tell her. “Welcome aboard, Monique.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

“Call me Posy,” I insist.

The minute she leaves, I text Gunnar. Don’t bother coming in tomorrow. I found someone else.

28

Gunnar

It’s Teagan. I can’t believe it. The Plumber is a gum-chewing donut-making Millennial.

A few minutes ago, I burst in on her in Posy’s office, where she was tapping madly on her phone. And when I glanced at the screen, instead of Instagram, I saw the ugly black screen of a dark web message board.

We locked eyes. But it only took me a moment to get over my shock. Then I clamped an arm around Teagan and said, “You’re walking out of here with me right this second. And you will smile, damn