She knew she’d seen him somewhere before. She couldn’t put her finger on where, though. His shoulders were broad and the fleece jacket he wore concealed what she imagined were bulging muscles. When he unzipped his coat, he revealed a black thermal-type Henley. She spent so much time looking at professional athletes that a guy with his build wasn’t out of the ordinary to her. It was kind of cute that he didn’t take off his knit hat, though.

Maybe he’d got a bad haircut and he felt a little shy about it. His eyebrows were dark blond. His hair must be as well.

“All this, and you bake?” she said.

“Wait until you see what’s in the oven right now.” The look in his eyes as he held hers was confident.

“Lucky me.” She twirled the protective sleeve on her cup with her fingers, and he raised an eyebrow. “So, Drew, what are you up to when you’re not baking or rescuing women in bookstores?”

He took a sip of his chai tea. “Working, reading, the usual.”

She wanted to ask him what he did, but she could almost guess: personal trainer, or he ran a gym. Guys didn’t get those muscles from sitting at a desk in a software firm twelve hours a day.

She wasn’t about to tell him what she did. Whenever she told a man where she worked, he spent the rest of the night peppering her with questions about the NFL, about the San Francisco Miners, or how she managed to get along with a volatile head coach known around the league for being difficult to deal with on a daily basis. When the guy wasn’t demanding inside information, he was subtly (or not) hinting around for free game tickets.

San Francisco was Seattle’s archrival, but she was pretty sure guys here weren’t above scoring some tickets and team merchandise, either.

She took another sip of her drink. “I’m guessing it won’t be a surprise to you that I love to read as well.”

“What’s the last book you read?”

She eyed the saucer in front of them. Should she be good and select the blueberry oatmeal bar, or should she pick the one she really wanted: sea salt chocolate caramel? She slid the chocolate caramel bar onto a napkin in front of her.

“How did you know I wanted the blueberry oatmeal one?” Drew said.

“I hoped you didn’t want chocolate,” she said. “The last book I read? Hmm.” She pretended to think for a minute. She wasn’t about to tell him she’d spent most of a night earlier this week reading Loretta Chase’s latest. She typically relaxed after a day spent dealing with her hyper-masculine colleagues by immersing herself in the love stories of fictional characters that lived almost two hundred years ago. She also read current non-fiction bestsellers as well, and she’d just finished one. “I read Malcolm Gladwell’s David and Goliath. I wonder why some people succeed beyond their wildest dreams despite setbacks in life, and I thought his conclusions were interesting.”

She nibbled at the chocolate caramel bar. It tasted even better than it looked. Drew gave her a nod.

“How is it?”

“Unbelievable. You’ll have to give me the recipe.”

“I’ll work on that,” Drew teased, raising one eyebrow. “In the meantime, I have a question. Do you think you’ve succeeded in life beyond your wildest dreams?”

He reached out for the oatmeal blueberry bar and took a bite. She had a job she’d been seriously pursuing (and working toward) since she got out of college, but she wanted more. Anyone who was ambitious wanted the most they could attain from life—the most success, the most money, the most recognition by their colleagues. She wasn’t any different. She wasn’t sure how he would react to this, so she kept it light.

“I didn’t have a lot of setbacks in life, so I had to come up with my own motivation, but yes. I think so. I’m working in a job I really enjoy, and I like to think I’ve helped others achieve their goals as well. What about you? Do you believe you’ve succeeded in the things you’ve set out to do?” Kendall said.

She was surprised at Drew’s questions. Most guys might be asking about her hobbies (besides reading, she really didn’t have a lot), if she’d been on vacation lately, or about her relationship status. He seemed more interested in finding out who she was. She’d like to find out a few things about him, most especially why she had the nagging feeling that she’d seen him before. Somewhere, somehow, she knew who he was, and she couldn’t quite remember.

Maybe she was having one of those déjà vu moments. She’d read about the chemical in the brain that made a person feel like they’d been somewhere before and they really hadn’t. She took another bite of the chocolate caramel bar. She’d be doing some extra time in the gym for it, but maybe she should get one to-go for later.

The Starbucks employees were zipping around the coffee shop, most likely doing their pre-closing responsibilities, and ignoring Kendall and Drew. He laid one big hand on the table between them and leaned back in his chair as he looked into her eyes.

“To answer your question, I have to say that I am happy with what I’ve attained so far, but there’s always more.” He inched his hand a bit closer to hers. She had an almost overwhelming urge to lace her fingers through his. “There are plenty of things I’d still like to achieve.”

What was she doing? They’d met a couple of hours ago. She didn’t know anything but his first name. The spark of attraction between them was almost overpowering. She remembered how his big, warm hand felt when he shook hers. She wanted more.

She snapped out of her reverie as he said, “The book sounds interesting. Maybe I should grab a copy before they close up for the night next door.”

At that moment, one of the coffee shop employees clicked the locks shut on the glass doors that separated the coffee shop from the bookstore. The bookstore lights dimmed too. “Last call,” one of the baristas joked. “Can we get anything else for either of you?”

“I guess this means I’m not buying that book right now,” Drew murmured to Kendall.

“Would you like to borrow my copy? It’s in my hotel room. I’d be happy to get it for you,” she said.

“I would love that,” he said. “Plus, I can walk you home.” He glanced out of the panoramic coffee shop windows into the parking lot. “Is there anything else you’d like to drink or eat before we leave?”

Kendall caught the eye of one of the employees behind the counter. “Are there any more of those chocolate caramel bars at all?”

The employee smiled at her. “Welcome to your new worst habit. I’m in love with them too. How many would you like?”

“How about two more?” Drew responded, and he had his wallet out before Kendall could object.

“I can get it,” she said.

“You’re letting me borrow your book,” he said. “Don’t worry about it.” He handed the barista some cash and handed the two small paper bags to Kendall to stow in her handbag. “A midnight snack,” he said.

“Thank you.” She pulled up the hood on her jacket and indicated the still-trashed umbrella outside the front door. “That’s mine. I don’t know if it’s going to work,” she said.

He glanced out of the window toward the parking lot. “The rain isn’t letting up, Kendall. I think it’s actually getting worse. Where are you staying?”

“I’m at the Westin. It’s only a block or so. I’ll be fine.”

She was going to be soaked by the time she got there, but she was glad she’d forced herself out of the room for a while.

“Let me see if I can fix that umbrella for you.” They stepped outside, and she handed the shell of her formerly intact black umbrella to him. A path ran directly to the hotel from here, but there was going to be a drenching on the way. He didn’t seem alarmed by this. He managed to reconstruct most of the umbrella and handed it to her before he re-zipped his jacket. “We’re going to have to run, but we’ll make it,” he said. He re-opened the door and stuck his head inside.