The phrase “doe eyes” had never been more appropriate.
She blinked her big, brown ones at him from the other side of the counter and took a small step backward, her hands joining at her waist and wringing together.
“Hi,” she mouthed, no sound coming out, but he wasn’t sure she realized that.
In Leo’s head, she’d been pretty. But he’d wildly miscalculated.
This girl was stunning. Not in a quiet way, either. Her long, dark blonde hair fell around a face that made his jugular tighten. Generous lips, a beauty mark perched on the right side. To say she was sexy wouldn’t be enough.
And even through her leggings and purple coat, he could tell she was a dancer. He’d grown up around enough of them to know. This close to the Theater District, there was no chance he was wrong. Which meant that, even if he had a sliver of a chance with this girl, on the insane possibility that she was single, he couldn’t go there.
“Uh…boss? You with us?” Tad prompted out of the side of his mouth.
He cleared his throat. “Sorry. I’m Leo.”
Those magical lips of hers twitched. “Why would you be sorry about that?” She took two sweeping steps, toes out, toward the counter, confirming his suspicion that she was a dancer. “I’m Reese. Nice to meet you.”
When she extended a hand, he swallowed and took it, incapable of reining in the static that crawled up his arm and warmed his shoulder. Reluctantly, he took his hand back, grunting in the general direction of his employees. “Don’t let me interrupt.”
They were looking at him and the dancer, Reese, like they’d just shot rainbows from their fingertips.
“Uh…” Jackie recovered first, clapping her hands together and jangling the gold bands of her bracelets against her deep brown skin. “Right. So…Reese. If you wouldn’t mind helping us out…”
“I don’t mind,” Reese said, still looking at Leo, her brow puckered slightly.
He was staring right back. Probably with the same frown.
Couldn’t seem to stop looking, despite the reminder she was a bad idea. He’d learned a long time ago that having Bernard Bexley for a father made him deceptively attractive to dancers. It was extremely unlikely that she was here because of that relationship. It wasn’t something that he advertised. Every so often, there was a mention of Leo in an article about his father, but it was usually buried at the end and lacking in important detail.
As soon as she found out who he was, though…
Well, he knew what happened next.
“What would be the ultimate bakery gift from a boyfriend for Valentine’s Day?” Jackie asked the question, chin propped on her hands. “Do you mind me asking if you have a boyfriend?”
“Jackie,” Leo muttered, finally managing to tear his eyes off the girl, pretending to reorganize one of the display cases.
“I don’t. Have a boyfriend, I mean.”
There went his gaze, zipping right back to her, relief curling in his chest.
“I’m not sure how this is going to make me sound, but…my perfect gift from a boyfriend on Valentine’s Day would be something I could look cute eating.”
“That narrows it down,” Leo grumbled.
Reese flushed and ducked her head, looking up at him through her eyelashes. And he almost dropped a tray of blondies, his tongue feeling oddly thick in his mouth.
Never in his life had he accidentally blurted something.
Not talking enough was usually the problem.
What the hell was going on here?
“That’s a really good point,” Tad said, doing a pathetic job of pretending to clean the top of the counter. “So we’re talking something that wouldn’t get stuck in your teeth.”
“Yes.” Reese nodded once. “But also something that feels personal. You know what I mean? I don’t want to get what everyone else is getting.” She gave a wry twist of her lips. “Wow, I am demanding. Maybe there’s a reason I don’t have a boyfriend.”
Jackie and Tad laughed.
Leo narrowed his eyes at her. Was she one of these people who made fun of themselves in order to receive compliments? The deepening flush of her skin and the renewed wringing of her hands said no. She almost seemed…nervous about something. An odd disposition for someone who probably performed in front of crowds. Who was this girl?
“What’s your perfect bite?”
Leo’s abrupt question startled her. See, this is what he meant about only asking the important questions. He wouldn’t know a segue if it bit him in the ass.
“My…perfect bite?” She dropped into first position and scanned the display case. “I’ve never thought about it.”
He had. At least four times since laying eyes on her.
She’d dropped right into a conversation with strangers as if she’d known them for years, hadn’t even flinched when they asked for her opinion, a left turn for the average person. And he liked her opinion, too. She didn’t give them an arbitrary answer just to make small talk. All those ingredients mixed together made her fun, smart, interesting so he could bet on a refined nut. A more complex palate of salty and sweet. Chocolate, thanks to her voice. It was like a ripple of melted ganache and he could hear her moaning after a bite of the good stuff.
Thinking of what else would make her moan, it became necessary to distract himself or tent the front of his apron. Sliding open the refrigerated case, he used a square of wax paper to take out a chocolate cherry bomb sprinkled with pieces of candied almond and slid it across the counter toward her. “Eat that.”
“Oh.” She came the remaining distance to the counter and picked up the cherry bomb, inspecting it from all sides. “That’s so funny. I was eyeing this.”
Leo nodded firmly, trying not to let it show how much that gratified him.
“Okay.” She shifted. “Here’s the thing about this one. It’s hard to tell if this is a two biter or a one biter. It’s right on the borderline. My instinct is to just pop it right in, but I could be risking chipmunk cheeks. Or I could go the safe route and split it up.”
He had the strangest urge to chuckle.
“Risk it, risk it,” Jackie and Tad chanted, pounding their fists on the counter.
“Okay. Here goes.” Reese tossed back her head and threw the cherry bomb into her mouth like she was taking a shot of tequila. Almost immediately, her eyes flew wide, her cheeks bulging out on either side. “Wrong call,” she slurred around a mouthful of chocolate.
Leo handed her a napkin and watched in amusement as she bent forward and waved her hands, as if that was going to help her swallow. “Am I going to have to Heimlich you?”
She straightened, visibly pulling herself together, though she kept a hand over her mouth when she spoke again. “That was incredible. You didn’t tell me there was a cherry inside. I was caught off guard by the gush, but it was perfect. Exactly what I’d cobble together if I could pick from a hundred different ingredients. How did you do that?”
“Leo has a gift,” Jackie explained. “He likes to convince people they’re wrong about what they prefer. It’s infuriating and inexplicable.”
Reese considered him, finally taking her hand away from her mouth to reveal not a trace of the cherry bomb she’d just eaten. “There’s something kind of eye-opening about it. Maybe I don’t know myself as well as I think, since I was going to settle on an éclair.” The girl gasped suddenly, transferring her attention back to Jackie. “I have it. The Valentine’s Day promotion of a lifetime. We all want something that shows the person we’ve been dating has been paying attention. That they know our taste. Right?”