Read Love And Coffee: A Cup Of Grace Romance Series Book 1 for Free Online Page A

said, taking a sip of her coffee.
    “Not rich, but we will do okay.  I think,” I said, looking down at my mocha.  Why did I suddenly feel like I was making a mistake?
    “Well, did you write up a business plan?” he asked. 
    Business plan?  I had heard of those.  But I had never seen one.  What might they entail?
    “What’s a business plan?” Jillian asked. 
    Great Jillian.  Don’t give it away that we have no clue what we’re doing.  But she was.
    “Yes, I’ve been working on one.  We need one to get business financing,” Kathryn said with a whole lot of confidence that I sure didn’t feel.  I looked up and narrowed my eyes at her.  It wasn’t like her to lie, so she must have been up to something without telling me.
    “We do?” I asked after a few seconds.  She nodded at me.  “I mean, yes, of course we do.” 
    “Sounds like you have everything covered then.  I wish you well on it.  It must be nice to have a direction to go in,” he said wistfully.
    “Well, you could help if you wanted to,” I said hastily.  Kathryn eyed me and I added, “I mean, we’ll surely need someone to help with the building, you know, painting and such.  Have you painted much?”
    “I have painted some.  My parent’s decided to remodel their house a couple of summers ago and I helped out quite a bit.”  He suddenly looked a little happier.
    “Well then, maybe you could help us out when the time comes?” I asked.  We would need the muscle and it gave me an excuse to have him around.   
    He smiled at the idea.  “Sure, I could always lend a hand.  I mean, it’s not like I have anything else going on.”
    He had seemed a little bit down before I had mentioned the painting and I felt badly for him.  At that moment I wanted to ask him to be partners, but I knew Kathryn would have a fit.  Besides, we really didn’t know him that well.  Even though we had worked at the same company, we’d had very little interaction with him at all.  He could be insane or could run off with our startup money.  Not that he had shown any indication of being insane, of course.  Or a thief.  Perhaps we could start dating so that I could get to know him better and determine his trustworthiness. Hmmm…research.
    “I’m going to be the shop’s official baker,” Jillian suddenly announced.
    “Oh you are?  And what do you like to bake?” Matt asked with interest.
    “Everything!  I can make a berry scone that will make you cry.  Not to mention any kind of cake or cupcakes or cookies,” she said smiling.  “Actually, I have a recipe for sugar cookies that my great grandmother gave me and no one bakes sugar cookies like I do.  Well other than my great grandmother.  But she’s dead.”
    “Is that right?” Matt asked, taking a drink of his espresso.
    “Yes it is.  I like to make them heart shaped because when you eat them in a heart shape, it brings you good luck in love,” she said oh so very seriously.
    Matt chuckled.  “It does, does it?  Well maybe you had better bake me up a batch and quick.  I could use some luck in the love department.”
    Oh hold on.  This sounded very much like flirting.  While it was true I hadn’t exactly staked my claim on him with the girls, it seemed like it should have been obvious that I had an interest in him.  And wait, did he just admit to being single?  Like completely single with no one lurking in the shadows? 
    “Well I am going to do just that.  Tonight.  As soon as I can figure out where I put all my baking supplies.  I’m sure they are in the apartment somewhere,” she said, reaching across the table for the cocoa powder.  She removed the lid from her cup and sprinkled generously.
    I cleared my throat.  “Oh Jillian, you don’t need to go through that kind of trouble.  I’m sure we can get Matt a sugar cookie here.”
    “Yes, but they won’t be heart shaped,” Matt said.  “And it sounds like the heart shape is very important to my