Page 26 of Christmas Coffee

“Right.” She smiles sweetly and blinks those big eyes at me. “The thing is, bonuses are usually unattainable. One bad shift will make it impossible to meet these goals, so unless you have a real offer, just skip over the whole bonus part. I work hard without an incentive. I don’t need it.”

Did I offend her? She’s leaning her hips against the counter, arms folded over her chest—defensive—with her face angled down to the floor. She shivers and rubs her arms.

I hate myself for the costume, but they work. We already sold more today than I’d thought possible. She could have done it without the costume, but that’s part of the reason why people are looking. It’s why people wander over. I know because several chatty women came by asking for Shannon, who isn’t here right now. I sent him inside the mall to thaw out while I finished up with Nova. I didn’t have to ask the guy twice.

I reach over to the space heater and turn it up. She doesn’t say anything. I lick my lips before pressing them together and then tell her the truth—well, most of it. “I need to incentivize the staff. You might work just as hard with or without a reason, but the rest of your crew won’t. That’s just the way it is. Case in point, Shannon. He’s been gone for over an hour and I told him to come back in twenty minutes.”

She snorts and nods. “I noticed that. Don’t worry about him. I can ride his ass.”

A visual pops into my head of her doing unspeakable things with Shannon. He’s closer to her age, and it’s a completely acceptable match, but it pisses me off. She deserves something better, not that slacker.

“What?” she asks, tipping her head to the side to catch my eyes. “Don’t believe me?”

“No, that’s not it.” I watch her, my eyes resting on hers. There’s a fierceness there, a tiger ready to spring, at me—at anyone—who hurts her. It’s not until that moment that I realize she held back when she first saw me. She could have ripped me apart, but she didn’t. Why? Unease swirls in my stomach as I consider her motivation for being here and putting up with the costume. Is she that strapped? Or am I just that unlucky? Sandy would have something to say about that, poor dog. Maybe this chick can sense the sizzle of my former four-legged best friend.

Silence stretches out so far that it snaps. Nova sighs, “Then just say it. You don’t think I can…fill in the blank, Kelvin.”

I want to hear my name on her lips, but she won’t say it. I growl, “Celyn.”

“That’s what I said.” She smiles saccharine-sweet, which irritates the hell out of me.

I blurt out what I’m thinking without filtering a goddamn thing. “I don’t think you can rein in Shannon and make him perform at capacity and that’s what I need, Nova. I need everyone working here to give it their all and act like this place belongs to them.”

She doesn’t hesitate. “Then make it belong to them.”

“What?”

She pushes off the counter and takes a step toward me. I can almost see the rapid thoughts bouncing through her mind. “Give your staff a share of the profits. If you do well, we do well. Bigger companies have stock, but this is a hut and I’m guessing that’s not an option. Besides, stock and that sort of thing is very abstract. Offer the baristas something they need, and let’s face it—we all need money or we wouldn’t be here.”

“That’s insane. There’s too much overhead.” Not to mention it’s a crazy-ass suggestion and hasn’t been built into the business plan. Although she just tripled the price of everything and people are willing to pay it. The thought tugs at me. I need to run the numbers to see if it’s possible. As soon as I think it, I hear my uncle’s voice ringing in my ears, scolding me for being a bleeding heart. Sympathy is the fastest way to tank your business and I can’t chance it this time. I shake my head. “Can’t do it.”

She shrugs and glances out the window. “You asked.”

My face crumples. “No, I didn’t.”

She snaps back toward me. “Well, you should have. I’m not new, you know. I was running a big company before I came here. I started it from the ground up, and—”

I glance at her, and cut her off, “Then why are you here? Come on, Nova. You should have done a little more believable embellishments on your application.” It’s meant laughingly. Everyone beefs up their resume, adding things that they didn’t really do. I call her on it. “You expect me to believe that you were a nineteen-year-old running a company?”

Her face goes slack as her jaw drops. “You think I’m lying?” I hear the bristling in her voice before it fills the shack. She steps toward me, her beautiful face full of anger. “Say it. Call me a liar if that’s what you think of me.”

“Nova—” I try to back away, but there’s nowhere to go. My back hits the counter and crazy Swiss Miss is toe to toe, hissing at me.

A moment later, she rounds and starts stuffing things into her huge-ass bag. “You can look down at me for being nineteen. You can look down at me because I’m a woman. I’m used to that. I can handle that, but I won’t tolerate being called a liar.” Her eyes bore into mine, sharp as razors. It’s a look that says ‘kiss my ass’ and has the finality that implies I’ll never see her again.

I step in front of the door, blocking her way out. She nearly steps on me, stumbles a pace, and then rights herself. She growls, “Move.”

“No.” What the hell am I doing? She was caught in a bullshit lie and I called her on it. She can’t throw a fit and get out of it. At the same time, who would quit over it? It doesn’t make sense.

She moves closer to me, and even though the top of her head is below my chin, I think she could get past me if she wanted. She sucks in a jagged breath and glares at me. “I won’t ask again.”

“Neither will I.” She softens for a half a beat, swallows hard, and looks up at me. “Please stay.” I can’t believe I’m doing this. If she were anyone else, I would have let them walk, but the way she handles the customers and the brains in that head of hers make her irreplaceable. That much, I know. If I’m going to make this happen, I need her. She’s a non-expendable part of the equation. I can see that already. With the few hours I’ve spent with her, that much is clear. If she takes ownership of this place, and I think she will, it’ll flourish as if the shack was hers. I have no idea where she came from, but apparently her past experience was real. I’ve seen techies with mad skills before twenty, but it’s rare for a person to have a mind for business at that age. I sure as hell didn’t.

She swallows hard and steps back, her gaze dropping to the floor. The way she holds her shoulders stiffly and with the air filling her chest, I can tell she’s pissed. Nova drops her purse on the counter and says, so softly that I can barely hear her, “Some people get upset about other things and act like lying isn’t a big deal. Well, it is to me. I can’t respect anyone who intentionally lies, manipulates, or omits the truth, so tell me or don’t tell me—but don’t lie to me. I won’t lie to you.”

Her fierce brown eyes meet mine. There’s a story there, something painful. Deceit cost her something, and this version of Nova lays in its wake. This is the aftermath of a storm that ripped her apart. I find myself nodding, not wishing to tear her down further.

After that, she’s tense, but as more customers come and go, she’s back to being that swaggering woman from the bar.