I want You Deeper

There was no ignoring the disappointment in Renee’s voice, noticeable probably to anyone who wasn’t even looking at her. That included Alyssa, who was busy off to his left. But when he glanced over at her, he saw that she, too, was staring at Renee. He turned back to Renee and confirmed that, yes, she was pouting a little.

Jeremy decided to pretend he hadn’t even noticed all that. “I have a meeting, but you can do your interview quickly, I’m sure. Otherwise, we may have to recruit your cameraman to work back here.”

Nobody laughed, not even the camera guy. Instead, the camera guy turned and followed Jeremy’s sister and the reporter out the front door.

“I think she likes you.”

That came from Alyssa, who leaned close to say it secretively when she came over to hand a customer the extra lid she’d requested. Just that brief amount of closeness sent warmth through him, making it hard to focus on what was happening there.

He got so caught up in what he was doing-the line seemed to never end-that he didn’t even notice a full half hour passed until his phone rang. The sound brought a brief stop to the chatter in the cafe as people looked around to figure out who could be getting an actual phone call.

Crap. He knew what the call was about even before he withdrew his phone. Sure enough, it was his business partner’s name on the screen.

“Where are you, dude?”

Jeremy squeezed his eyes shut. He didn’t want to look at the clock hanging on the wall above the door to the cafe, but he knew he had no other choice.

“On my way!” Jeremy called out.

He gestured to Alyssa, who nodded, even though he communicated nothing through the gesture itself. He then began his push toward the door. He had to wait for a group to come in just to slip out.

“Quick, can I get a word from you?” Renee called out to him.

He hadn’t even seen her over there, standing almost in the road while she interviewed his sister. He assumed that was some fancy maneuver to get the store sign in the shot. Behind her, a big van bearing the station logo was parked. That must have been for the live shot she’d mentioned.

“I need to-”

“Thank you!” Renee called out as she rushed toward him. Over her shoulder, he saw his sister give him an apologetic shrug before heading back into the cafe.

“I have a meeting-”

Renee interrupted him again. “Just a few seconds, I promise.”

The cameraman lined up behind her, aiming his lens directly at Jeremy. He didn’t know if this was live or recorded, but if it was live, he didn’t want to walk off in the middle of it. The worst part of it was, that if his employees saw this on the news later, they’d know why he was late.

“You’re part owner in this cafe?” the reporter asked.

“I’m an investor,” he corrected.

Technically, he co-owned it with his sister, but right now, it was all about giving her full credit. Not just because of his other business but because she’d been the one here, working her fingers to the bone to make this place a success, while he’d been overseas for two years.

“This cafe has been getting a lot of buzz lately. To what do you attribute the sudden interest?”

He wasn’t sure how much credit he should give to the business owner who posted about it. Justin Travers was a pretty big name in this town, but he’d also laid off Alyssa. Right now, that made him a not-so-good guy in Jeremy’s mind.

Suddenly, Jeremy knew exactly what he had to say.

“Emily made this happen, with the help of her best friend, Alyssa. Alyssa runs a marketing firm here in Silicon Valley and she’s a genius. She came up with the latte art concept, as well as the idea to blast it across social media. She brought the customers in and my sister made sure once they were here, they wanted to come back.”Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“How did she do that?”

“Delicious coffee, of course. We have the best coffee in town. Don’t believe me? Come see for yourself.”

Okay, now he sounded like an ad. He was pretty sure that wasn’t at all what this reporter wanted. She confirmed that by pulling the microphone away from him.

Jeremy took the opportunity to bolt. “If that’s all, I need to get going. Thanks for stopping by!”

Without giving the reporter a chance to respond, he turned and rushed to his vehicle.

Is she breathing?”

“I “I don’t know. Maybe I should get a mirror and hold it up to

her nose.”

“I think she’s breathing. I see her chest moving.”

“Quit staring at her chest.”

At the sound of Emily and Jeremy snickering, Alyssa’s eyes popped open. She looked up to see her best friend and her best friend’s brother staring down at her. They were leaning over, their faces so close, it felt like she was still dreaming.

“What’s going on?” Alyssa asked.

She was still in that just-awake place where her body wanted nothing more than to pull her back down into sleep. But having Jeremy this close made her want to snap out of it and enjoy time with him. Either way, with the two of them staring down at her, going back to sleep wasn’t an option.

“You’ve been napping for three hours.” Emily straightened and walked away, calling back, “I thought you might want to get up and have dinner.”

“Pizza!” Jeremy said with raised eyebrows. She’d forgotten that old mannerism of his. She’d always found it massively adorable.

“From your favorite place,” Emily added, her voice distant now.

Now Alyssa wanted to sit up, but she couldn’t. Jeremy was still hunched over her. Alyssa narrowed her eyes and he seemed to suddenly realize he hadn’t moved. That was when he straightened.

Maybe she shouldn’t have been so quick to scare him off. She sat up and tried to get her bearings as Jeremy followed his sister into the kitchen.

They were setting the table. So this wasn’t a “sit on the sofa and watch TV” sort of takeout night. She should probably at least go brush her hair.

Once she was safely locked in the bathroom, she splashed water on her face, which meant she had to do a quick touchup of her makeup. It was silly. Had it been just her and Emily, she wouldn’t have even bothered with her hair. But had it just been her and Emily, they would be eating on the sofa, not at the table like they were all fancy.