Page 55 of Living La Vida Mocha
“So presumptuous, aren’t we?”
“You’re not getting away with only one foot rub. What would the other foot say? She’d be all jealous and may be liable to kick you out of spite or something.”
“Well, we can’t have that now, can we?”
Like an expert, his thumbs massaged right into the sore spots and released a satisfying sound as a weird sort of heat blanketed my toes. It was sweet bliss and felt like the weight of the world had been released. I’d never been one to love a foot rub, and most of the time protested my feet even being touched, but with his magical hands digging into all the sweet spots, it was intensely pleasurable.
“All better?” Carter set my foot down; he could’ve rubbed my feet all night long with no complaints from me.
“Much, thank you.” I stood and pulled him onto his feet.
He hopped up with a jump and landed directly in front of me, staring down beneath his beautiful, full lashes. His lips parted slightly, allowing a puff of white air to escape.
Snowflakes started falling around us, and not just the tiny, wet variety. These were huge, big enough to contain all of Whoville. As the snow fell, the air around us fell silent, and a huge snowflake landed on Carter’s lashes, bobbing up and down with each blink.
Tenderly, I brushed it onto my mitten and held it in front of him. “Make a wish.”
“You’re supposed to do that with eyelashes, silly, not snowflakes.” His gaze fell to the mitten. “And it’s melted already.”
“Well, that’s promising.” My voice fell.
“It is, actually. Maybe all my dreams have come true, and the snowflake knew it to be true.”
“Oh, Carter. You do say the sweetest things.”
“Of course, I do. You seem to have the power to bring them out of me.” He gave me a wink and tugged on my arm. “Now let’s go see Nina about getting you a new brew so you can warm up.”
* * *
Beside the parked food trucks was the Coffee Loft Cabin. Not so much a food truck as a permanent setup in a small sea-can with the logo beside a pop-up window.
“Is this here all the time?”
“Of course. Everyone needs a hot chocolate after skating. The two go hand in hand.”
We walked over to the back of the cabin, where he punched in a code and unlocked the door.
“You can warm up inside.”
“What? No way.” I didn’t want to get underfoot. There was a long line up out front and no doubt, Nina was going to be hopping.
“It’s a perk of being the manager.” He waved me in.
“Oh hey, you two.” Nina stopped brewing and gave us both the once over, nodding happily as she grabbed a couple of paper cups.
Carter scanned the area. “How’s itbeantonight?”
“A whole latte crazy fun.”
I rolled my eyes while stifling a laugh. “Are coffee puns part of the training?”
He snapped his finger. “Nope, but they really should be. I’ll have Bea update the manuals.”
Nina hip-checked me as she lidded the cups. “His puns tend to rub off on me, and it becomes part of the lingo.” She turned to the window and passed out the two drinks with a genuine smile. “Java nice night.”
Carter fussed around the tiny space. “What would you like?”
“What are my options? I can’t imagine you’d have a whole store here?” Although, seeing all the machines, it was a possibility.