Chapter One

Aria hated the idea of being a statistic. She had always loathed keeping up with trends and following clichés, but naturally, there was an exception, that exception had a name; coffee. Like every other warm-blooded American, Aria was no stranger to this addiction; it had developed over the years and she could not shake it no matter how hard she tried. 

That is exactly how she found herself standing at the front counter of her favourite café in Seattle; Espresso Bar, surrounded by the heavenly smell of coffee and fresh pastries. It was nothing out of the ordinary for her to have a sudden craving for coffee at midday; admittedly it may be her absolute dislike for clichés that fuelled her strange behaviour. While she liked coffee a lot, she never took her coffee in the morning; instead, she preferred an iced coffee at midday to satisfy her craving. 

Her daydream was cut short by the barista handing her the delicious-looking drink, with a whipped cream peak and cocoa sprinkles sitting proudly on top. A wide smile graced her lips at the sight; thanking the barista, she turned to exit the café. What she didn’t expect, however, was a man dressed in an impeccable navy suit to be standing directly behind her. A startled gasp escaped her lips as they collided, the impact was hard enough to pop the open top of her cup and allow the caramel-coloured liquid to explode all over her silk blouse. 

Deagan’s eyes widened as he realised what he had caused, too caught up in his thoughts he failed to see the woman standing at the counter to notice that he had stepped too close behind her. Subsequently being the cause of her spilling her drink all over her clothes. 

“I am so sorry; I wasn’t watching where I was going. This is all my fault, I am so sorry.” He apologised profusely as he took in the radiant golden-haired beauty who had her arms spread out, cup in one hand, and purse in the other as she stared at the coffee seeping through her pink blouse. Deagan winced when he saw the huge wet patch and smeared whipped cream staining the fabric. He silently braced himself for her wrath, but much to his surprise, there was none. 

Aria let out a breathy chuckle and a little shiver, “It’s okay, relax, these things happen. I’m just glad that it was iced coffee.” She said with a relieved look on her face, using the napkin to dab the remaining cream off of herself. Her response took Deagan completely by surprise, his eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly. “What?” She asked, confusion marring her features when she caught sight of his expression. 

“Uhm, I just wasn’t expecting your reaction.” He said still a bit dazed which made her smile and give him an amused quirk of her eyebrow. 

“It’s really okay though. Happens to the best of us.” she smiled reassuringly which he returned, from the corner of her eye she caught sight of the clock above the door and saw that it was already 12:20, and remembering her meeting at 13:30 she became nervous, “Shoot! I’ll never make it home in time to change and still be on time for my meeting.” She said more to herself, Deagan’s eyes widened as he realised the implications of his actions, then an idea popped in his head. 

“There’s a boutique few stores down, you could get something to change into. That way you’ll have clean clothes and you’ll make it in time for your meeting,” he suggested with a beaming smile and she smiled in relief and nodded, gesturing for him to lead the way. 

She shivered when the wind caused the wet blouse to stick to her skin. Deagan immediately shrugged off his suit jacket and draped it over her shoulders, earning a grateful smile from her as she tightened the jacket around herself. 

A few seconds later he turned to face her with a beaming smile, “I’m Deagan Lockheart.” Her breath caught in her throat when her eyes landed on his perfect dimpled smile and deep blue eyes, without realising, she found herself smiling back. 

“Aria Gray.” He nodded in acceptance, the smile still pasted on his face. 

“I really am sorry about your coffee Aria.” Genuine remorse was evident in his voice which made her chuckle once again. 

“You apologise a lot you know that?” she commented amusedly, he rolled his eyes and placed a hand on her lower back, directing her to the door of the boutique. 

The feeling of his hand on her lower back had her heartbeat speeding up; it was a feeling she hadn’t felt in a long time. Just as the thought materialised, she shut it off. 

What was she even thinking? She had met this guy all of two minutes ago and here she was already getting strange thoughts. She shook her head to rid herself of the wayward thoughts and began looking through the ladies’ formal section for something suitable. 

Glancing to her left where Deagan was, she couldn’t help but check him out secretly. He was wearing a plain navy blue suit and a light blue dress shirt open at the collar; a pretty normal sight in Washington, but she couldn’t help but notice how well he wore it. 

Her focus was diverted by his voice calling her name, her brown eyes shot up to meet his before falling to the items of clothing in his hands. She surveyed the outfit and immediately burst out laughing at his choice; a black leather pencil skirt with a gold zip all the way down the right leg and a long-sleeved, pale blue blouse. 

