Three times in my life have I needed a double shot extra vanilla pump latte after nine p.m. - and I needed none of them as badly as I needed it tonight.

First, it was senior year of high school and I had an all-nighter of studying to pull off if I wanted to pass enough classes to graduate. Then it was the night I drove from the middle of nowhere Michigan to the Florida coast. Twenty hours of me and the highway, following the call of beach life and throwing away icy winters and dairy farms for good. Last, it was the night I broke up with my boyfriend for being a gaslighting jerkoff and I had to pack all my shit in one night to leave while he was on his graveyard shift.

And after possibly the longest damn day of my life, I found myself jobless, probably close to homeless, and with only a few nights to sort it out. Thus, the double shot extra vanilla pump latte.

The cool night air bit my skin with the breeze that came in off the water. The lights on the streets of the oceanside city were always lit, and with it being just after sundown on a cloudless spring evening, the night life would be kicking up now. I walked down the sidewalk, my sandals making soft slapping noises against the pavement as I walked.

Finally reaching the right block, I gave a half smile to the illuminated window of my favorite caffeinated hotspot. It was deserted for a Tuesday. A lot of the tourists wouldn't be here for a couple more weeks as schools let out for the summer, and the street is about as empty as it ever really gets.

My hand brushed against the door handle while my eyes drifted to the slightly peeling sign on the coffee shop window that displayed the business hours. They weren't closed yet. If I was lucky, maybe they'd still have something to eat in the pastry cabinet that wasn't completely dried out yet. My fingers just wrapped around the brass handle and I swung it inward, stopping suddenly as I hit something.

"Caspian!" someone shouted inside.

Alarm struck me and I dropped my grasp on the door. It shook me from my sullen mood and my heart pounded in my ears, threatening to deafen me as the door was pulled inward and I witnessed the aftermath of what I just did.

A pair of dangerously blue eyes met mine. A crisp jawline with dark stubble and a firm frown set under a serious brow. It probably had something to do with the coffee-colored stain now dripping down his once white button-up shirt. A half-empty paper cup with dark liquid dripping down the side of it still sat firmly in his hand.

I should apologize. I need to apologize. But instead I was frozen. Old aversions of talking to strangers, especially men, creeping up and silencing me.

"Caspian, are you alright?" Another man, just a hair shorter and with a mildly lighter complexion, came from Caspian's side and spotted the spilled drink down his shirt.

But Caspian wasn't looking at the problem or even at his friend, he was looking at me. A sharp, studying gaze that flowed from my eyes to the shape of my jaw to my mouth and back up again. Taking in my face while, admittedly, I took in his too. He finally tore his eyes from mine, breaking the tense air between us. Looking down at his shirt, his frown deepened.

I bit my lower lip. Shit, he was attractive. But my heart still pounded, whispering to me. Get away, get away.

"Shit," the new man hissed, pulling a fistful of paper napkins from the table by the door. "We have to meet the buyer in twenty minutes!"

"It's alright, Nikkos," Caspian said, brushing his companion's napkins away with his free hand. "I've got a change of clothes on the ship, it was just an accident."

Meeting my gaze again, his frown dropped and the tension across his chest lessened. In fact, he turned it into something almost to a smile. He winked, and my cheeks flushed as I backed out of their way. Burning with embarrassment, swallowing my nerves, I knew I had to apologize now.

"I'm so sorry." I winced, letting the two men out of the doorway as I eyed the dripping coffee down his chest.

They paused, and suddenly that gaze was on me again in a whole new light. Caspian looked at me curiously, his lips parting slightly as he now focused harder on my blue eyes that mirrored his and I suddenly found myself under a very different kind of distress than I had been a few heartbeats ago.

"What are you doing away from the ocean?" he asked.

He had a strange accent. It wasn't heavy, but it was definitely there and I liked it. His voice came out a bit husky, one of those naturally low and seductive tones that should be illegal to use on poor, unsuspecting girls in coffee shops.

But once I finally registered what he was saying, I didn't know how to answer. What does that even mean?

Distressed that he wanted more words between us, I clasped my nervous hands together in front of me.

"The . . . ocean?" I asked, keeping it as short as possible.

"We don't have time, Caspian," Nikkos hissed. "Let it go."

Caspian frowned, not taking his eyes off of me but raising a hand to silence his companion. He moved with grace and he spoke firmly.

"You don't know what I'm talking about, do you?" he murmured his question, not really looking for an answer. Those sharp eyes now shaded under his brow which was drawn low and calculating.

Shaking my head, the two men exchanged a look.

"Let it go for now, Caspian. Hold on, I'll get us a cab." Nikkos rushed over to the street, his attention going back and forth between his phone and watching for a cab to flag down. It shouldn't be that hard on a big street near the pier, even at night.

