“I’m not the one who’s feeling the magic,” she said.
I nearly whacked my head on the counter from rising too quickly with a stack of paper cups. “The magic?” I asked, my voice rising in pitch and volume. How could she have known?
“You know, that connection you two have. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed it. I can practically see the little hearts circling your heads when you two are together.”
Actually, little hearts had been about the only thing that hadn’t circled our heads the night before. If it had even been real. It had felt like a dream. But if it had been a dream, that might mean it was something I wanted to happen, and I wasn’t ready to admit that. I needed to deal with Josh before I started having romantic dreams about other men.
When Owen came to the coffee shop to test the new brew, I knew that it must have been real, unless we’d had the same dream. He didn’t quite look me in the eye and he blushed as he spoke to me. Florence watched all of this with great amusement. I’d never convince her that there was nothing going on.
“Let me know how it goes,” I told him before he headed down to open the store and start the treasure hunt, my attempt at a bright, cheerful tone coming out a little squeaky. Yes, he was just as cute as I remembered, and my whole body tingled at the thought of the magic we’d made together—literally.
I had to break it off with Josh, I decided right then. Even if nothing ended up happening with Owen, if I could feel this way about someone else while dating Josh, it was a pretty good sign that Josh and I weren’t meant to be. I couldn’t marry him.
At that moment, Josh came up the stairs into the coffee shop, holding an enormous bouquet of flowers. “For you,” he said, presenting them to me with a flourish.
“Oh, uh, thanks,” I said. “This is a surprise.”
“Well, this whole store revamp thing is a big deal for you, and I wanted to congratulate you. I think I haven’t come across as very supportive, but I just want what’s best for you. I didn’t think that would involve working in a bookstore, but that’s my issue, not yours, and I can see how much happier you’ve been lately.”
He was saying all the right things—too right, come to think of it. He sounded like he’d been perusing the self-help section before coming up to see me because his whole speech was right out of one of those “learn to communicate with your mate” books.