“There's a TV in the living room, you're welcome to order a pay-per-view movie if you'd like.”
I laughed. “I didn't travel all the way to Boston in order to watch TV.”
He laughed. “No, I know what you traveled all the way to Boston to do.” He left the rest unsaid, and I wondered if he knew all of it. I wondered if he suspected what I really wanted from him. Still, he walked over to his wallet and fished out a couple bills before putting it back in his pocket. “There's a coffee shop on the corner of 17th and Lake, just a couple blocks from here. They have great live music or poetry readings, depending on the night. I highly recommend it.”
He held out his hand I saw that it was a couple of hundred dollar bills. I was hardly a stranger to money. My own father was upper-middle class himself, and I knew that if anyone could afford to give a couple hundred bucks for a night of fun, it was my billionaire stepbrother.
I accepted the money with a shrug. I felt like letting him know just what I thought about him interrupting this evening with business, but I didn't. He seemed to accept that I was upset but even I knew that if he was doing this, it was probably something important.
“Hey, chin up. I'll be back before you knew it.” He finished tying his tie and grabbed his suit coat, then was out the door before I knew it.
I laid in his bed for a couple minutes, thinking I might just watch a movie or something on his TV. Then I rolled over and I smelled him on the pillow. I'd drive myself crazy if I sat here all night.
I started to pull my clothes on. There was no way that the sweater and jeans would really protect me against the cold Boston winter, but I was hoping that this coffee shop was close as he said it was. Besides, I thought as I stole one last touch of my belly, I was being warmed from the inside by the hot liquid that James had put inside of me.
Chapter 13
The coffee shop was, according to my phone's GPS, only four blocks away. The walk seemed to take only an instant, as I was lost in my own thoughts the whole way anyway. It had a nice, easy-to-see sign out front, but my heart sank as soon as I saw the name of it.
James' Joint
Of course, it could have been another James. Somehow though, in my heart I knew that James had the gall to send me to his own establishment. If I was supposed to forget about him and enjoy the evening, it would be difficult to in a place that bore his name.
I almost left and tried to find another place, but just as I turned around, someone left the place. I could feel the warmth of the place brush up against against the cold out here. And then there was the amazing smell of delicious coffee. I looked inside, noticing that the place was busy, but not crowded. The artwork on the walls was unique, but not pretentious. I loved it. I would kill for a place like this in New York.
I quickly made the decision to come in from the cold and went inside. My fingers tingled with the warmth of the shop and I rubbed my hands up and down along my arms as I tried to shake the cold off. A chalk board had the special of the day, along with a trivia question for a free cup of coffee. There was a stage set up in one of the back corners that drew my eye. It was empty now, but the whole shop was obviously set up to focus on that stage.
I staggered up to the counter, drinking it all in. When I got up there, the barrista was looking at me like I was a little crazy. To be honest, I probably was a little crazy. She was really cute, with intense green eyes and a shock of red hair splitting her brown hair into chunks. “Can I help you?”
“Um, yeah. I'll take a chai latte.”
“Ok, sure, anything else?”
“No, that's it.”
“It'll be $4.87.”
I smiled a little to myself. It was expensive for a chai latte, but I'd expect nothing less from James. I opened my purse up and looked inside, seeing just the two bills that James had given me. My credit card was probably already turned off if my dad had seen what kind of bill I had already racked up on it. I gave a little bit of an apologetic smile to the barrista as I handed her the hundred dollar bill. “Sorry.”
She laughed, then pulled out a marker to check if it were a forgery. “No problem, we see it all the time. You must be with Coleman?”
My heart sank. Coleman was James' last name. How had people already found out that I was sleeping with my brother? It didn't seem possible. “Excuse me?” I asked.
She must have sensed my concern. “Um, you know. Coleman Corp. Mr. Coleman likes to do business meetings here and I thought you might be here for one of them since you looked like you were from out of town.” Her eyes went to my weather inappropriate clothing.
I sighed in relief. “Yeah, that's it. Sorry, it's been a long day.”
She seemed to be relieved as well. “That's no problem.” She counted out my change and handed it back to me.
I watched as she made the coffee drink. “Does he own this place?”
She looked back over her shoulder. “Part owner. He's mostly hands-off but he occasionally brings in a piece of art that we absolutely have to display on the walls, or sends us a band that we must absolutely let have a gig.”
I nodded, drinking it all in. Suddenly, my eyes fixated on something on one of the walls. “Let me guess. That's one of the pieces that he insisted on.”
She followed my gaze to the wall. “Oh yeah, that license plate. He said it belonged to the only girl he ever loved.”
I laughed. “It was on his old Mustang, one that he wrapped around a tree in his freshman year of college.”