He Found Me

Chapter 3: Lost But Found

Her

Today was going to be a very long day. The cafe had already been opened for almost five hours and so far only one person had come in and he didn't even buy anything! He just wanted to get somewhere warm where he could call an uber and a tow truck. He hadn't gotten into a car accident a few blocks down and his car completely stopped working. He said that we were the only place open for blocks. I felt for the guy. The snowstorm was really bad.

Since then I had done anything and everything to keep myself busy. I washed all the tables and swept the floor. I washed the windows, cleaned out the espresso machine, and even cleaned the entire bathroom which was not my favorite thing to do. There wasn't much else I could do. Suspecting that this would happen, I had packed a book in my bag currently hidden under the front counter. I supposed I would just have to read for the rest of the day if I didn't get any more customers. That didn't sound so bad to me. But first, I would make myself a drink. If no one else was going to buy anything then I might as well.

I made the perfect hot chocolate, even using the special nutmeg that we kept in the back of the shop which we saved for special occasions. I took a sip of my drink. There really wasn't anything like hot chocolate on a cold, snowy day. I plopped down on the stool behind the register, opened up my book and started reading.

It had only been one or two minutes before the bell to the front door rang, signaling that someone had just walked in. I worked on finishing the sentence that I was on before the customer came to the counter. I barely got to the last word before I heard, "Everly?"

A shock went through my system starting at my chest and going all the way to my fingers and toes. I gasped and jerked my head up. There, standing in the doorway, was the most beautiful man that I had ever seen. He looked like he had come straight out of my dreams. In fact, I was almost certain that I had dreamt about this man before. He had brown hair that shone in the light and glimmering blue eyes. His nose was perfectly straight, his jawline could cut straight through paper, and his lips, oh my gosh his lips. They were the best part about him, plump and pink and...

"Is it really you?"

Jerking out of my thoughts, I realized that he had asked me a question. I put my book down. "I'm sorry," I said. "What did you say?"

He didn't reply, just began walking towards me slowly, wide eyed as if he was worried that I would disappear at any moment. I watched him carefully. "Can I help you with something?" I tried asking again.

Again, he said nothing, just kept moving towards me, keeping his eyes glued on mine. He looked confused, disoriented. I became more worried. He was really starting to freak me out. Was something wrong with this guy? Maybe he got lost in the storm outside. Maybe he was stranded just like the man who came in earlier. I watched him cautiously as he approached me. That's when I noticed that he had on no sort of winter gear on whatsoever! No hat, no gloves, not even a coat! All he had on was sweatpants and a sweatshirt and, oh my gosh... he had on socks and sandals! No wonder he was so disoriented!

"You must be freezing!" I screeched. He probably had frostbite from the cold! I looked around frantically for anything that could help. "Go sit by the fireplace! I'll make you some hot chocolate!" I yelled out. I scurried over to the other side of the counter and started to feverishly make him a hot chocolate. "You can stay here as long as you want and don't worry about the price of the drink, it's on the house!" I grabbed the milk out of the fridge and poured it into a mug. I looked over by the fireplace. The man wasn't there. Maybe he was still by the front counter behind me. I was steaming the milk when I felt an arm slowly circle around my waist. I was tugged into a hard chest.

My body froze. What was happening? I began to panic and was about to scream for him to get off of me when I suddenly felt his nose run from my shoulder all the way up the side of my neck to my jaw. Tingles followed where his skin touched mine. I gasped and my knees buckled. Thankfully he was there holding me up, making sure that I didn't fall directly on my butt. I felt him take in a deep breath of air. Was... was he sniffing me?