Coffee in Common (53 page)

I guess it
was
an omen after all. A good one.

She moved into his arms and rested her head on his shoulder. The whole world contracted, closing in around them until only the two of them and the music remained. This was it. This was the feeling for which she'd waited so long. This was the beginning of the life she'd dreamed of.

As they moved to the music, his arms holding her close, Jillian remembered the pains of the past and marveled at how they led her to the magic of the last year, to new friends, new feelings, new challenges, and to this wonderful man who loved her more than anything in the world.

And as the song came to a close, and Jasmine asked for the final time if she could have that dance for the rest of her life, Jillian closed her eyes, snuggled closer to Paul, and sighed.

Yes, it's going to be a wonderful rest of my life.

— The Beginning —

Thank you for reading
Coffee in Common
. I hope you enjoyed it. Please take a moment to stop by Amazon and write a short review to tell me and others what you thought of the characters and the story.

On the next page, you can read the beginning of my new book,
Plain Shane
, the story of a bright, but shy young woman who, with the help of two new friends, faces her fears and finds her life transformed in ways she'd once only dreamed about.

~Dee

Plain Shane

By Dee Mann

Friday, May 6

5:48 AM

Shane Devlin yanked the nightgown over her head and groaned as she caught her reflection in the full length mirror mounted to the back of her bedroom door.
Irish girls are supposed to be cute…soft and curvy. Not like this.

She moved closer to the mirror and sighed. Her fingers twisted the limp, shoulder length, auburn hair that framed her lightly-freckled, but otherwise ordinary face. Stepping back, her gaze dropped to where her breasts should be then followed the line of her waist which dropped straight down where her hips should have been.

She never understood how someone who looked as she did from the hips up could have the legs of a model—long, coltish legs, with smooth thighs, dainty knees, gracefully curved calves, delicate ankles, and perfectly formed feet. A long sigh escaped.
I look like a sculptor began a statue of a goddess from the bottom up but ran out of inspiration before he could do a proper job of finishing the top.
If it wasn't for my legs, I could put on a man's bathing suit, pull back my hair, and pass for a guy on the beach.
She grinned.
Well, maybe not in a Speedo.

"Why do you keep doing this to yourself?" she asked her image, then donned her robe and headed for the bathroom, hoping neither of her roommates would be awake yet.

When Shane interviewed for the third of the three bedrooms, Gail Washington and Carol Navarro had lived in the first floor apartment for almost two years. She expected to have to adapt to their routines, but when they explained they would all have to share the single large bathroom, she never imagined they meant at the same time.

She discovered her roommates' lack of modesty the first morning, as she was drying her hair, when Carol walked into the bathroom, said good morning, pulled off her nightshirt, and jumped into the shower. A few minutes later, Gail came in to pee. Then, shower done, Carol pulled back the curtain and began drying off as she asked Shane how she slept last night. Though she was terribly embarrassed that first day, now, four months later, she envied the freedom they felt and wondered if she might be less self-conscious about her own body if she were blessed with the curves Gail and Carol possessed.

Walking down the hall, she heard the toilet flush. As she neared the door, it opened, and a man, clad only in tight, grey briefs, stepped into the hall.

"Oh, hi," he said, rubbing his eyes. "You must be Shane. I'm Malcolm, a friend of Gail's."

She blushed at the sight of his hairy, muscled chest and arms, trim waist, promising bulge, and strong legs and felt her face growing hotter as she realized she was looking down when she should be looking up. But by the time she lifted her eyes to meet his, he was already looking past her as he started back to Gail's bed. Despite her discomposure, her eyes followed him, feasting on the sight of his tight butt and the way his body moved down the hall until he glanced back when he reached Gail's door, catching her stare. Mortified, she spun around and hurried into the bathroom.

11:29 AM

"There you go," Shane said, sliding the stack of children's books across the counter to the young mother. As she greeted the next person, she noticed the line had grown.
Where are they all coming from?

