All of Me, Leeanna Morgan [cheapest way to read ebooks .txt] 📗

Tess opened one eye and closed it again. She pulled her arm out from under her duvet and slapped the top of her cell phone. The alarm kept ringing. To her sleep-deprived, slightly woozy brain, it sounded like a chicken being strangled.

She pulled herself upright and rubbed her eyes. It was four-thirty. Normal people didn’t get out of bed at this time of the morning. Normal people stayed in bed until sunrise. But not her. She had a list of food to bake, a café to get ready and a headache the size of Mount Rushmore pounding in her head.

She picked up her phone and slid the red circle across the screen. Wonderful silence filled her bedroom and she was tempted to fall back onto her pillow. If she was really fast in the kitchen, she could have another thirty minutes in bed. It would be like a real sleep in. She could dream about Connie’s wedding, the lovely dinner they’d enjoyed at Angel Wings Café and the dance floor that had appeared out of nowhere.

Just as her head hit her pillow, her cell phone rang. She couldn’t believe someone would call this early in the morning. Didn’t they know she’d had a late night, that yesterday she’d been part of an amazing day. And that maybe she might want to help someone else, to do it all over again.

She frowned at her phone and tried to work out who would be calling at this time of the morning. If it was telemarketers from India, she was hanging up. She let the phone ring for another few seconds before answering it.

“You’re not in your café.”

Tess pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at the screen. Logan’s number was blocked. “Do you know what time it is?”

“That’s why I’ve been knocking on your door for the last five minutes.”

Tess couldn’t figure out what he was talking about. “Why are you standing on my stairs?”

Logan sighed. “Just open the door.”

That, Tess could understand. She stumbled out of her bedroom and unlocked the door. A cold blast of air followed Logan into her apartment. She rubbed her eyes and stared at his damp T-shirt and running shorts. “Do you ever sleep?”

“Forget my sleeping habits. Aren’t you opening the café today?”

Tess ignored his lazy appraisal of her soft cotton pajama bottoms and tank top. She headed to her kitchen and turned the coffee machine on. If she couldn’t go back to bed, she’d wake herself up with enough caffeine to kick-start her brain. “I’ve got plenty of time thanks to your chronic insomnia.” She yawned. It was the type of yawn that was telling her to go back to bed.

She focused on the amused grin on Logan’s face. “You didn’t leave here until after midnight. Why are you looking so normal?”

“Guess I’m used to less sleep than you are. You do know what the time is, don’t you?”

“It’s four thirty.” She pulled a couple of mugs out of the pantry and leaned against the kitchen counter.

Logan walked toward her holding out his wrist. “Wrong. It’s five forty-five. That’s quarter to six for those of us who’ve slept in.”

Tess grabbed his wrist and stared at his watch. She blinked once before panic set in. “Oh, no. I’m going to be late.”

She forgot about her lack of sleep. A surge of adrenaline replaced the caffeine she’d been looking forward to. Annie would be arriving in an hour. She didn’t have anything ready for her breakfast customers. The oven wasn’t even turned on.

“What can I do to help?” Logan stepped back as she raced past him.

“Call Annie. Ask her to come in early.” She made a detour to the coffee table, picked up the keys to her café and ran back to Logan. “I’m going to jump in the shower. Unlock the front door and turn the oven onto one hundred and eighty degrees. I’ll be there in five minutes.”

She ran back to her room, grabbed some clean clothes, her hairbrush and a couple of Tylenol.

While the shower was warming up, she brushed her teeth. The sink put her directly in front of the bathroom mirror. Her face was in after-party mode and it wasn’t a pretty sight.

Logan added another egg to the pancake mixture, stirred it, then poured more buttermilk into the bowl. The microwave pinged and he tipped the melted butter into the batter.

He found a bag of fresh blueberries sitting in the fridge, so he took those across to the griddle and started cooking breakfast.

Tess flew into the kitchen just as the first pancakes had finished cooking.

“You’re cooking?” Her mouth dropped open as he lifted the pancakes onto a plate and slid them into the warmer tray of the oven.

“I might have made pancakes once or twice since you showed me how.” He’d made them more than once or twice. Pancakes had become his specialty. When Dylan started calling in for breakfast, Logan had experimented with different additions to the recipe. Some had worked, some hadn’t. But Dylan and Logan weren’t fussy. They’d eaten the lot then washed everything down with thick black coffee.

“You could have kept your PJs on.” Logan didn’t miss the blush that streaked along Tess’ face. She’d looked so cute in her cotton pajamas that he’d regretted having to tell her the time.

“I’d better start baking.” Tess walked across to the pantry and pulled out containers of sugar and flour. “Thanks for waking me up.”

He turned back to the stove and smiled. “If you hadn’t answered your phone I was going to break in.”

Tess opened the fridge and took out the butter. “I’m a deep sleeper.” She quickly mixed some flour, sugar, and baking powder together. “I didn’t think you’d go for a run this morning.”

Logan sprinkled some blueberries on the next batch of pancakes. “I woke up early. Did you enjoy yourself last night?”

Tess grinned. “I had a great time. Dylan seemed to enjoy himself.”

“I’ve never seen him smile so much.” Logan figured it must have been part of his new dating strategy. He flipped the pancakes and took two plates out of the pantry. “Do you realize how much Connie and Dave appreciated your surprise?”

Tess shrugged her shoulders. “It wasn’t a big deal. They hadn’t planned anything after the wedding, so I thought we could have dinner together. Can you open the oven door?”

He opened the door and moved out of her way. She slid a baking sheet of scones into the oven and walked across the room.

“I’ll make the mini fruit tarts now. Did Annie say what time she’d be here?”

“She should be here soon.”

Tess opened the fridge and looked along the shelves. She moved a few things around, then started pulling food out and leaving it on the counter. “I know it’s in here. Annie bought yogurt yesterday.”