THE SUN WAS SHINING, the birds were singing, and okay, it sounded cliché, but I felt great in the morning. Sleep gave me enough sanity to know I could deal with the zoning issue just fine when the hearing happened in six weeks, and I still had warm fuzzies from the attention I got from Fred and Barney last night. I didn’t mind blocking out the doubt, since it was a snapshot in time.
I put on one of my more fitted tops. It was sunny yellow, to match my mood, it did great things for my cleavage, and it mostly hid my tummy. I’d be standing to bake a lot of today, and wearing an apron, so I didn’t have to worry about the space between the buttons gapping apart when I sat.
Living above my shop made for a convenient commute. In under a minute, I was in my gorgeous, big, industrial kitchen. Stainless steel appliances lined the walls, including three double-sized ovens opposite a massive fridge. In the middle stood a large island—half stainless steel, half butcher block. I loved this place, even if it was part of the reason I was struggling to make ends meet.
Today it would help pay for itself. I’d started taking on catering jobs to supplement the café’s income. Tomorrow would be my biggest event yet. One hundred each cupcakes, bagels, croissants, and chocolate chip cookies, for the Digital Media company town hall.
Anne had teased me about working for the enemy—she was a game Director for DM’s biggest competitor, Rinslet. But she’s also told me if I happened to overhear any corporate secrets, she was happy to be my confidant.
She’d been joking. Mostly.
I set a pot of coffee to brew, and prepped my workspace for the pastries I needed to make for the shop this morning. Two hours later, I was on my third cup of coffee, and was setting the day’s sweets under glass in the café.
Violet, my store manager, would be in soon to open up.
Time to get down to the big order. In my dreams, I was making enough money to hire more bakers. People I trusted as much as I did Violet to do their jobs without constant supervision. For now, the task of baking was mine.
I had a rhythm to my work that let me manage multiple batches at once. There was always a temptation to sample the goods, especially with me having skipped breakfast, but more coffee kept my stomach from growling.
The familiar ringtone that Anne, Sadie, and I all used for each other reached my ears. I pulled the call up on the tablet I kept on my counter, to find Anne grinning at me.
“You’re baking,” Anne said as a greeting.
I grinned. “What gave it away—the apron or the kitchen?” The happy note from last night still lingered in my thoughts. I turned back to my work, knowing she wouldn’t mind.
“I’m just perceptive like that.” Her tone was as bright and sunny as the weather. She’d had a long run of stress at work, but since a few things fell into place, she was a lot more like her old self. It was nice to hear. “Real quick, so you can work, girls’ night out this weekend?”
Just the three of us? “Totally up for that.”
“Yay. So, what has you humming?”
Was I? “I’ll share details, but not until we’re face-to-face. This weekend, probably.”
“I’m never going to live that down, am I?” Anne laughed. When she’d first hooked up with her guys—as in her boss and Sadie’s brother—she put off telling us by saying she’d rather have the conversation face-to-face.
“Maybe someday. Just not today.” I turned to find her pouting at the camera. Too adorable. “All right, I’ll spill. Otherwise you’ll think it’s a big deal, and it’s not. I got hit on last night, and while it didn’t go anywhere, it made me feel good.”
“You’re being vague with your pronouns.”
No. Just with my counting. “Because it’s not a big deal, because it didn’t go anywhere. Text me details for this weekend.”
As I resumed working, I tried out the humming again. I liked that. I kept a tuneless song flitting around me as I worked on cupcakes. Those needed to bake and cool first, so I could decorate them while everything else was cooking.
It might have been nice to lose track of time, but with a timer on each step, that wasn’t happening. Still, the next couple of hours passed quickly.
“There’s someone here to see you.” Violet’s cheerful voice startled me as I was stepping away from the oven.
Not the best timing, but not the worst either. “Do me a favor, keep an eye on those.” I nodded to the oven. “If I’m not back in twenty-five minutes, take them out?”
“No problem.”
I dusted the flour from my apron before hanging it up on its hook, and headed out into the main shop.
Fred and Barney were standing near the front counter. They were dressed differently than last night, both looking gorgeously sexy in suits that accentuated their sturdy builds, ties that my imagination wanted used on me, and flat expressions that growled don’t fuck with us.
My stomach turned in on itself, and every muscle in my body tensed. How did they find me? Did they follow me home?
Chapter Three
I’d pushed my luck for far too long, making a habit of one-night stands with strangers I met in bars. And now the one time I’d picked a bookstore instead, I’d managed to run into not one, but two creepy stalkers. If I screamed, Violet would call the police. The thought didn’t reassure me the way I wanted it to.
“What are you doing here?” I kept my tone steady, despite my creeping fear. “Did you follow me home last night?”
Fred frowned. He had the nerve to look offended? Now? Or was that his normal look? “I’m looking for Jaelyn O’Driscoll. Are you she?”
How the fuck did he know not only my name, but all of it? “May I tell her who’s asking?”
“Owen Samson.” He extended his hand, and nodded at Barney. My already churning gut plummeted into my feet, and I knew he was going to say, “and my associate Kingston Ryder.”
Fuck. Fear bled into irritation. These were the two assholes who had been trying to buy out my business for several months. And last night I’d considered going back to their hotel? Worse, I’d enjoyed their company.
I crossed my arms rather than shake his hand. “I’m still not interested. Now that we’ve covered that, I have a huge catering order I need to get back to. I trust you can find your way out as easily as you found your way in.”
“Sharp wit and dangerous curves. You’re destruction in a stunning package.” Kingston used the same flirty tone he had as Barney.
Why was a sliver of me still enjoying him? Still sending shivers of desire through me while my brain begged me to indulge a fantasy. “If I’d realized last night that you’re the kind of men who can’t take no for an answer—”
“We have a new offer for you, and it’s a good one,” Owen said.
I clenched my jaw at being cut off. If I screamed, I’d look irrational and unreasonable, even though they were the ones who kept coming back after I turned them away. It was tempting to scream.
Kingston’s smirk didn’t improve my mood. “Not as good an offer as last night.”
And now he was mixing business with pleasure? Implying screwing him was better than... whatever this was?