Veteran Hearts

By Evelyn Aster

This is a light and frothy novelette served to you by the Holiday Cafe. The story takes place in between Masked Hearts and Thankful Hearts and is a complete stand alone like all books in the Holiday Cafe Series. There are several sex scenes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Evelyn Aster
• Release date: Nov 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311430557

Evelyn Aster

Evelyn Aster writes romance for grown-ass women. She loves heroines who make mistakes and have real problems just like her. Mostly, she lives, writes, drinks coffee and eats chocolate in Albuquerque, NM. She's managed to avoid being a meth dealer so far.

Book preview

Veteran Hearts

by

Evelyn Aster

Book Two in The Holiday Cafe Series

Hot Java Press

Copyright

Copyright © 2015 Evelyn Aster

Cover Copyright © 2015 By Hot Java

Hot Java Logo by Derek Nofsinger

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed Attention: Permissions Coordinator, at the address below.

Hot Java LLC

[e-mail]

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Dedication

To Tate who likes to get a little mathy now and then.

1| Ginger Tea Latte with Extra Foam

Jessica sat at a round table by the window of the Holiday Cafe. She gripped her Ginger Tea Latte with extra foam in one hand and her tablet in the other. Outside, a car with bright headlights drove through the parking lot, but she was looking for a truck.

Kyle would arrive at any second.

Her hand tightened on the cup. Maybe she'd scared him away. Maybe her not so subtle hint about where she wanted the relationship to go had been too much.

A planet shown brightly against the blue twilight sky, calming her nerves as she stared at it. She loved turning the clock back so night fell earlier. For the first time, she felt as if autumn had actually arrived. When Kyle showed up, it'd be the perfect evening—if he showed up. Of course, he would, wouldn't he?

For fuck's sake, they were grown adults, she could recommend that kind of book if she wanted to.

She turned her gaze back to the book on her tablet, but her mind remained on Kyle and the desire to move their relationship forward—way forward.

The first time he'd walked into the cafe on a Monday night, she'd caught her breath. He had thick coffee colored hair she wished she could brush her fingers through and even darker eyes that turned her insides soft as the foam on her latte. He'd worn a forest colored t-shirt tucked in—very unusual for men in Albuquerque. But it was his voice that really pushed her desire over the edge: deep and smooth as milk chocolate.

She startled and looked up when she actually heard his voice speak the words she'd heard for the first time two months ago: Hey, Chloe. A Ginger Tea Latte with extra foam.

Jessica smiled when he turned around and nodded to her with his eyes crinkling in a grin. He was even the same age as her: thirty-five.

When he turned back to Chloe, the barista, Jessica checked out his perfect ass in his snug jeans. So many times she'd wanted to run her hands down to his butt while giving him a long kiss. She took a deep breath and steadied herself by checking the time on her tablet: 6:00 pm. Right on the dot as usual.

Chloe chatted with him as she rung up his order. After he’d paid, he walked right to her table instead of waiting for the drink.

He moved with confident strides that said he was a man in control. But when he talked, he was always soft spoken—a contrast. The first night they'd met, they'd had a great conversation about books and decided to meet again the next week. They'd agreed to read and discuss The Martian, which she'd hoped to turn into a movie date, but it'd never happened. At least he'd promised to meet her the next Monday for another book and then