He winced. She would see him flinch slightly as he heard her voice, and then closed his blue eyes quietly for a long moment, taking in a breath to brace himself as he looked at her. She, who more than likely only had a single boyfriend all her life would likely not recognize that moment of preperation that someone took before they looked at someone who caused them pain to even think about, much less look at. But look he did, stared calmly, looking into her blue eyes as intensely as he had the other day when he'd been so close that she could feel him pressed against her. Something about the intensity of the way that he stared at her did not change now, even though there was a counter between them.
Desmond didn't even realize that his hand was on hers until it had lingered there for a moment, his attempt to push the change at her causing the contact. Unlike yesterday though, there was not leather gloves to separate them. He had slipped his gloves off to fetch out the money from the wad, as the paper money in thick stacks as it was made for an annoying time trying to get a single bill out of it. He only glanced down at their hands for a moment, that was all he could dare to do as he felt, with agonizing clarity that her skin was as soft as he had dreamnt that it was.
But if his glove was off, she would see the odd way that his hands looked without their fingernails. A betrayal of what exactly he was. And so he quickly pulled his hand back from hers, roughly stuffing it inside of the thick leather glove as he took a step back away from the money, shaking his head slightly as he offered her a weak smile. "No... I... it is fine. I have plenty of money. A tip is supposed to be a reward for excellent service and... this white chocolate mocha is... excellent." he said softly.
A flush came to his lips though, realizing that he hadn't actually tasted it yet at all. Opening his mouth he was about to protest that there were likely other people waiting for her attention, but it seemed like the rush had ended with him, and there was not a single soul in line behind him. Swallowing a little, he took a sip of the coffee, and blinked. It really did taste rather... wonderful. Sugary, far more so than he was used to, but the sweetness offset the bitter flavor in a way that made him want to drink more. "It really is, excellent..." he said, a little softer than he had meant to.
"You can keep the change..." he said, taking another step back quietly, wondering, in the pit of his stomach, if it wasn't the smell of the coffee that had drawn him into this place, but the sense of her, that she might be working here. That he might find her... here. Instinctively, his hand had come up to his chest, but only now did he realize that it was beating violently, and not from the sudden intake of caffiene. "Thank you again..." he said, taking another step back and nearly tripping over a chair in the process, managing to twist the cup of Mocha so it didn't spill, but he frowned at himself. He normally had such a good mind for where things were, if you lost track of that during an attack, it could be deadly.
Nodding again, awkwardly, he headed for a corner table, so as to not seem... odd. Everyone else was leisurely drinking their coffee in this place, all he needed to do was finish his cup and then he could leave without seeming like he was trying to escape, when desperately, desperately he wanted to.