AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Mara returned with a pizza box and three smaller boxes. “Don’t tempt me. A photo of us kissing would drive Xander crazy and that alone would make it worth it.” Each boxed revealed the best junk food imaginable from pizza and spicy chicken bites to fried cheese sticks and deep fried stuffed mushrooms. I put one of everything on a plate and dug in. “So, what are you going to do about Miles.”
I took a forceful bite of the cheese stick and let the crispy breading and gooey cheese put a smile on my face. “I’m going to do nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
“Good luck. Miles is pretty irresistible.”
“Correction, he was irresistible. On the upside, he disappeared before he found out how much money I have.”
Mara leaned forward. “Exactly how much money do you have?”
I arched a brow at her. “That kiss is sounding more appealing now, isn’t it?”
Mara laughed. “No but I don’t know any rich people and I’m curious how the other half lives.” And that’s why I appreciated Mara more than I could tell her, she didn’t care about my money, just the things it allowed me to buy and do.
“Pass your business skills on and I’ll show you.”
“Skills? I’m a cook, Shannon. I’m good in the kitchen and I have a bad attitude. I just follow your lead and people fill the place up each day. That’s it.”
It couldn’t be that simple. I wasn’t all that smart in business and it certainly didn’t come easily. “Fine, keep your secrets. I have my ways of learning them.” I would watch her carefully and take detailed notes until I detected some pattern to the bakery’s success.
Miles
My first stop when I arrived back in Pilgrim was Bread Box. I had to see Shannon before I did anything else, because I couldn’t stop thinking about her, couldn’t stop the images of her, naked and smiling, from invading my mind. It was just after noon when I got to the bakery and the place was more or less empty aside from a few old ladies in the corner, and a few college kids taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi.
I took my time heading to the counter until Mara slipped through the swinging door that led to the kitchen. “Hey there, stranger.”
Shannon looked up at the sound of my voice, her thick fiery hair falling around her shoulders in sexy, touchable waves.
“Hey.”
Hey? Did she just hit me with a casual ‘hey’? “How are you, Shannon?”
“I’m good, Miles. How are you?” Again, her words were right, but her tone was bland, lifeless. Nothing like the woman I’d seen in the bakery before. Her smile was there, but it was professional and it didn’t reach her green eyes at all.
I sighed and leaned against the glass display as the truth became clear. “I screwed up.” I thought maybe it had been a mistake, around day five, not to reach out to her after that explosive night we shared, but the traveling made it difficult and I didn’t want to seem too eager. “I added four extra stops to the travel schedule and things just got crazy, Shannon.” It was a piss poor excuse and we both knew it.
Judging by the disappointment in her green eyes, it was worse than piss poor. “You didn’t do anything you need to explain or apologize for, Miles. We had fun and that’s all it was.”
Again, her words were right, but her tone was off. I felt my brows dip in confusion. “If that’s true, why are you upset?”
Shannon sighed and set down the pen and clipboard she’d been using to avoid looking at me and set that green gaze right on me. “I’m not upset, Miles. I expected more. We had fun and I thought that we were building a friendship. I see now that I was wrong and that’s on me, not you. So,” she sighed and moved two steps to the register on the left, “what I can I get you today?”
I wanted to say more, but her tone and her body language told me to act wisely. “I’ll have six of those carrot cake pops and six stuffed croissants, plus a dozen donuts and muffins, The Hodge-Podge Box, thanks.”
Shannon nodded and I watched her move, graceful like a dancer, behind the counter as she packaged up each part of the order, carefully placing each one in a branded bag before she set it between us, almost like she was trying to create more distance. “Thanks for your business, and have a pastry-riffic day.”
“It’s for a staff meeting,” I told her inanely. “That’s why I ordered so much, not to get in your good graces.”
“Of course.” She held that professional smile for so long I thought maybe she’d frozen like a computer screen.
“I’d like for us to be friends, Shannon.”
