One Broke Girl Read Online Free Page B

and soft instrumental music played in the background. On the right wall was a row of wooden bookshelves filled to the brim with paperbacks. A sign at the top said to help ourselves and read whatever we wanted while in the shop.
    This place was definitely new since I’d moved away. But now that I’d discovered it, I knew I’d be spending a lot more time here. Cheap coffee and books? Yes, please.
    I made my way to the counter, where a girl who couldn’t have been more than eighteen shot me a beatific smile. Her blond hair was almost the same shade as mine.
    “Hi. What can I get you today?” she asked me in that perky tone of someone who’d been mainlining coffee all day.
    I laughed. “I’ll take twelve of whatever you just had.”
    “Yeah, I’m a little wired,” she admitted with a chuckle.
    “How about a café latte with…a shot of vanilla?”
    “You got it. I’ll holler when it’s ready. What’s your name?”
    “Anna. Thanks!” I found an empty table near the bookshelves and grabbed a seat. Checked my hair in the mirror once more just to make sure there weren’t any lingering mashed potatoes.
    Which made me think about Gavin, which was irritating, so I pushed him right back out of my head.
    A couple of minutes later, the door dinged and in walked Natalie, her brown hair dancing with the air current that followed her inside. Her gray knit dress hugged her figure, and the brown knee-high boots accented her curves. She shot me an ear-to-ear grin. “Oh good! You made it!”
    Right on her heels was a girl around our age who had dark hair tipped in purple highlights. Her shirt was off the shoulder, and she’d been poured into her tight jeans and super-high red heels that matched her red lipstick.
    I liked her style instantly.
    “You must be Anna,” the girl said as she came around and shook my hand. “I’m Bianca. Do you sing or play an instrument?”
    Natalie laughed, and both of them took a seat at the table. “Unless I’m remembering wrong, Anna can’t hold a note to save her life.”
    “She’s right,” I said with a rueful grin. “I suck at music.”
    “Damn. You’d look great in our band.” Bianca stood and shrugged. “Oh well. You can still come support us—we have a gig next month. I’ll go order our coffee.” She walked off, and several male eyes in the room strayed to follow her progress.
    “She’s a spitfire,” I whispered.
    “That’s why I love her. She tells it like it is.” Natalie’s eyes narrowed a fraction as she eyed me. “You okay? You seem a bit off. How was work?”
    I shot her a sour look and explained about the Great Mashed Potato Debacle, including the mini-snack I’d stored in my hair.
    She chortled. “Well, your hair looks great now, for what it’s worth. I bet that was a huge shock, seeing Gavin there. I forgot he worked at the school. I’m pretty sure that’s a new job for him.” She leaned closer, and her eyes flashed with interest. “Tell me, is he as hot as I remember? Because sometimes I’d see him around town and he looked so damn fine.”
    “I hate to admit it, but he’s smoking.”
    “Who’s smoking?” Bianca asked as she distributed three mugs to us. “Your coffee was ready, so I brought it back.” She settled into her seat and smiled at my nod of thanks.
    “We were talking about Gavin Metcalf, the new kindergarten teacher at the elementary school,” Natalie supplied.
    “Oh. Yeah. He’s sex on a stick,” Bianca said after taking a sip of her drink. She reached into her purse, tugged out a small flask then dumped a hearty dollop of booze in her coffee. “Want any?”
    I snorted a laugh. “Nah, I’m good.”
    “Anna,” Natalie said in a gentle voice. She reached over and patted my hand. “So…how are you doing?”
    My heart sped up a touch at the concern in her eyes. When I’d asked her for help finding a job, she hadn’t pried for details. She’d just dug around town until she’d gotten me a lead. I’d told her about my