A Whole Lotto Love

Contemporary Romance; Editor's Choice, Short & Sweet Category

Well, look what the rain washed in. Daphne’s favorite customer hurried into the convenience store, wet sneakers squeaking on the slippery tile floor. Every morning, he stopped in for coffee and scratch-off lottery tickets.

She straightened her name tag and smoothed her hair. When he set his cup of coffee on the counter, they exchanged warm smiles. It was the same routine every day since she’d started working for Pappy’s Gas-n-Go a few weeks ago, but she liked to think that each day their smiles got a little wider, a little warmer, and lingered a little longer. As if she could be so lucky in love. Luck? Yeah right. She sighed. There was no such thing as luck.

“Same as usual?” Daphne asked. Instinctively, she reached for the case that held rolls of tickets with various themes and amounts.

“Actually, I’d like to try something different today,” he said, his voice gentle and hopeful. “What do you recommend?”

Daphne raised her eyebrows, then glanced at her ticket supply. The store had just gotten in some tickets the day before with a romantic theme: LOTTO LOVE. They were red with scratch-off hearts that revealed mushy symbols like diamond rings, lips, roses, and turtledoves. For the big prize, a thousand dollars, reveal four in a row to spell X-O-X-O.

Did she dare? A small voice deep inside said yes.

“How about a couple of these?”

She tore two from the roll and waited for his reaction. His light brown eyes looked over the tickets and the corner of his mouth lifted. Then their gazes locked. Her rapid blinking matched the tempo of her heart.

“Thank you. See you tomorrow.”

He slid the tickets in his pocket, picked up his coffee, and stepped out into the rain. Daphne moved to the front window to watch him leave. This time, he waved before getting into his car. Daphne thought she’d melt into a puddle. Good thing she’d put out the Caution: Wet Floor signs earlier.

The next morning, the sun peeked through a smattering of light gray clouds. She’d just put on a fresh pot of coffee when her handsome customer walked in the door with something red in his hand and a blush on his cheeks.

“Sir, it’ll be a few minutes for the coffee, but I can go ahead and ring everything up while you wait.”

“That’s fine. I wanted to share some good news. I won $20 on one of the tickets you sold me yesterday.” He held it up.

“Congratulations!”

“I’ve probably spent three times that amount over the years, though. Do you ever play, Daphne?” he asked, reading her name off her name tag.

Should she tell him the truth, that she didn’t believe in luck? Of course, the truth is always best.

“No, I think we make our own luck by putting ourselves out there.”

He looked down at his sneakers, and his shaggy, blond hair flopped forward over one eye. But he didn’t immediately say anything in return.

“Surely, you’ve spent more than sixty dollars over the years if you regularly buy two tickets a day.”

At that, his head snapped back up. “I don’t usually play this often or come in for coffee every morning…only for the past few weeks.” He handed her the winning LOTTO LOVE ticket.

Her heart slammed into her chest. That’s how long she’d been working at Pappy’s. Had he been coming in for her? Daphne sucked in a deep breath, filling her lungs with hope. The counter between them was a chasm, so she leaned on it to shorten the void.

“I think life is equal parts chance and choice,” he said. “Meeting you here, chance. Returning day after day to see you, choice. Winning $20 on a scratch off, chance. Asking you on a date, choice.”

A date?

“Um…” was all Daphne could manage. She looked at the winning ticket in her hand, then back at his stunning brown eyes. He was right. Choosing this convenience store out of all the ones in town, chance. Her decision to hand him the romance-themed lottery tickets, choice. “Um…I don’t even know your name.”

“It’s CJ.”

“CJ, it’s nice to officially meet you. And you’re right. Right now, I feel very lucky.

“Now take action. What do you say to dinner?”

She’d never looked at life in this way, but even if someone didn’t play the lottery, they took chances every day. Now she would take a chance on CJ.

“Yes, I’d love to go out with you. Where should we go?”

“There are two great restaurants in town, Charlie’s Chophouse and The Vine on Nine. Which would you prefer?”

Daphne thought for a moment, then her eyes landed on the little tray of spare pennies sitting beside the register. She picked one up. “I know. Let’s flip a coin.”

Website: jaynamorrowbooks.com

Facebook: facebook.com/jaynamorrowwrites

Instagram: instagram.com/jaynamorrowwrites

Goodreads: goodreads.com/user/show/159118414-jayna-morrow