“What are we doing here? Are you researching what normal people do in the morning?” David took a gulp of his coffee. A flicker of surprise crossed his face as the rich flavor passed over his tongue. “God, this is so much better than the crap I normally drink.”
“That’s because it’s hot and freshly made. By the time you remember you ordered a coffee it’s cold with scum on the top. Not that I’m complaining, you’re the best programmer I’ve got. I appreciate your single-minded dedication to your work. To answer your original question, I’m here to see a woman.”
“What? You’re going to pluck a woman out of the lineup here?” David scanned the row of people waiting to order.
“Of course not. I’ve made arrangements.” Liam sat back in his chair. He tried out the deep breathing technique Marcus had used to cope with pain. If it had been anyone other than his brother who’d come up with this idea, he’d have shot him down in an instant. Liam had spent the last ten years avoiding love and relationships.
The two times he’d let himself feel something for a woman had ended in absolute betrayal. He was smart enough to know his limitations. He wasn’t love material. Iliana might have said she loved him, but what she really meant was she loved his money and was willing to put up with the rest of him for the sake of a cushy life. The fact that she’d hooked up with another rich guy within a month of their breakup proved it. Forcing a smile to hide his discomfort, he glanced at his oldest friend.
“Spill, Liam. That’s the look you get when you’re about to crack a competitor’s system.”
“I did some research last night.” Liam waved his hand in a vague gesture.
“In other words, you hacked.”
“Shush, not so loud. You’ll freak people out.”
“Chill, man, people think hackers are pimply teenagers who live in their mothers’ basements. You’re wearing a suit. No one would ever believe you know more tricks to bypass security systems than anyone else on earth.”
“I don’t know more than anyone else on earth, just the vast majority. Anyway, I went onto a dating site and found a woman. She’s going to be my fake girlfriend. According to her bank statement, she comes here for coffee every morning. I want to make sure she’s appropriate. The photo on her profile seemed too good to be true.” Despite his best effort to remain calm, his heartbeat accelerated.
“Does she know about this?”
“Of course not. The emotion has to be genuine, on her part at least. So I can’t tell her.”
“What if she falls in love with you?”
“Unlikely—I’m not all that lovable. And even if she does, she’s falling in love with a regular guy, not me. After I finish the novel, I’ll let her down gently with a nice piece of jewelry or a trip to Antigua.”
“And if you fall in love with her?” David sat back in his chair as though making sure he was out of range of Liam’s fist.
“Not going to happen, man. Not going to happen.”
A bus stopped out in front of the café; the passengers got off. The majority trudged down the street toward their day jobs, looking bored already. Two walked into the coffee shop—an older man in a stained raincoat and a young woman in a dark-gray fitted pantsuit. The drab color didn’t hide her curvaceous hips or full breasts. Light-brown hair, more golden in places, was pulled back into a long, thick ponytail. Her face was very pretty with full, pink lips, glass-cutting cheekbones, and light-green eyes. She had the sort of face that lingered in the memory long after she left.
Liam took a long swig of his coffee, hoping to drown the niggling sensation of pending doom in his stomach. “There she is.”
David swiveled and nearly fell off his chair. “Her photo didn’t lie. I’ll say it again, my friend. You are so screwed.”
…
Lorelei counted the number of people in front of her and then glanced at her watch. If everyone ordered promptly she’d still make it to work on time. It was the ditherers who threw the day off. How could people spend ten minutes in the lineup and then not know what they wanted to order when they got to the counter? She didn’t even need to tell the cashier what she wanted; it was the same every day. Even though she’d only been in San Francisco for a little less than a month, she’d been coming to this coffee shop each workday. It gave her a sense of family, seeing the same faces each morning, which she missed having moved so far from home.
Maybe that was her problem. She was too predictable, ordering the same thing every day, never spicing it up or trying something new. Like her taste in men—predictable. Each and every one had turned out to be a liar and a loser. Today she should try something different. She stared at the menu behind the counter, wishing genuine love were printed on the chalkboard. She’d order that in a heartbeat.
As if on cue, her cell phone vibrated in her bag. She eventually found it under an empty package of cinnamon gum. Groaning as she saw her mother’s number on the screen, she pressed answer anyway. If she didn’t speak with her now she’d keep calling until she did.
“Good morning, Mama.”
“Morning? It’s almost noon here, aren’t you at work already?”
“No, it’s only quarter to nine. Remember, I’m three hours behind you now.” She was sure her mother ignored the time difference on purpose, just to show she could still interfere in her daughter’s life whenever she wanted.
“It’s Wednesday. At least it’s Wednesday here. Do you have a date for the weekend yet?”
Lorelei clenched her jaw and mentally counted to ten. When that didn’t calm her she counted backward, in Spanish. Her mother had lived in America for the past thirty years, but when it came to her daughter, she was 100 percent old-school Mexican. In her mother’s eyes, Lorelei’s main purpose in life was to marry and provide grandchildren. A responsibility she was reminded of almost daily.
“I think I’ve been disconnected? Hello? Lorelei?”
“I’m still here. Yes, it’s Wednesday. I’m the other side of the country, not the globe. As for a date, I haven’t got one yet, but the week is still young.”
“Haven’t you met anyone?”
“Mama, I’ve been in San Fran for twenty-eight days. I haven’t had time to meet many people.” She was three customers away from the counter. With any luck she’d legitimately be able to hang up in approximately two minutes. Seemed as though she’d have to have the usual, because there was no way she was going to stand at the front of the line and read the menu from there.