Free Red Red Rose by Stephanie Hoffman McManus

couldn’t help but chuckle. Will’s face was pinched in a
scowl, and I had to wonder if maybe I shouldn’t have discouraged Cassie from
going there. I’d have to make it my mission to find out if he had a little
thing for the cute, sassy barista.
    “Em’s
brother, James,” I told them. “He got leave to come home and be with his
parents, but I don’t know how long he’ll get to stay before they call him back
to duty.”
    “Maybe
I should have signed up for the army,” Reggie muttered under his breath and we
all chuckled.
    The
perks of being the boss meant that once Cassie clocked on, I was able to take
another break and I sat and chatted with Will for a while. Either he was
completely oblivious, or knew exactly what I was doing because not once did he
take the bait when I subtly brought up Cassie. I didn’t need him to say anything,
though. Gauging his reaction when she stopped by the table was enough.
    “So,
with Captain American in town, does this mean you will be moving on from Shaw?
Because, if you are, I’d like to throw myself at him shamelessly in hopes that
he’ll drown his rejection sorrows in me. If not, I wouldn’t mind having a go at
G.I. Joe.”
    Will
didn’t like that if the scowl on his face was any indication. I had to bite
back my smile.
    “So,
you tell me which one is yours.”
    Instead
of answering her, I gave her butt a shove toward the kitchen. “If you put as
much effort into this job as you do fantasizing about the men that come in here,
you’d be employee of the month.”
    “You
don’t even do employee of the month, but we both know if you did, I’d have that
shit in the bag. I got you his name, didn’t I?”
    I
shook my head. “Work. Go. It’s what I pay you for, not to be my pimp.”
    She
snorted and I was unable to make out what she mumbled under her breath as she
sauntered off.
    Will
didn’t stick around after that and made his excuse to take off.
     Cassie
pounced the second I re-joined her behind the counter. “Sooo . . . does he want
me?”
    “What
was all that about Shaw and James?”
    “To
see if it made Will jealous, obviously. So did it work?”
    “I
don’t know, maybe. He’s hard to read,” I admitted. I didn’t want to give her
false hope if I was wrong.
    She
let out a deep sigh. “But we would be so perfect together. You know? It’s like
destiny.”
    Before
I could tell her just to pull up her big girl britches and ask the guy out,
Danny appeared at the counter.
    “Actually
it’s a combination of pheromones, responses within the immune system and
chemical reactions in the brain.”
    “Whatever,”
Cassie shrugged. “Who cares whether it’s pheromones or fucking Aphrodite? My
point is that Will and I would be so good together,” she whined dreamily.
    “If
you don’t take into account the height difference,” Danny unwittingly
blundered. I cringed as Cassie’s features transformed into an intense scowl
directed at him. He wasn’t wrong that Will towered over her, but at
five-foot-two, with shoes on, just about everyone did and she didn’t especially
appreciate people pointing out her short stature. Danny quickly picked up on
that.
    “Of
course that doesn’t matter. I’m sure you two would be, um, very happy
together.” The scowl didn’t leave her face. “I’ll, uh, just take my napkin and
go sit down now.”
    “Ignore
him,” I laughed. “If you want something to happen with you and Will, then maybe
you should make the first move.”
    “But
I don’t want to make the first move,” she groaned. All I could do was shrug. I
wasn’t Cupid. Fortunately, work kept us busy through the rest of the day and I
didn’t have to listen to her love woes.
    Not
only did we open an hour later on Sundays, but we closed an hour earlier, so
when eight o’clock came around, Mitch, who was on closing tonight, and I were
both eager to get out of there. He walked me out to my car and made sure I was
safely inside before heading toward his own pickup. I