It was honestly a great combination and she silently commended him on his great taste. The fact that he had chosen a leather skirt amused her; it was such a stereotypical guy thing to do, 

“I’m sure the guys in the meeting are going to enjoy the skirt just as much as you are right now, if not more.” At the mention of the other men who would see her, his smug smile was replaced by a deep frown. He quickly shoved the skirt back onto the hanger and grabbed a pair of oversized dress pants before tugging her towards the dressing room. 

He was awfully pushy for a man she’d just met, but instead of feeling annoyed she surprised herself when she laughed out loud. There was something about this perfect stranger that made her feel safe and that was something out of the ordinary for her. 

Deagan was annoyed at the thought of other men looking at her body. He couldn’t understand why, but from the moment that he laid eyes on her, he was captivated by her beauty and unusual personality.

He was shocked when she didn’t scream at him for ruining her clothes and spilling her coffee, but more so, by her sincere understanding. In the few minutes that he had been with her, she had reminded him of his mother and that alone was why he needed to see her again. 

Suddenly the door burst open and out stepped a scary sight. His eyes trailed from her feet up and failed to hide the grimace that set itself on his face. 

At that moment Deagan accepted that he had poor taste in women’s clothing which made him cringe inwardly. When his eyes landed on her face his grimace dropped and was replaced by a smile that mirrored her amused one. 

“Looks amazing doesn’t it?” she teased, making him purse his lips at her, for what felt like the hundredth time today she chuckled at him and held up her finger indicating for him to wait a minute before she disappeared behind the door again. 

The look on his face was priceless, she knew the moment she looked at the pants that it would look hideous, but she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to tease him about it. She quickly slipped into the knee-length white skirt and stepped back into her nude heeled pumps. 

She gazed into the mirror surveying the new outfit; the rose gold beaded jewellery, she had chosen for her previous outfit complimented the classy high waist skirt perfectly. Freeing her golden blonde hair from the low ponytail, she allowed it to flow freely around her, completing the look.

She stepped out of the dressing room for a second time, anticipating his reaction with a nervous smile on her face. Aria wasn’t sure why she cared for his approval, especially since she had never cared for anyone’s opinion her whole life, but standing before this perfect stranger, she cared about his opinion.

Her nervous smile turned into a confident one when she saw the look of awe in his eyes as he dragged his eyes from her feet up to the beautiful golden halo of hair that hung to her waist. An approving smile graced his lips and he sent her a nod, she bowed in an exaggerated manner and turned to grab her soiled clothes, his suit jacket, and the tags of the items she had on. 

As she was about to hand over her credit card to pay for her clothing when his hand grabbed hers, stopping her. 

“No, I’m paying. I caused you to spill coffee all over yourself, so it’s only fair that I pay.” He said sternly, but she wasn’t having it. 

“I am an independent, working woman, I can afford to buy my own clothes, it doesn’t matter whether you were the reason for my spilled drink, I will pay for my own clothes.” She asserted defiantly. They stared at each other for a few moments before an idea popped in his head, he smirked inwardly at his genius thoughts. 

“I’ll let you pay on the condition that you let me make it up to you by having dinner with me.” he challenged with a slight smirk, she rolled her eyes at his smug look, but she couldn’t shake the eager feeling that she got at the thought of spending more time with him. 

She had always given guys a run for their money, it was a foreign feeling, wanting to spend time with him after only knowing him for a few minutes, which is why she was shocked when she heard her next words, “Fine, now move.” She wasn’t sure what possessed her to agree, but by the beaming smile on his face and his loosened grip on her wrist, he liked her answer. 

Deagan’s mind was working overtime trying to think of the perfect place to take her out for dinner. He wasn’t sure if she thought of it as a date, but he sure did and he was going to make sure she would eventually agree to go on one with him. “You’re unfair you know that right?” he chuckled when he saw the adorable pout on her face. 

He knew nothing about this woman aside from her name, but in his eyes, she was already perfect. 

He sent her a cocky smirk not bothering to deny her accusation, “A man’s got to do, what a man’s got to do.” She rolled her eyes at his behaviour, but didn’t comment, “Are you free Friday evening?” he asked after a moment of silence, already thinking about how he could get her to go out with him on Saturday if things went well. She thought about it for a moment before glancing at him. 

“Yeah, I am. What do you have in mind?” he wanted to tell her that it was a surprise but didn’t want to push it too far especially if she didn’t consider it a date and inadvertently ruin his chances with her. 

They came to a halt at her car before he could answer, “I’m not sure yet, how about you give me your number and I’ll call you?” she sent him a knowing look and smirked which he returned, but gave it to him anyway.