Caspian's eyes were still on me as Nikkos found them transportation. We seemed to be transfixed on each other. He also had a small silver hoop high in his left ear and an equally expensive looking watch on his wrist. His dark hair swept back on his head, and my fingers itched to mess it up and see what the put-together man looked like just a little bit disheveled.

I was pulled out of my observations when he spoke again. "What's your name?"

My tongue flicked out to wet my lips, his eyes followed the movement before crawling back up to my eyes. "Madeline."

He nodded at my response. "Where are you from, Madeline?"

I barely stopped myself from shivering. My name with his accent felt intimate somehow. It's been a long time since someone said my name quite like that.

He was definitely my type. Darker hair and broad shoulders, he had a clear complexion of olive skin and the hint of a toned figure under his shirt that clung to him from the spilled coffee. It took me a second to realize what he had just asked me and that I still needed to answer him.

Short and sweet, Mads. Just keep it short and sweet. No extra words.

"Michigan." I answered. "You?"

He chuckled. "I'm from an island in the Atlantic."

Makes sense. He looked like a greek god. And picturing him on the beach with no shirt... He piqued my curiosity for sure. I'm not a shy person, I'm really not. I just hate my voice and I don't use it around people I don't know. It's gotten me into a lot of trouble in the past. But I knew I was blushing, looking at this guy who was absolutely my type, and he probably thought I was a complete fool.

"Island?" I prodded further.

My expression seemed only to amuse him more and his eyes crinkled as he held back a smile. Draining the rest of his coffee cup, he tossed it in the bin by the door next to us. "It's small. You won't have seen it on any maps."

"Caspian!" Nikkos called, waving his companion over.

"I'll see you later, Madeline. Try not to spill any more coffee on unsuspecting people." He gave me another wink, sending a delightful shiver down my back. And he walked over to the sidewalk where Nikkos was pointing to something on his phone.

Not wanting to know what his sudden interest in me was, and definitely not wanting to deepen my interest in a man when I had bigger problems to fix first, I slipped into the shop with one last look their way. My face flushed as his gaze followed me, even from the other side of the tinted glass windows.

I noticed the pebbled skin on my arms and felt the goosebumps continue up my neck, but it was the cool air of the shop that made me do it. Yeah, it was warming up for spring outside, the A.C. was giving me chills. Definitely not the greek god standing outside that I just spilled coffee all over.

And that wink.

Fuck.

I bit my lower lip, walking absently to the counter. Why did I always do this? Meet a guy and instinctually make it sexual. Especially when the rest of my life was a mess as it is.

He's not going to sleep with a hot mess like you, Madeline! I just spilled his coffee all over him. And besides, I had no time to be horny when I just lost my job.

Priorities, dummy, I scolded myself.

"Hey there." The girl behind the counter gave me a warm smile and reminded me where I was and why I was here. "Don't feel too bad, I see that at least five times a day."

Letting out a soft laugh and tucking a loose strand of dark hair behind my ear, I pulled the pushed back sleeves of my gym sweatshirt down to my wrists again. Cassidy was my favorite barista, and being another girl that I was somewhat familiar with made it easier for me to talk to her without my voice making it weird. She had definitely earned more than one-word answers from me by now.

"I can't believe I did that," I admitted.

"Great way to meet guys though," she said, checking Caspian out through the window. "And he's the hottest thing to walk in here today. So, what brings you in this late?"

"The usual," I said. "Extra shot, extra pump."

She raised an eyebrow. "Pulling an all-nighter?"

"Yeah," I mumbled. "Something like that."

My eyes drifted down to the pastry case and I frowned. Empty.

I put on a forced smile as she gave me one last look, then turned to start packing grounds into the cup tool thing to make my drink.

Pulling out the exact change for my drink, I slid it toward the register while she worked. I let out a slow breath and scooted onto the stool at the end of the counter near the order pick-up, folding my hands in my lap.

Jobless. Shit. I've never walked out on a job before, but today was the last straw. I buried my fingers in my hair, messing up my ponytail as I reflected on the afternoon. Giving up, I yanked it free and slid the hair tie on my wrist.

I don't know what it is about me. My voice or my looks or what, but it seems like the moment I open my mouth I invite the worst kind of trash to harass me. It definitely explains my dating history. And today when that guy decided to be a pervert at work I was just beyond done with men.

Fucking pigs, all of them.

I sighed, my shoulders slumping. That's not fair. Just because I had bad luck meeting assholes didn't mean I'd never meet anyone better. Wouldn't that be a bleak outlook for a twenty four year old?

And then the recent memory of a low, smooth voice and sharp blue eyes pinning me in place crept forward.

