Even if the day promised to be hot enough to melt the hot asphalt, coffee was the fundamental condition for being able to work all day in the library without going for anyone's jugular. After all, it was necessary to do what was necessary to ensure public safety, even at the cost of giving in to an endemic weakness for everything that was harmful to health, such as caffeine and chocolate sweets.
For Natalie, theCommon Grounds it was an obligatory stop when he was on his way to work or on errands, so Bobbi, the bartender, knew it well. As soon as he saw her enter, he greeted her with a bright smile. "Good morning!"
How could he be so lively first thing in the morning? Natalie thought, annoyed, approaching the counter. However, he couldn't treat her too badly, because she was his trusted caffeine dealer. “Morning,” he muttered. «Surprise me with special effects.»
Bobbi gave her another bright smile. «Do you want to try something new?»
«I have so few vices that I am ready to broaden my horizons.» He looked at the sweets in the display case and noticed with deep regret that the donuts were finished. «I really think I'll eat that cinnamon brioche together with the new thing you're suggesting.»
“You were early today,” Bobbi observed. “Doesn't the library open at ten?”
«Yes, but I have a group of children forstory time."
«How good of you to volunteer for these initiatives!»
Natalie hadn't exactlyneed of money, so he volunteered in his free time, and reading stories to preschoolers once or twice a week wasn't too much of a commitment.
Bobbi handed her the paper cup and the bag of brioche. «Caffe latte with orange essence and chocolate flakes. Then let me know what you think."
“Sounds great.”
“It's the perfect incentive to take on a bunch of brats, isn't it?”
«Actually I don't mind. In fact, I'm happy to see children who love books. Furthermore, when they are three or four years old they are delicious. They are completely unfiltered and uncensored and make very witty and intelligent comments. I'm a real hoot. Last week one of them said: "Do you know that my dad doesn't wear underwear on the weekend?" It made me die laughing!”
Bobbi nodded. «My nephew is like that. My sister always says that she and her husband have to be very careful about how they speak in his presence even when it seems like he isn't paying attention, because then he reports everything to the nursery, in his own way of course. One day he told the teacher that he saw his parents wrestling naked! he sneered.
Natalie giggled. «Yes, it's very funny as long as other people's children make certain gaffes!»
"Already. When it's our turn…” Bobbi stopped and rolled her eyes as she looked toward the door. "Oh, Lord, help me..." he murmured, gasping.
It was then that Natalie heard the voice of the man who had caused Bobbi's sudden mystical crisis... and she recognized it immediately, because it wasn't the first time she'd heard it.
“Who can help a poor guy who desperately needs caffeine?”
Natalie turned to contemplate the Adonis who went by the name of Paddy Hurley, so handsome he seemed fake. Even in jeans and a t-shirt he had all the irresistible and transgressive charm of a rock star; Natalie could personally testify that even naked was worthy of applause...
His dark brown hair had bleached streaks as if he had spent a lot of time outdoors. He had sunglasses perched on the top of his head, so nothing shielded the magnetic gaze of his intense hazel eyes rimmed with long, thick dark lashes.
Natalie's heart beat faster and her cheeks turned red at the memory of what they had done together... She just had to think back to those erotic and sinful moments to feel a thrill of excitement.
Meanwhile Bobbi, behind the counter, stared at him in a trance. He had the expression of a grouper caught on a hook while Paddy smiled easily, as if he were used to being the object of others' admiration. Of course, he was a rock star!
“An iced coffee and a slice of blueberry pie, please.”
Natalie noticed that his tone had changed slightly; although courteous, he was less persuasive and more direct. It seemed to work, because Bobbi shook herself and suddenly remembered where she was. He cleared his throat and quickly replied: "Yes, of course... sorry."
"Thank you." Paddy gave her a dazzling smile, showing off his perfect white teeth. It was really beautiful, Natalie thought.
"If you want to sit at a table, I'll serve you right away."
Bobbi got to work but gave Natalie a meaningful look.My God, it's Paddy Hurley!, Natalie read on her lips.
She tried to slip away unnoticed, but Paddy had followed the direction of Bobbi's gaze and recognized her instantly.
"Hey Hello!" he exclaimed.
