Vampire Romance Series - Coffee And Vampires 1-7 (Vampire Romance Bundle) by S L Hartley
Authors: S L Hartley
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Chapter 1
Page was not having a good day. The cash register decided to start acting up again twenty minutes into the morning rush. By the time she got it printing receipts properly again, her hands and clothes were stained with dark ink, which had also managed to splatter over a good part of the floor. Then Janine came in late for her shift and managed to walk through the puddle without noticing. The Nike-shaped footprints she’d left from the counter to the storage room took nearly two hours of on-again-off-again scrubbing to remove, all the while apologizing to customers for the inconvenience and tripping over that damn “WET FLOOR” sign.
They can see us scrubbing , Page thought irritably. Of course the floor’s wet.
The ink had mostly come off her hands by now, though her fingernails still looked grungy. Her shirt, a lavender button-down which was rather plain but also reasonably comfortable, was probably beyond saving. A headache had started pounding just behind her eyes sometime around two, exacerbated by the screaming toddler at the table by the window. His mother remained thoroughly engrossed in her laptop, not seeming to notice when the screaming stopped or started. The fact that she only ordered a single large coffee in two and a half hours certainly didn’t improve Page’s opinion of her.
“ She didn’t even leave a real tip,” Janine complained in an undertone when the woman finally packed up and left. “Just a lousy dime in the jar when she ordered.”
Page twisted her lips in a grim imitation of a smile and picked up a damp rag to wipe down the table. Quinn had been supposed to come in to relieve her at three, and so far looked to be a no-show. Which meant that Page would be staying to help Janine until close. Again.
At least the table was clear now, and neither the mother nor the kid had left much of a mess to deal with. She bent to pick up a discarded napkin but misjudged her distances when straightening up. Page bit back a few choice words as the back of her head struck the bottom of the table and half-crabwalked the rest of the way out.
“ You okay, kid?”
Of course. Of course Nicholas would be early today.
“ Yeah. ‘m fine,” she managed, feeling more than a little ungraceful. The ink stains on her shirt, her blackened nails, and the coffee grounds which she’d just noticed smudged onto her jeans seemed horrifically conspicuous. Her hair was probably an oily mess, too. She didn’t dare touch it to find out.
When she looked up, his eyebrows were still screwed together slightly in concern over his square-rimmed glasses, though his mouth had quirked to the side in his typical half-grin. He ran a hand through his unruly short dark curls. “You sure? You look a bit rough.”
“ I’ll be okay,” Page replied. Probably going to be a goose egg on the back of her head, too. That would just top everything off. “Double-capp, right?”
“ If it’s not too much trouble?”
Page shook her head. “Janine’ll ring you. I’ll get started on it.”
At least pulling the shot gave her something else to look at for a couple minutes. It seemed to Page that she made a fool of herself every time she saw Nicholas. He came into the café every weekday at about four-thirty. And sometimes on Saturdays, too.
Not that Page had been paying any attention, of course. He was just another regular.
Another regular with big blue eyes and a dimple.
Dammit.
She finished the drink, and Janine called it for her. Page guessed that the two of them had about fifteen minutes before the after-work rush came in, so nipped into the restroom for a minute to attempt to clean herself up.
Splashing a bit of cold water on her face made her feel a little less haggard, but she couldn’t do anything about the puffiness of her dark almond-shaped eyes. She frowned a little at the mirror and pulled her long, coarse black hair out of its ponytail, finger-combing it around her face before impatiently pulling it back
Page was not having a good day. The cash register decided to start acting up again twenty minutes into the morning rush. By the time she got it printing receipts properly again, her hands and clothes were stained with dark ink, which had also managed to splatter over a good part of the floor. Then Janine came in late for her shift and managed to walk through the puddle without noticing. The Nike-shaped footprints she’d left from the counter to the storage room took nearly two hours of on-again-off-again scrubbing to remove, all the while apologizing to customers for the inconvenience and tripping over that damn “WET FLOOR” sign.
They can see us scrubbing , Page thought irritably. Of course the floor’s wet.
The ink had mostly come off her hands by now, though her fingernails still looked grungy. Her shirt, a lavender button-down which was rather plain but also reasonably comfortable, was probably beyond saving. A headache had started pounding just behind her eyes sometime around two, exacerbated by the screaming toddler at the table by the window. His mother remained thoroughly engrossed in her laptop, not seeming to notice when the screaming stopped or started. The fact that she only ordered a single large coffee in two and a half hours certainly didn’t improve Page’s opinion of her.
“ She didn’t even leave a real tip,” Janine complained in an undertone when the woman finally packed up and left. “Just a lousy dime in the jar when she ordered.”
Page twisted her lips in a grim imitation of a smile and picked up a damp rag to wipe down the table. Quinn had been supposed to come in to relieve her at three, and so far looked to be a no-show. Which meant that Page would be staying to help Janine until close. Again.
At least the table was clear now, and neither the mother nor the kid had left much of a mess to deal with. She bent to pick up a discarded napkin but misjudged her distances when straightening up. Page bit back a few choice words as the back of her head struck the bottom of the table and half-crabwalked the rest of the way out.
“ You okay, kid?”
Of course. Of course Nicholas would be early today.
“ Yeah. ‘m fine,” she managed, feeling more than a little ungraceful. The ink stains on her shirt, her blackened nails, and the coffee grounds which she’d just noticed smudged onto her jeans seemed horrifically conspicuous. Her hair was probably an oily mess, too. She didn’t dare touch it to find out.
When she looked up, his eyebrows were still screwed together slightly in concern over his square-rimmed glasses, though his mouth had quirked to the side in his typical half-grin. He ran a hand through his unruly short dark curls. “You sure? You look a bit rough.”
“ I’ll be okay,” Page replied. Probably going to be a goose egg on the back of her head, too. That would just top everything off. “Double-capp, right?”
“ If it’s not too much trouble?”
Page shook her head. “Janine’ll ring you. I’ll get started on it.”
At least pulling the shot gave her something else to look at for a couple minutes. It seemed to Page that she made a fool of herself every time she saw Nicholas. He came into the café every weekday at about four-thirty. And sometimes on Saturdays, too.
Not that Page had been paying any attention, of course. He was just another regular.
Another regular with big blue eyes and a dimple.
Dammit.
She finished the drink, and Janine called it for her. Page guessed that the two of them had about fifteen minutes before the after-work rush came in, so nipped into the restroom for a minute to attempt to clean herself up.
Splashing a bit of cold water on her face made her feel a little less haggard, but she couldn’t do anything about the puffiness of her dark almond-shaped eyes. She frowned a little at the mirror and pulled her long, coarse black hair out of its ponytail, finger-combing it around her face before impatiently pulling it back
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