Just One Cup

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 [REWRITTEN] : Aurora

The crisp winter breeze greeted me once again as I exited his warm cozy car. My skin pebbles with goosebumps. I probably looked like a featherless chicken.

"Perfect weather to wear so little, right?" Dante asked me, sarcasm dripping from his words while he draped his warm pea coat over my shoulders.

"Yes, perfect." I retorted and unlocked my car, hoping to get away from him as soon as possible now. He was infuriating, but he made my heart feel weird, my hands sweaty, and I didn't know what to do.

He stepped in front of me and as I was about to complain about him blocking my way, he opened the car door for me. I stepped in and muttered a small 'thanks.'

His hold on my car door however, stopped me from closing the car door. "Sweetheart, message me when you get home safely," he said softly into my ear, bending at the waist as he reached over to buckle my seat belt.

I closed my eyes briefly and inhaled deeply. I got a whiff of his expensive cologne, but something else as well.

Books and pine.

I looked up and smiled at him, mockingly sweetly as he moved back to his original spot. "I will see."

"You will see?" He repeated.

I hummed in reply.

His other hand reached over to delicately trail the back of his two fingers along the side of my throat. He continued to trace the edge of my jaw gently with his thumb. I closed my eyes, distracted by the way he affected me.

His warm, feather-like touches.

Suddenly, he grabbed my jaw gently and forced me to look into his eyes with a firm grip. "You will, is what you meant to say."

The courage I felt a second ago drained out of me as I felt my cheeks heat up from his steady gaze on me.

He knew.

"Glad we are on the same page now, Aurora. Drive safe." He let go of me and closed the car door delicately, disappearing from my sight.

I rested my head against my steering wheel, feeling all my energy and thoughts being replaced with him. I couldn't stop what I felt when I was around him, but I could create one simple rule: to avoid Dante.

Or at least I thought it was simple.

―⊰⊰―⊱⊱―

Eventually, I gathered the courage to get my arms and legs working to turn on the engine and drove to my cafe with thoughts of Dante clouding my mind. What surprised me the most was when I saw Jacob standing outside with the stormy snow clouding over us as I pulled up to the front.

"Jacob?"

"Aunty." He smiled and waved, too casually, soaking in the snow.

"Baby, what are you doing out here in the cold? You should have gone inside the cafe to wait." I spoke as soon as I got close enough to him. My fingers were freezing in this kind of weather as I reached out to brush against his dark strands.

"Mother went inside and saw that you weren't there, so she told me to wait for you here before she left."

My eyes widened in surprise, "Here?"

I opened the cafe door and ushered him inside to the small office down the hallway, without paying much mind to Bexley and Elora's curious eyes following us as our wet shoes squeaked across the marble floor.

"Jacob, my boy," I started gently while using a clean towel to dry off his damp hair before I continued. "You are welcomed in my cafe whenever you want. You are welcome to take as many treats as you want home," I said jokingly in the last part.