Chapter One: The Coffee Machine
Lisa Hartley didn’t believe in love at first sight. Or office romance. Or serendipity in general. She believed in deadlines, client retention, and the power of a perfectly brewed cup of black coffee. Romance belonged in novels and off-hours, not between the grey walls of Phoenix & Rowe Advertising.
But everything changed on a rainy Tuesday morning.
She arrived at the office soaked from the knees down, umbrella flipped inside out by a gust of downtown wind. Her only hope was the sacred coffee machine on the fifteenth floor—the one place where no one asked about deliverables before 9 a.m.
That’s where she met him.
He was standing there, sleeves rolled up, tie slightly loosened, and an easy smile on his lips. A fresh pot was brewing, and the rich aroma filled the space between them like a secret.
“Rough morning?” he asked, handing her a napkin as she wiped the water from her cheeks.
Lisa glanced at him, a little thrown. Most people didn’t speak before caffeine. “You could say that.”
“I’m Daniel,” he said, offering his hand.
She hesitated, then shook it. “Lisa. Marketing.”
“Creative,” he replied, nodding toward the adjoining floor. “Looks like we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other.”
She didn’t know it then, but he was right.
Because by the end of that week, Daniel would be making her coffee without asking how she liked it—and getting it exactly right. By the end of that month, he’d be walking her to her car when it rained, staying late just to keep her company in the glow of buzzing desk lamps.
And before the year was over, Lisa Hartley—queen of no-nonsense and closed-off hearts—would find herself believing in something she never expected:
Love between deadlines.
Love by the coffee machine.
Love in the last place she thought to look.
To be continued…