Looking for Trouble(18)

And so was Clay… Clay had been strange at his shop, and it was that thought that made his stomach tighten, because he definitely wasn’t going to go back to Clay’s shop yet. What in the fuck had that been?

“Don’t do that. Don’t ever be less of yourself for anyone, especially not me. You’re better than that.”

It wasn’t that it hadn’t felt good to hear, because it had; but not only wasn’t he used to feeling that way, he sure as shit wasn’t used to hearing things like that. It couldn’t be how Clay really felt. How could it? He could tell he got on Clay’s nerves, and Clay didn’t know him well enough to think he was better than that anyway.

He stopped, trying to figure out how to keep himself busy, when he noticed the two buildings he stood in front of had a walkway between them. It was cobblestone with loose, painted rocks along the side of it. He glanced up to see a sign with a cup of coffee and an arrow, which obviously he was going to follow.

Then he saw another sign stuck in the ground by the colored rocks. He bent, studied the letters… Please paint and leave a rock. Help our garden grow.

He. Was. In. Love.

And he so wanted to paint a rock.

He was excited to get to the coffeehouse—the Dancing Unicorn—oh yes, he was definitely excited about that.

It was a funky little place with mismatched couches and coffee tables that looked like thrift-store finds. The tables were different colors too. People busily worked on them with their laptops and coffees in hand.

He sort of wished he had a laptop…or something to do on it.

He made his way to the counter just as the guy working there turned around. He looked about Dylan’s age, maybe a couple of years older, with sandy-blond hair and blue eyes.

Well, hello there, beautiful. “Hi.” He glanced at his nametag. “Troy.”

Troy cocked a brow and grinned. That easily, Dylan was 99.9 percent sure he was gay or bi. Maybe it was his lucky day.

“Hello yourself. I haven’t seen you around here before. I’m Troy, but I guess you know that. I’m the owner of the Dancing Unicorn.”

Jackpot. “I’m new…and temporary. I’m not sure how long I’ll be here, actually. Maybe a month or two? I know that’s not the ideal situation for any employer, but I’m looking for some work while I’m here.” His temp status would make it harder to find employment, but he also wasn’t going to lie.

“You’re kidding right?”

Shit. He should have figured this would happen. No matter how cute Troy was, who would want to hire Dylan for such a short amount of time? “I know it’s an inconvenience, but you won’t find anyone who will work harder than me. And I can stay until you find someone else, if that helps.” Please, please, please let this work.

“No, no. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s a coincidence because one of our baristas is pregnant. She went into premature labor. Everything is fine, thankfully, but we weren’t prepared to lose her for maternity leave yet, so New, you might just be right on time.”

Shivers tumbled down Dylan’s spine—both in excitement and because Troy did have him in some sort of lust-induced haze. “Dylan…I’m Dylan, not New.” Stupid, stupid, stupid. “I’m glad everything is okay. If you have an application, I’d love to fill one out.”

“I’m glad to hear that.” Troy moved to a cabinet behind him and bent. Dylan tried not to check out his ass, he really did, but Troy was hot, and Sad Eyes didn’t want him, and…Troy might be Dylan’s boss, so this definitely wasn’t a good idea.

Troy pulled out a tablet and handed it over.

“Oh, wow. It’s not paper. This is the first one I’m filling out today that isn’t.”

Troy laughed. “Yeah, they like to keep things a little old-fashioned on Main Street. That’s why they stuffed me in the corner.” When Dylan frowned, Troy added, “I’m kidding about that part…kind of.”

Just then a customer came in, and Dylan figured he should get out of the way and pretend he wasn’t drooling over Troy. “That’s good to hear. I’ll just…take this over there and fill it out.”

He sat down and began. The customer came and went, then another and another and another. Again, it took Dylan longer than he knew it should to fill out the application. It was a little harder for him to focus sometimes compared to others. The longer it took, the more stressed he became, and he felt like he was forgetting something. His stomach tightened, and his pulse sped up.

Finally, he got through it, but Troy and the other employee were both busy. Dylan waited, and a minute later Troy came over and sat across from him. “All done?”

“Yeah, sorry it took a bit…”

“No problem.”

He looked around, not sure what to say. When he saw a painting of a unicorn jumping over a rainbow, he grinned. “I think I’m in love.”

“We just met.”

Oh, Troy was good. “I meant with the coffeehouse, but you’re not so bad yourself.” Ugh. He shouldn’t have said that. He was going to ruin this for himself. Thou shall not flirt with your boss had to be some kind of rule.

“I have to admit, I’m a little bummed you’ll probably be working here. That means I can’t flirt with you.”