I nearly looked toward the window, but I stopped myself just in time.

Don't look, I urged myself. Don't look, you idiot.

Despite my better judgement my eyes slid to the window where tall dark and coffee-stained stood on the sidewalk. He wasn't staring at me anymore at least. Instead, he was on a phone call, his throat bobbing as he spoke and distracting me completely until he hung up and pocketed the device. I watched as Nikkos waved him over to a cab that was just pulling up, and that was that.

I sighed through my nose. Good. Yes. The last thing I needed right now was a distraction. I met my ex while I was distracted too, and look at how that ended.

"Order up." Cassidy smiled at me as she slid my order across the polished black counter. Next to the cup was a white paper bag, a tantalizing gray spot near the bottom promising buttery contents.

"What's this?" I asked.

"I saw you looking at the cabinet. We were about to get rid of the old food but I thought you'd like a muffin at least." She winked at me. "I know a hard day when I see it."

"Thanks," I said earnestly, and I pulled the bag towards me and looked inside. Orange cranberry, my favorite, and the one they always seemed to run out of on the weekends. Grinning to myself, I took a bite of my pastry before paying attention to my drink. I took the cup and held it in my hands, letting the chill from the A.C. melt away as I savored the muffin in my mouth. How many more coffees and muffins could I afford with my savings? This one was a treat to make myself feel better but . . .

A sponge ran across the counter in front of me. The barista was wiping everything down for the night but when I looked up and met her friendly eyes she started talking to me. "Wanna talk about it?" she asked. "Or would you rather get your therapy across the street?"

Turning to look, the bar across the street already had a collection of smokers out front and a thrumming base that could be heard from the coffee shop every time the door opened. At least her joke made me laugh a little. Shrugging, I took a sip of my coffee. "I just quit my job."

She whistled. "And I'm guessing you didn't have a new one lined up yet?"

I shook my head. "My asshole boss is . . . he doesn't treat his girl employees the same as the guys."

She froze. "Did he do something to you? Do you want me to call the cops?"

"No! No, nothing like that. " Sputtering in my coffee, I put it down and wiped the foam off of my upper lip with the back of my sleeve. "A member at the gym tried to grab a handful of more than just the kettlebells if you know what I mean. I made a fuss, my boss told me the guy was just having some fun and if I didn't want the attention I shouldn't wear leggings at the gym."

"What the hell?" she asked. "What does he want you to wear, sweat pants?"

I shrugged.

"And you already have a harder time speaking up, don't you?" Sympathy crept onto her face. "I'm sorry that happened to you, Maddie."

I gave her an empty smile. "I was too impulsive and I just quit and walked out on him. No job, and I'm not sure how fast he's going to give me my check or if I even want to go in to pick it up. Then again, if I wait for him to mail it I won't make rent on the first. But I can't say I regret it."

"So the double shot. Got it," she said. "I can't blame you, a girl can only take so much of that nonsense."

She turned her head to look out the windows, an unreadable expression on her face until it melted into a shit eating grin. "Hot as hell, wasn't he?"

A laugh and a blush bubbled out of me at the same time while she raised an eyebrow.

"I know you have that thing about strangers but whatever you said was enough to have him checking you out," Cassidy teased. "You interested?"

"I would be if it weren't for the fact that my life is a mess right now. Who's going to want to date me when I can't even take care of myself?"

Cassidy shook her head. "I hope you can turn things around. I'd say you should work here but we just hired someone and there's no open spots left."

Looking up at the clock on the wall, I nodded. "I'll figure it out. Thanks though. And I should go. Just because I don't want to go to sleep yet doesn't mean you don't. I'll leave you to your closing routine."

I scooted off of my stool and took the muffin and cup with me. "Thanks again for the food."

"No problem, good luck," Cassidy said. "Don't disappear entirely, I'll think of you at closing whenever we have leftover pastries."

With a short laugh, I looked at her from over my shoulder. "As soon as I have an income again, I'll be back I'm sure." I drained my coffee and put my cup in the trash bin on my way out the door, which I opened very carefully this time. Sheepishly checking the sidewalk and making sure Caspian and Nikkos were really gone. No sign of them.

So am I relieved or disappointed?

Rolling my shoulders, I let the door fall shut behind me and I took a breath of night air.

The streetlights put an orange glare down the road which was still damp from a recent rain. Every breath tasted like the salt coming off the ocean. With a night of job searching and probably packing ahead of me, I embraced the caffeine now running through me. But a quick walk on the beach would definitely clear my head.

What are you doing away from the ocean?

That's what he had asked me.

I should get on my laptop and start making lists of places to call tomorrow but . . .

My flip flops hit the sidewalk, and I took the long way home. The crashing waves at the end of the street calling me to them.