Coffee Break with the Billionaire (Cinnamon Rolls and Pumpkin Spice #7)

36. Chapter 36

Chapter thirty-six

Silas

I didn’t sleep well last night. Or the night before, and definitely not the night before that because the memory of kissing Fenella kept me awake. If I went to sleep, I might think it had been a dream.

Only it wasn’t.

Last night, it was the heaviness of dread that kept me tossing and turning.

Gunnar and Stella had returned home yesterday with a plane full of people and swept them up to the castle. Fenella had worked until noon and then disappeared to greet them.

I told her she didn’t need to take her shift, but she wanted to. I’m not sure if, like me, she’s counting down the hours until she leaves.

She didn’t work today; yesterday was her last shift and the knowledge hangs heavy in my chest.

I haven’t been looking forward to her party because once it’s over, she’ll be gone.

Fenella led her pack into Coffee for the Sole about an hour ago. They were like a gust of very expensive air blowing through. Every one of them was beautiful, but Fenella glowed the brightest of all.

“Hi.” She had smiled at me, and the walls regrowing around my heart had cracked a bit. “Everyone? This is Silas, my—”

“Boss?” I suggested.

She shook her head, eyes shining like purple crystals. “My friend. My very good friend.”

“Who you happen to like kissing.” I’m not sure who said it, but Fenella laughed as I flushed red. Apparently, they are a very close group who share personal details.

“You’re not supposed to know that, Milo,” Fenella chided, but didn’t seem too upset. “Silas, this is Rupert, Coral, Lavinia, and the loudmouth is Milo. That’s Mase, his wife Fiona, Tad and Demi. And this—” She drew a handsome man forward who shares her features. “This is my brother Ashton.”

He extended his hand and I could feel the scrutiny. “Good to meet you,” Ashton said. It’s easy to see they are siblings, but while Ashton is model attractive, he lacks the spark Fenella has.

Or maybe it’s the purple eyes. Ashton’s are a dark blue.

I said hello, answered a few questions about Battle Harbour, and took their orders. Leodie made most of their orders and I tried to give them for free, but Gunnar insisted on paying.

Stella gave me a sympathetic smile as they filed out to head next door.

The music starts at four o’clock. The thump of the bass, the laughter of Fenella and her friends getting next door ready for the party tonight has me gritting my teeth .

For once, I close Coffee for the Sole early. I had thought Fenella might need help but when I texted her to see if she needed anything, she told me everything was great and she’d see me at eight.

The many exclamation points she uses leave me with a bad taste in my mouth.

It’s not like Fenella is ignoring me, or even avoiding me. She’s texted me constantly since the night of the pumpkin carving when I kissed her.

She kissed me.

We kissed.

I’m not opposed to others knowing about it, but I know I’m going to look like an idiot if she leaves without saying anything.

I don’t even know when she’s leaving. Her meeting with her father is Tuesday so she should fly home Monday with the rest of them.

Her friends, who are currently spending time with her, while I stand next door, filled with self-doubt and unease and everything else that is going to make it hard to walk into her party.

We kissed, and I want more.

But I don’t think I’m going to get it. I should have known.

“Silas?” I turn, suspecting it’s not the first time Leodie has called to me. She and Jem are waiting by the door. “You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Dude, what are you wearing tonight?” Jem asks nervously.

I glance down at my flannel shirt and jeans. “Dunno.”

“Not that, I hope?” Leodie rolls her eyes. “It’s a big night for our little town. You have to look your best.”

I have no idea what my best is, but even if I did, I know it wouldn’t compare to what Fenella’s friends will be wearing.

I lock the door behind Leodie and Jem and head into the back to check through the resumes on file to see if there’s someone I can contact for an interview.

I got Fenella a present—an annotated book on the night sky and a small telescope that looks like an old-fashioned spyglass.

I ordered it the night after I showed her Neptune.

The floor of my apartment vibrates from the music downstairs as I shower and trim my beard, make myself something to eat, and then find something suitable to wear.

It’s harder than I expected, and I change three times. The ironic part of it is that I’m trying to impress Fenella but if I called her, she would be able to tell me exactly what I should wear.

I finally decide on black pants that may not be the latest style, but they look okay, and a black button-up shirt that Edie gave me a few years ago for a gift exchange and that I’ve never worn. It has silver threads woven in.

It takes me two shots of whiskey to get me moving.

I’ve never been nervous in social settings, but my feet feel like they’re stuck in mud, unable to move down the stairs. I hate feeling like this—like I’ll be walking straight into the worst that can happen and I won’t be able to stop it.

I wanted to be there right at eight, but it’s not until a quarter after that I head down the stairs to enter through the kitchen.

The place is packed already with bodies dancing to loud music. I catch sight of Wyatt as he winds his way through the crowd with an empty tray. “Hey,” he shouts over the music. “What do you think?”

I don’t know what to think.

I expected a crowd, not Mrs. Geordie, Nancy Tanker and Laura Schmidt in the middle of the dance floor with Milo and Duncan Laz, shaking it with everything they’ve got. Or Coy Schmidt leaning against the bar having a serious heart-to-heart with Ashton Carrington. Or Prince Kalle and Mase Stirling chatting in the corner with Wyatt’s coach—I recognized the billionaire baseball player when he came in earlier—while Edie and Mase’s wife fangirl over what Lavinia is wearing.

Which isn’t much—a dress that is more like a roll of bandages wrapped around her body in Big Bird yellow, with shoes to match.

There are so many I recognize from town, people that I had no idea Fenella knew.

I hover by the kitchen door and take it all in. Sophie catches my eye and hurries over as fast as she can wearing four-inch heels and a tight black dress, her reddish-brown hair pulled up into a messy bun and with more makeup than I’ve ever seen her wear.

“Silas,” she cries, a pink cocktail in her hand. “What do you think?”

“You look amazing,” I manage.

“No, your club.” She laughs. “But thanks.”

It was supposed to be pink. I expected pink, pink everything, and while the furniture and most of the drinks are of a pink hue, the walls are… not.

“She wanted to surprise you,” Sophie says, leaning in so I can hear her. “She was so excited about the idea.”

The ceiling is dark blue, almost indigo, and the colour works its way down the walls fading into a lighter blue, violet, lavender, and pink a few feet from the floor.

It’s the night sky, soon after sunset, just like the sky by the lighthouse. The ceiling and top of the walls are full of stars—silver pinpricks and sparkly shapes dangling on wires.

“Do you like it?”

So engrossed in the sight of the place, I don’t even see Fenella come up to me. But once I see her, I don’t know how I could have missed her.

She’s wearing silver, a strapless matte tube of fabric that starts at her chest and hits mid-thigh. It’s not tight but manages to accentuate every curve on her body .

My mouth dries up at the sight of her.

“It’s…” I pull my gaze from her and slowly turn in a circle. “What happened to pink?”

“I wanted this. For you.”

“It’s supposed to be for your birthday.”

“This is how I wanted it to look. It’s like a gift for you.” Her eyes shine as brightly as the amethysts in her ears and around her neck.

I’ve never seen anyone look so beautiful.

“Thank you,” Fenella says.

Apparently, I said that out loud.

“It’s the sky you showed me.” She points to a spot on the ceiling across the room. “That’s Neptune.”

That’s Neptune.

I can only stare at her, and she laughs with delight. Someone calls to her and she waves them away, her gaze fixed on mine. “Do you like it?” she demands.

Instead of answering, I reach out for that slim, silver waist and crush her and the dress against me. And then I kiss her.

In front of all her friends and the whole town, and knowing tomorrow is going to hurt more than I think I can bear, I kiss Fenella Carrington in the middle of her birthday party.