A quick glance at her watch told her it was eleven-thirty. This was usually a slow time, a time when she could do things that didn't require concentration, when she could let her mind wander.

Darn. Still an hour to go before lunch
. An hour before she could sit quietly and daydream about
him
.

She shifted into efficiency mode, using all her tricks to speed up the check-out process. A few minutes later, the line had shrunk to three. When she heard the front door slide open, she instinctively glanced over.

Mark DeLuca unzipped his jacket and ran his fingers through his windblown, light-brown hair. He stretched his six foot frame and started toward the desk to drop off a book.
I wonder how many titles there'll be in the card catalogue.

One side of his mouth curled into a lopsided half-smile as it did each time he caught himself using the old term he learned as a boy and could not seem to shake, even so many years after computers replaced the massive chests of drawers stuffed with cards.

A few minutes later, he surveyed the results of his keyword search. There were more volumes on hydroponics than he anticipated. He always began his research for a new book with an overview of what others wrote about the subject. After jotting down a list of titles, he lifted his denim-blue eyes from the screen and regarded the young librarian at the desk as she scanned library cards, books, tapes, and videos and tucked the return slips under the covers.

Several times over the past few months, he caught her watching him. At first, he assumed it was because she recognized him from the photo that accompanied the short biography at the end of each of his books. But lately, he noticed she seemed just the tiniest bit flustered if he smiled at her when he was checking out research volumes.

She looks about twenty-two or twenty-three, the same age Suzy was when I first met her. But what a difference. Suzy's hair always looked stylish, even after jogging for an hour. Hers just hangs there, as if it's too tired to fluff or curl. Hmmm…she looks a little taller than Suz, maybe five seven or eight. Too bad she doesn't have even half of Suzy's curves. The poor girl wouldn't draw a wolf-whistle from a guy who just spent ten years on a desert island. But her smile…wow!

It was only in their smiles Mark thought the two equal. Suzy was beautiful to begin with. When she smiled, it only added to her allure. Shane, on the other hand, was not blessed with great beauty, but when
she
smiled, her entire face transformed into a radiant beacon that drew your eyes and held them. He only caught her smile a few times, but each time left an indelible impression. On several occasions, he considered telling her how amazing her smile was, but he was afraid she would think he was coming on to her, or worse, patronizing her, and did not want to take the chance of embarrassing her.

Oh well.

He shrugged and gathered his notebook and pencil. As he turned, he looked her way again just as she glanced over at him. Their eyes met for a second and he caught her almost panicked reaction as she quickly looked away. Grinning, he headed toward the shelves to find his books.

7:41 PM

"Come
on
, Shane," Gail wheedled, "it's Friday night. Why stay home alone? Come with us. We're going to D's." Shane clearly was not convinced so Gail persisted. "The Leon Roberts Band is playing…great rhythm & blues! And there's
always
a lot of cute guys there."

Johnny D's was Gail's favorite nightspot. The club had a knack for finding exceptional performers, many of them virtually unknown until D's gave them their first break. On a given night, you might find blues, country rock, R&B, folk—even westernized dance music from Zimbabwe.

"I don't know," Shane finally said. "I just started this really great book about…"

"Book, shmook. Books are for rainy Sundays. How are you supposed to meet guys if you sit home all the time?"

With a matter-of-fact look that matched her voice, Shane said, "Guys aren't interested in me."

"Well I can see why with that kind of attitude!"

"Leave her alone, Gail," Carol said as she walked into the living room. "Shane's a big girl and if she doesn't feel like clubbing, she doesn't feel like clubbing."

"Thank you." Shane half-smiled her appreciation for the support whereupon Gail threw her hands up and almost stomped down the hall to her bedroom.

"She means well," Carol said, taking a seat on the sofa next to the chair into which Shane had curled.

"I know, but I'm just not into that kind of thing. I don't know why it upsets her that I'm not like you guys."

