Page 48
Ryan lowered his head and rubbed his mouth, hiding a laugh that still reached his shoulders.
Lyric’s attention sharpened. “Briggs told me you owned a boutique.”
“I do.”
“He said it was online.”
“The largest portion of my business is online. I have a storefront in Kimball Falls too.”
“Above a coffee shop?”
“I live above my boutique. I work at a coffee shop.”
Her brows lifted. “You’re a barista?”
“Among other things.”
“I thought your family owned Harlen Financial.”
“They do.”
“And you make coffee?”
“I make excellent coffee.”
Lyric looked genuinely confused. “Why?”
The question carried more than curiosity. Women like us were raised to recognize the difference. She wanted everyone listening to understand that my life had fallen beneath the one my name should’ve purchased.
I rotated the ice in my glass and met her gaze. “People order it, and then I exchange it for money. It’s a radical business model.”
Briggs closed his eyes.
Aura smiled into her drink. Bliss looked ready to crawl over the bar and hug me, while Cade’s expression settled into the faint amusement he wore whenever someone else made a tactical error in front of him.
Lyric’s mouth tightened. “I meant why would you need that job if your family owns a financial empire?”
“I like paying my own bills.”
“Your parents cut you off?”
“No.”
“Then I don’t understand.”
“You don’t need to.”
The bartender returned with the ice bucket, setting it beside her champagne before retreating toward safer guests.
Lyric lowered the bottle into it herself. “Briggs made it sound like your boutique was becoming successful.”
“It is successful.”
“But you still work at a coffee shop.”
“I enjoy the job, I like the people, and my business benefits from income that doesn’t depend on an unpredictable sales month.”
“That sounds exhausting.”
