Project Love (Cascade Brides Series) Read Online Free PDF

widened to an impossible size. “You mean
you haven't been to all six stores?”
    “ There's six?”
    Jessie snorted.
    Charity ignored him. “I've...been busy.”
    “ Doing what?” he said from under the shelving below
the counter.
    “ Making a difference,” she said darkly.
    Jessie got to his feet. “Lemme guess, you did whatever
the latest project was advertised on the poster Jill brought in.”
    Face hot, Charity rolled her eyes. “Don't assume
things.”
    He grinned. “I know because I saw you out on that
corner holding the sign for the animal clinic. Didn't you hear me
honk?”
    “ And how did you spend your weekend?” she asked
sweetly. “Let's see if you can top helping cute, fluffy animals.”
    “ I hung out with my grandma.”
    “ Hah, family doesn't count.”
    His brows inched up his head. “It doesn't?”
    Charity cast a nervous glance at Amy, who was apparently
absorbed in the conversation. “I just mean, that's a given.”
    Jessie tapped his chin. “When's the last time you hung
out with your family?”
    “ I have a girl's night out with my cousins every
week,” Amy offered.
    Charity began refilling the stirrer straws container.
“We probably shouldn't be discussing our personal lives on company
time,” she said with a disdainful sniff.
    Jessie laughed. “Nice misdirection. But I'll let you
slide this time. We got a customer coming in.”
    She glanced at the door and saw Daniel on the other side
of the glass. For some reason, her respiration jumped a notch.
Resisting the impulse to smooth her hair, she squared her shoulders
and prepared to serve him. But he didn't come inside right away.
Instead, he stood staring at the posters on the glass. Finally, he
pulled open the door and entered the shop.
    “ Hey, Charity, can you grab some coffee cup lids from
the back?”
    Charity looked askance at Jessie. He appeared to be in
earnest. Wondering why she felt disappointed, she moved away from the
counter and pushed through the double doors to the store room. Of
course the lids weren't readily available. She had to sort through a
recent shipment of boxes and find the one that contained lids. It
took several minutes—which meant by the time she returned to the
counter, Daniel would already be at his table, poring over his
paperwork.
    Feeling glum, but not pausing to examine the reason, she
grabbed a stack of lids and headed back through the doors.
    Just in time to see Daniel flashing a bright smile at
Amy.
    Charity gripped the lids, which caused a few to squirt
out from the stack and clatter to the floor.
    The disturbance caused Daniel to turn his attention her
way—his smile evaporating when their gazes met. It was like the sun
disappearing behind a cloud. Which happened a lot in the Pacific
Northwest.
    Jessie, huffing about clumsy employees, picked up the
spilled lids and threw them away. Then he removed the rest of the
stack from Charity's hands.
    Daniel took his coffee and went over to the table in the
corner.
    “ Omigosh, is he a regular?”
    Feeling like she was coming out of a trance, Charity
glanced at Amy, who had flushed cheeks and shiny eyes. “Yeah,”
she said slowly, “he's a regular.”
    Why did he smile at her? Does he really dislike me
that much?
    “ I wonder if he's single. He kinda reminds me of Ben
Affleck. Just a little. Do you see it? When Ben was young and
lean—before he got famous and all. I mean this guy is way cuter. I
wonder if he's single.”
    “ Um.” Charity tried to focus on something barista-y,
but she couldn't think of what to do next. She looked over at where
Daniel sat, wondering why she felt so depressed.
    He caught her gaze and reached for his coffee. But he
bumped it and it tipped. Jumping up, he yanked his papers away before
they got splattered.
    Charity grabbed a damp bar towel and hurried over. But
as she mopped up the spill, she found she couldn't meet his eyes. What's wrong with me? I'm the chipper one at the store. Not Amy or
anyone else. Why am I