“Oh, I have great taste. You keep looking at me like that,Cupcake,” he drawled, letting his voice drop, “and I’m gonna start thinking your friends are right about me.”
Pink flooded her cheeks. She ducked her head fast, burying her face in the puppy’s soft fur. “They talk too much.”
“They’re not wrong, though. I’d love to lick one right now.”
He let the words settle over her, watched the way her breath caught and her fingers tightened in the pup’s coat. Good. Let her feel it. Let her wonder what he meant.
He was done pretending she was just Kenzie’s best friend. She washisCupcake now. And he was getting real tired of acting like she wasn’t.
Junie kissed the puppy’s head and carried him toward her office. Tanner braced his shoulder against the doorway, content to watch her move around the familiar space. She had a graceful way of moving that drew his eyes to her hips. Hips the perfect size for his hands to grip when he had her riding his cock.
“Exactly what are you talking about?” she asked, setting the pup down on a blanket in her little office, trying to sound casual.
Look at her, acting all nonchalant. But he knew better.
“About how much I love your cupcakes, Cupcake,” he said, voice warm with taunt as he followed her back out to the front. “What did you think I was talking about?”
She blushed even deeper and squirmed under his gaze. Interesting. He couldn’t laugh at her and hurt her feelings. And he damn sure couldn’t do what his cock was urging him to. Time for a distraction.
He reached under the counter and pulled out a thick tome, expecting another one of her cake books. Instead, what he held was a scrapbook. No way had Junie made it. She was much too precise.
This looked like it was done by a kid. He opened the cover, and as his eyes landed on the first picture inside, everything in him went still.
Preston fucking Lassiter stared back at him from the page.
What the hell?
Pictures, some from a camera, some cut from yearbooks. How had he even gotten his hands on old yearbooks? And not just a few. No, there had to be dozens of them. The hairs on the back of his neck stood to attention, and not because every single one had Junie and Preston in the frame. That psycho had circled their faces with a bright red marker. Hearts drawn around some. Notes scribbled in the margins like a madman’s diary.Soon. You’ll see. Together forever.
Preston’s forever was going to end the second Tanner got his hands on him.
The card tucked inside the front cover fluttered to land at his feet. Tanner snatched it from the floor. The words on the card made his blood boil.
We’ve had yesterday and today. Now it’s time for our tomorrow and forever.
“Junie,” he called, voice rough and dangerous, “you wanna get your ass back up to the front?”
His shout had not only Junie coming out of her office, but it had obviously awakened the dog as he came trotting out behind her. Pup stumbled to a stop against Junie’s foot when she suddenly froze the second she saw what he held. Her face went pale.
“Tanner, wait! Don’t?—”
“Don’t what, Cupcake?” He didn’t even try to keep the edge out of his voice.
“Don’t… don’t kill anyone.” She tried for a joke, but there was nothing amusing about what he’d seen.
“You think this is funny?” He lifted the album, jaw locked tight. “You’re still accepting gifts from him?”
“N-no…” Junie twisted the edge of her apron between her fingers, eyes darting away. “It’s just the way Preston is. He’ll give up eventually. He doesn’t mean any harm.”
“Doesn’t mean any harm?” His voice rose as anger burned hot uphis throat. He slammed the album shut with a sharp crack. “This isn’t harmless, Junie. This is crazy. He’s obsessed with you. How can you not see that?”
“I talked to him,” she insisted, but her voice wavered, small and uncertain. “I was clear. I told him I wasn’t interested.”
“Was that before or after he sent you this?” Tanner thrust the book toward her, the weight of it heavy in his hand.
“It was after,” she assured him quickly. Too quickly. “I’m almost sure.”
“Junie”—he poured every ounce of warning he had into her name—“this is not the time to lie to me.”
