Page 50 of A Barista's Guide to Love & Larceny
“No, no,” she said. “It’s really no problem, I can walk.”
“Please, Dani, it’s pouring rain. Let me drive you.”
“I’d really rather walk,” she said. She didn’t want him driving her and then wondering why the hell she’d leave their date to go to a bar,especially when she’d said it was for a class project—that was sure to ruin things for real this time.
She pushed through the coffeehouse door and onto the sidewalk. Kass threw up his invisible umbrella-bubble to shield both of them from the rain blowing sideways.
“Did I do something wrong?”
That stopped Dani in her tracks. She turned to face him, shaking her head as vigorously as she could without hurting herself. “Not at all. I’m sorry. I just have—I have a bad grade in this class, and this is an extra credit opportunity I can’t miss.” It was kind of true. “But I promise, you didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I want to spend more time with you,” Kass said, his whole spirit seeming to droop plaintively.
Her heart melted a little, which was not without its own pain. “I want that, too,” she said. “I wish I could stay. But I have to go—I’m sorry.”
“I understand,” he said. “I just wish you’d let me drive you. But my shield charm will have to do, I guess. Here—” He bit his lower lip, concentrating, and moved his hand through a few positions in the air. “It should last a few hours, now. And I’ll stop by the café tomorrow, if that’s okay?”
“Very okay,” she said. “Please come. I’ll be there till close.”
“Okay. See you tomorrow?”
“Yeah. Tomorrow.” Dani began to walk away, or rather peel herself from his presence, feeling the bubble he’d created split in two as she put distance between them. She was just as torn, ending their evening on a note like this—as sour as coffee that hadn’t been brewed long enough. Before she could really think about what she was doing, Dani turned and ran back to him, the bubble rejoining without a splinter. She hesitated for one breathless moment before she rocked forward onto her toes and kissed him sweetly on the lips.
Kass’s hands found her hair at once, urgent but gentle, as if hethought it might dissolve beneath his touch. When she pulled away, his hands remained, and the rain spilled down around their bubble like nothing in the world could touch them.
“Lionet,” she said. “My last name is Lionet.”
He looked vaguely stunned, but she saw the start of what might grow into an uncontrollable grin as soon as she turned her back.
“Until tomorrow, Danica Lionet,” he said, letting her hair fall free with the best kind of reluctance. The smile on her lips soared throughout her whole body, and this time when she left him, she felt completely whole.
Eighteen
Katya was waiting for Dani in front of the building next to the bar. For once, she was actually wearing something other than her usual pseudo-academic livery—a black, non-pleated skirt, black tights with matching boots, and a black sweater under her raincoat. She made a face when she saw Dani jogging up to her.
“We have a problem,” she said, instead of the anticipated admonishment for Dani’s lateness. “There’s apassword.”
“A password to what?” Dani said.
“The bar,” Katya said, her expression very plainly implyingduh.
“Oh.” Dani peered around her at the exterior of the bar. It wasn’t as discreet as she would have thought, with a giant window lined with twinkle lights and a neon flamingo under a bright green palm tree. It looked like your typical divey lounge, with a half-assed tropical theme and a punny name—The Sand Bar. Not like the kind of place that would require a password to get in.
“I think it seriously is an OLabs-only hangout,” Katya said, sensing Dani’s confusion. “I tried to wait for you inside, but there’s a bouncer guy sitting at the door, and he made me leave when I didn’t know the password. I assume they only distribute it to employees.”
Dani inflated her cheeks and blew out the breath. “And Silva didn’t realize that when she sent us here?” she asked.
Katya shrugged.
“Didn’t you intern at OneiroLabs over the summer?” Dani pressed.
“I didn’t even know this place existed,” Katya snapped, umberlightning bolts streaking through Dani’s mental airspace. “Maybe they don’t tell interns about it.”
Or maybe they just didn’t tellyouabout it, Dani thought, but she decided to keep that uncharitable sentiment to herself. “Okay,” she said. “I guess we’ll have to come back another time once we’ve found out the password.”
“No way,” Katya said. “We’ve got to do this now. Can’t you go talk to the bouncer and get him to tell us the password or something? Use your, uh, whatever-you-call-it?”
A barb of irritation pricked Dani’s skin. “It doesn’t work like that,” she said, deciding not to mention that she’d already sensed it working on the girl just a moment ago, and likely would again. “He’d still realize he gave it to me. I can’t, like, put people into a trance to forget what they told me.”