While he tried to remember her name, Natalie had time to pretend she didn't know who she was looking at. “Hello,” he said quickly before turning to Bobbi, paying and taking a latte and a paper bag. "See you tomorrow."
Paddy, however, did not seem willing to give up and be liquidated so easily. “Natalie, right?” he said as he approached. “You worked at a bar next to a bowling alley near Portland.”
In another life, Natalie thought. "Please?" He tilted his head as if he had no recollection of the two weeks they had spent in bed going at it like crazy.
«I'm Paddy Hurley. I'd know that mouth anywhere,” he whispered so only she could hear, and Natalie appreciated his discretion.
That mouth it was of the Natalie who worked at the bar, while the current Natalie had risen from the ashes during her university days and tried as much as possible not to think back to that period of her life. Paddy Hurley and the two weeks they spent together brought back fond memories, especially those in which they were naked, but he had invested many years and effort into becoming something more and had no desire to indulge in reminiscences of those years.
«Hi, Paddy. I really like your songs, I must say, but it's time for me to go" she dismissed him.
Paddy looked at her, shaking his head in disbelief. Natalie had to admit that her bewildered expression touched her, but she forced herself to obey the voice of reason and not that of hormones.
But he didn't give up. «I know it's you. Come on, stop and have coffee with me, let's have a chat" he insisted.
"I have to go to work." Natalie opened the door, gently pushing it aside, went out into the street, lowered her sunglasses and faced the heat with her head held high, setting off at a determined pace.
The past was... past, in fact. He had a new life, which he had built with a great expenditure of energy, and to preserve it it was necessary to keep the Natalie of the past locked in oblivion... even at the cost of not opening the door to a stud like Paddy Hurley.
Paddy watched as Natalie walked away along the sidewalk, her skirt fluttering around her slender legs, giving him a glimpse with every step of the thighs that he remembered perfectly tight around her hips. He remembered with equal clarity the two tattoos just under the curve of the buttocks, two mischievous red bows in a strategic position, as if to decorate the edge of the stockings. That memory brought a nostalgic and mischievous smile from him.
He went to sit at a table and, when the bartender served him, he asked her: "Her name is Natalie, right?"
«Yes, do you know her?»
“Do you live around here?” Paddy took a sip of cold coffee. It was just what he needed to cool off and wake up, because he had gone out early on horseback with his brothers and was still groggy with sleep and hot from the prohibitive temperature of that scorching day.
«Yes, he works in the library. He comes here to have coffee every morning before going to work, except on Mondays because the library is closed" Bobbi explained to him. “If it pleases you to know, he's single,” he added, winking.
Paddy smiled at her. Of course he was pleased to know this, because he found Natalie very pretty. Years ago he had long hair and now he wore it short and wavy; he liked flowing hair, but he had to admit that that jaunty bob suited her well because it framed her face and enhanced her supple neck.
She was truly a beautiful girl, able to stand up to him in everything, in revelry and even in bed. He and his brothers had formed a band, Sweet Hollow Ranch, and were touring bars in and around Portland at the time. Their compensation usually included accommodation, and Paddy remembered them staying in a motel just behind a bowling alley with a bar where Natalie was a waitress.
When they first met, there was such an immediate and powerful attraction between them that a few hours after making introductions they ended up in bed together in Natalie's studio apartment. She was very young like him, but they still spent two fabulous weeks together, seeing each other in all the moments when she wasn't working and he wasn't busy at concerts.
Then Paddy went on tour and Natalie went to university. In the following years he often found himself thinking of her, also because he had dedicated a song to her composed precisely in that period, which he always put in the set list at concerts.
It was a sign of fate that he lived in the same city as him, Paddy thought, smiling to himself. What he didn't understand was why she pretended not to know him; he certainly had his good reasons and he was intent on finding them out. It wasn't out of fear of a boyfriend, as the bartender had made a point of letting him know that Natalie was romantically free.
Paddy had not achieved success by giving up his weapons at the first difficulty. He wasn't one to give up fighting.
He sipped his coffee, nibbling on the cake as he looked out. Difficult challenges always stimulated him, especially if in that case the challenge was represented by a beautiful blonde with long legs and a smile that would have led even a saint into temptation...
