AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“These balloons are giving my hair a bad case of static electricity,” I half-heartedly complained.
“Well, you’re welcome. Happy birthday.”
“Thanks, Josie.” I began to untangle myself from the ribbons and balloons. It was easier said than done. I felt like we were in a labyrinth. It didn’t help when we started laughing so hard at the silliness of being trapped by balloons.
Once we had extricated ourselves, Josie placed the balloons on a nearby white hand-painted table. She immediately began to smooth out the flyaway hairs on my head. “How do you get your hair so shiny?”
“Um, it’s a new shampoo. I’ll make some for you, too, if you want.”
Her brow quirked. “What else do you cook upstairs in your little ‘lab’?”
It wasn’t a lab; it was more like a test kitchen.
She held up her hand. “Please don’t tell me if it’s like meth or something. I don’t want to have to testify against you.”
I smacked her hand away. “I’m not cooking up illicit drugs.”
She faux wiped her brow. “Phew. Except, it kind of makes me hate you. I thought maybe you’d come up with some drug that prevented aging, and I was going to beg you for some.” She petted my cheek. “How is it that the past few years I’ve known you, you haven’t changed one bit? It’s like you’re eternally twenty-seven. And I’m over here using concealer like a weapon to fight the crow’s-feet that keep assaulting my eyes like some freaking ninja warrior.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. She didn’t know how close to the truth she was. “You’re gorgeous. Half the guys in here right now want to date you.” That wasn’t a lie. I think I owed at least a quarter of my business to her. Many a man came in asking if Josie would be dropping in that day. The answer was usually yes. To make ends meet between her wedding gigs, Josie delivered food for one of those food delivery apps. She even delivered for me. Sometimes people just needed a cupcake or even an entire cake fix. I could relate. Like, as is in right now. I could use some sweet ecstasy.
Josie rolled her eyes. “I’m pretty sure all these guys come in here for you.”
“I don’t think so.” I had turned down every guy who had asked me out since I moved here. Not because I wanted to but because I had to break the curse, and never falling in love was the only way I knew how. Hence the name of my bakery, Love Bites. I thought the double meaning was clever, even if I was the only one who knew the snarky meaning behind it. Everyone else just thought it was a cute name for a bakery that sold wedding cakes.
“Oh really?” Josie sang. She turned my head toward the door, leaned in, and whispered, “See Mr. Tall, Brooding, and Handsome who just walked in here? He can’t take his eyes off you.”
I looked down at my pink, frilly apron, guessing that was why, except when I lifted my head, I was hit with the most enigmatic aqua eyes I’d ever seen. They drew me in like Scotty was beaming me up. I wouldn’t have minded at all to be stuck on the starship Enterprise with the achingly beautiful, olive-skinned man whose square face and strong jawline made me want to skim my finger across his shaved skin and run my hand through his dark hair. His tailored black suit and trim haircut gave off the air of someone who wore an invisible barrier. It was both sexy and relatable.
The reasonable, curse-breaking side of me said to look away, though every other part of me begged to go to him. It was as if my feet, of their own accord, started walking his way. And partly it was Josie, who gave me a push. All I knew was that it wasn’t me, because I was never this bold. His tractor beam eyes lured me over. Never once did those gorgeous things stray; it was as if he knew the power he held.
The stranger stood impossibly still at the door, waiting for me even when other customers came in and out. In my head I kept saying this was weird, but that didn’t stop me from walking his way. I didn’t even know what I was going to say. When I finally reached him, I took a moment to gaze at him. Up close he was even more attractive. An almost animalistic urge came over me to kiss him. It was like the depths of my soul called out that he would be the father of my children. That’s when I came to my senses. I would never be allowed to choose who to love. And my kind only ever had one child—a daughter. A daughter that, I swore to myself, I would never pass this curse on to. I took a deep breath trying to clear the daze I was in.