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean? You're kidding, right?"

"No, really."

With a shake of her head, Shane said, "Look at the two of you. You're both beautiful, you have these great bodies and great personalities. Guys are all over you. Then look at me. Skinny, ugly, and shy. If I went out with you two, guys wouldn't even notice me. Heck, they don't notice me when I'm alone. I could probably stand naked in the middle of Main Street and nobody would even step on the brake to look."

"Shane! That's a horrible thing to say about yourself. And it's so not true. You have a nice face. Maybe you are a little skinny, but I'd be happy to trade these boobs for yours any day."

That Shane did not believe her was obvious.

"You think I'm kidding? Do you have any idea what it's like having to carry these around all day? How heavy they are? Half the time my back hurts. And look at this…" Carol pulled the collar of her sweater to the side then moved the bra strap as well. "Grooves. I've got grooves in my shoulders. How attractive is that? If I wasn't scared it might screw up breast feeding when I have kids someday, I'd have half of them lopped off tomorrow.

"As for having guys all over me, how do you think it feels knowing guys are only interested in me for my boobs? When you talk to men at work, do their eyes always drop down to check out
your
chest?"

Shane snorted. "What's there to check out?"

"So they pay attention to what you're saying. You can have a real conversation with them. You think I can do that? Especially in my business?

"I love the work, but sometimes I hate going into body shops for the first time. The guys take one look at me and think I'm an easy mark…that I'll never catch on to their inflated damage estimates. I can almost see the dollar signs in their eyes when I introduce myself." She laughed. "But there
is
the fun of watching their faces as I go over the vehicle and pick apart their estimate, item by item. I have to admit I get some grudging respect from them after that. But I also know that as soon as I leave, they'll be joking about throwing me over a fender and fucking me."

Shane blushed at the vulgarity.

"Sorry. I know you don't like that. It just slipped out."

"That's okay. But I really had no idea about, well, any of it."

They chatted for a while longer, until Gail returned. She was wearing a short black skirt and scoop-neck top.

"Wow!" Shane said. "You look hot! Malcolm's going to love you in that."

"Who's Malcolm?" Carol asked at the same moment Gail asked, "How do you know Malcolm?"

"I sort of met him in the hall this morning when I was going to take a shower."

"Who's Malcolm?" Carol repeated.

"He's a salesman for one of our suppliers. We went out a few times, and last night he picked me up after work and we went into Boston dancing and then we came back here. You were gone before we got up."

"Well, well! Why didn't you tell me he'd be with us tonight?"

"Because he won't be. He's okay, but…" She glanced over at Shane. "…we really didn't click in bed. He's one of those guys who thinks slipping me some tongue and pinching my nipples a few times is foreplay."

Shane colored a bit, but just sat and listened while Carol clucked her sympathy. "You could teach the guy, you know."

"I know. But geez, how does a guy get to be twenty-seven years old and not know his way around down there. Besides, he wasn't all that funny, and he wasn't all that crazy about R&B."

Both Shane and Carol knew that not loving rhythm & blues was the kiss of death for any guy's chances with Gail.

"Are you sure you won't come with us?" Gail asked. "What if we have a no-guys night? It'll be just the three of us. We'll have some drinks, listen to some music, and just have a girls' night."

"Sure," said Carol, "that's a great idea. Come on, Shane. It'll be fun."

"Really? Just us?"

"Absolutely. You've been here almost four months and we've never gone out just the three of us," Gail said. "I think it's about time."

Shane was smiling now. "Well…okay. Just give me a few minutes to change." She jumped up and hurried down the hall to her bedroom.

Carol watched her go.
Why have I never noticed how different she looks when she smiles? Have I ever seen her smile before? I must have, but if I did, it never made an impression. Or maybe I just never paid attention
. She stood and smoothed her skirt.
This girls' night is a good idea. It's time we got to know more about our Miss Devlin.

8:12 PM