bottle with a piece of masking tape that had “T-special” written on it. “It’s a special mix I’ve been working on. It’s based on this cake they serve at Le Gateau, one of the restaurants I used to work at in Seattle.”
“Le Gateau?” Amy asked.
“Yeah, it’s a dessert cafe right outside of Pacific Place. Next time you’re in Seattle, you should go there. I can’t even begin to tell you how good it is. Anyway, there was this cake with cherries and almonds and apricots and a bunch of other stuff. I used to get it with coffee after work sometimes. The combination of the two was perfect. I thought it might work as a drink.”
“You were right. Amazing job. Do you mind if I make it the special next week? Maybe we can advertise it to go with one of the pastries.”
Tally grinned, his face so open and beautiful. It was the first time Lex had seen him looking completely happy since they’d met. Even before, in high school, he’d never had such a genuine grin on his face. Not that Lex remembered, anyway. It made his palms itch to slip around Tally’s face, and his lips wanted to…. Damn. Not again. He focused on Tally’s excitement instead of his mouth.
“You really want to make it the special? That’s great! I thought it would go maybe with that plum crumble, or if that’s too much fruit it might be good as a contrast to the bittersweet brownies, you know, sweeter to balance out the dark?”
Lex smiled in return and started to wonder if, awkward after-kiss feelings or not, hiring Tally might have been the best thing he’d ever done. The guy had great instincts.
“Let’s run it with the brownie. They’re popular anyway. But write down the proportions in that syrup. We don’t want to run out in case it’s a huge hit.”
“Already did!” Tally slipped a note card from his back pocket and handed it to Lex. He knew Lex kept a recipe file for all the special mixes he’d concocted over the past few years.
“Thanks—” Just then the shop bell rang, and Tally froze before tossing them a rueful smile and jogging back to the front to wait on the new customer.
“You do know you just made his entire week, right?”
“Mine too. Give me another sip of that.” He drank appreciatively. “You know what, go out and have Tally make you another one. This is mine.”
“Hey!” Amy laughed. “Oh, I almost forgot. Perfect coffee addled my brains. That new nurse, Mason, in my ER that I was telling you about a few weeks ago?”
Lex groaned. He’d forgotten their conversation about the nurse in the wake of everything that had happened lately. It had been one of the times that Amy tried to set him up with someone she knew from Astoria. He routinely blew her efforts off.
“I was trying to forget. I’m really not into blind dating, Ames.”
“I know, but he’s cute, Lexie, and he’s asked me about you a few times.”
“How old is he again?”
“Twenty. But he’s really mature.”
Lex shook his head. He didn’t want some twenty-year-old nurse, he wanted Tal—Lex caught himself thinking about exactly how much he did want Tally for what had to be the hundredth time that day and cringed. What was it going to take to get over one kiss?
“You know what? Give the kid my number. I’ll ask him to dinner.”
“Really?” Amy looked ridiculously pleased with herself.
“Yes, really. Dinner only, though.”
“Yeah, yeah. Dinner only.”
After Amy left, humming to herself and happy that she’d finally gotten Lex a date, or at least the potential of a date, Lex slipped out into the hallway to watch Tally. He’d done it a few times a day since Tally had started taking the afternoons. Lex told himself that it was just good business to keep tabs on his employee, and he was right. It was. But it was also pure joy to watch Tally work, wiping the counter, taking orders, leaning over to get something from the shelf under the espresso machine. Lex groaned. It was not in his best interest to watch Tally bend over. Those
“Le Gateau?” Amy asked.
“Yeah, it’s a dessert cafe right outside of Pacific Place. Next time you’re in Seattle, you should go there. I can’t even begin to tell you how good it is. Anyway, there was this cake with cherries and almonds and apricots and a bunch of other stuff. I used to get it with coffee after work sometimes. The combination of the two was perfect. I thought it might work as a drink.”
“You were right. Amazing job. Do you mind if I make it the special next week? Maybe we can advertise it to go with one of the pastries.”
Tally grinned, his face so open and beautiful. It was the first time Lex had seen him looking completely happy since they’d met. Even before, in high school, he’d never had such a genuine grin on his face. Not that Lex remembered, anyway. It made his palms itch to slip around Tally’s face, and his lips wanted to…. Damn. Not again. He focused on Tally’s excitement instead of his mouth.
“You really want to make it the special? That’s great! I thought it would go maybe with that plum crumble, or if that’s too much fruit it might be good as a contrast to the bittersweet brownies, you know, sweeter to balance out the dark?”
Lex smiled in return and started to wonder if, awkward after-kiss feelings or not, hiring Tally might have been the best thing he’d ever done. The guy had great instincts.
“Let’s run it with the brownie. They’re popular anyway. But write down the proportions in that syrup. We don’t want to run out in case it’s a huge hit.”
“Already did!” Tally slipped a note card from his back pocket and handed it to Lex. He knew Lex kept a recipe file for all the special mixes he’d concocted over the past few years.
“Thanks—” Just then the shop bell rang, and Tally froze before tossing them a rueful smile and jogging back to the front to wait on the new customer.
“You do know you just made his entire week, right?”
“Mine too. Give me another sip of that.” He drank appreciatively. “You know what, go out and have Tally make you another one. This is mine.”
“Hey!” Amy laughed. “Oh, I almost forgot. Perfect coffee addled my brains. That new nurse, Mason, in my ER that I was telling you about a few weeks ago?”
Lex groaned. He’d forgotten their conversation about the nurse in the wake of everything that had happened lately. It had been one of the times that Amy tried to set him up with someone she knew from Astoria. He routinely blew her efforts off.
“I was trying to forget. I’m really not into blind dating, Ames.”
“I know, but he’s cute, Lexie, and he’s asked me about you a few times.”
“How old is he again?”
“Twenty. But he’s really mature.”
Lex shook his head. He didn’t want some twenty-year-old nurse, he wanted Tal—Lex caught himself thinking about exactly how much he did want Tally for what had to be the hundredth time that day and cringed. What was it going to take to get over one kiss?
“You know what? Give the kid my number. I’ll ask him to dinner.”
“Really?” Amy looked ridiculously pleased with herself.
“Yes, really. Dinner only, though.”
“Yeah, yeah. Dinner only.”
After Amy left, humming to herself and happy that she’d finally gotten Lex a date, or at least the potential of a date, Lex slipped out into the hallway to watch Tally. He’d done it a few times a day since Tally had started taking the afternoons. Lex told himself that it was just good business to keep tabs on his employee, and he was right. It was. But it was also pure joy to watch Tally work, wiping the counter, taking orders, leaning over to get something from the shelf under the espresso machine. Lex groaned. It was not in his best interest to watch Tally bend over. Those
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