Seventh Seal - Jacquelyn Faye Page 0,43

up for work this morning and I feel like I woke up with three hangovers after spontaneously orgasming while floating in my office?" He cocked an eyebrow at me.

"Maybe."

"Could you give a guy some warning next time?" He was playing, but I still felt guilty.

"I will, next time I'm conscious."

"Oh, shit." He looked at the two noobs still running the one register together. "You guys have the desk. I'll be back shortly. If you get into a jam, just scream really loudly."

"Yes, Sir," They answered in unison, both shooting me shy glances. They weren't vamps, but I could still feel the fear coming from them. It made me wonder what horror stories Jason had been telling them about me behind my back.

"Come on," Jason said as he walked around the counter and put his hand on my back. "I'll buy you a cup of coffee."

The store was busy, but not packed. It was after noon but not quite evening when things would pick back up. Even the coffee shop was a little slower than usual. The line was only five people deep, which saved me an extended period of Josie's nervous glances. At least Candace had her back to us while she was slinging espressos. She probably would have taken one look at me, abandoned her post, and run over to me to give me a hug. She did turn around when Josie asked if I'd been run over by a train.

"Sort of." I blushed.

She sputtered at my response. "Not your first train wreck, how come you look like death?"

True to my musings, Candace wandered around the back of the counter and wrapped my stomach in a hug before wordlessly going back to the espresso maker.

"Beats the hell out of me."

"It looks like it already did." She leaned over the counter and pulled at the bags under my eyes.

She eyed the line behind me. "Tell me later."

"I will." I nodded for emphasis.

"What'll it be for you today?"

"I'll have a cup of caffeine, please."

"Make it two," Jason said with a chuckle and pulled out his wallet.

"Put that away," Josie told him and nodded at Candace.

We moved to the waiting counter so the lady behind us could order and watched Candace as she grabbed two paper cups off the stack, flipped them into the air, and slammed them down on the counter. She set the espresso machine to brew four shots, poured coffee into the cups, filling them halfway full, waited a moment for the espresso, and then dumped two of them into the coffee. Greedily, I held out my hands, but she gave me a dirty look as if I was interrupting her performance. She flipped a bottle of vanilla syrup over one handed like a bartender, splashing a swirl into the brew before flipping it back into the stainless-steel rack. Then she committed the ultimate sin, she poured milk into a frothing pitcher and jammed it onto the steam spout, twisting the spigot and filling the air with an angry hiss.

I opened my mouth to protest and debated jumping the counter to stop her madness, but she held up her hand in a preemptive measure. Once the milk was heated, she stuck the end of an electric frother inside and whipped the ever-loving shit out of it. My lip quivered as she brought the pitcher over the cups. "Please, no," I whispered.

She grinned and stuck a long spoon into the milk and extracted a puffy cloud of foam and dolloped it on top of the coffee. Please be done. She couldn't hear me, I knew, but I hoped my inner pleading reached her ears somehow.

She wasn't. She slammed a shaker of sparkling powder against her wrist, shaking it over the froth.

Now?

She took a squeeze bottle and nested a jewel of caramel on top.

I just want some fucking coffee!

She used her thumb to trace an intricate pattern on her forehead with one hand and held the other over both cups and muttered something in her native language. I could have sworn her hand glowed pink and then the froth glistened iridescently like unicorn barf.

She looked up, smiled, and nodded, passing both cups over the glass partition. "Enjoy," she whispered.

"Can I get a lid?" Jason hesitated before taking the coffee.

He withered under Candace's disgusted glare.

"Never mind. This is quite beautiful. What is it?"

"It's not on the menu. I call it a Witch's Tit."

"That explains the caramel nipple." I stared blankly at the cup in my hand, unsure if I could handle all