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Yellow was as adventurous as I could get.
Red washed me out entirely.
Felicity took an apron from the hooks by the door and put it on. “What needs doing? We have an hour until we open, what can I do?”
I talked her through all the cooled cakes that needed icing, and she immediately got to work collecting the ingredients. For the next forty-five minutes, we worked together in perfect harmony, occasionally singing along to music when Felicity got tired of the silence.
Thankfully, she had an excellent taste in music, so it only served to make the hour go faster.
And thank God for that.
Ten minutes before we opened, Felicity got to work stocking the display cabinets with all the sweet baked goods while I took control of the bread. By the time she unlocked the door and flipped the sign to show that we were open, the shelves and cabinets were all stocked, the coffee machine was ready to go, and she’d taken her place behind the register ready to greet our first customers.
“Morning!”
I turned at the bright tone of one of my best friends and narrowed my eyes. “What do you want?”
Holley pressed her hand to her chest, stopping in front of the counter. “Is that any way to talk to a customer?”
“It is when the customer is you and I know you’re trying to set me up on a date,” I retorted. “Again, what do you want?”
She groaned, leaning on the counter. “Josh opened his big mouth, didn’t he?”
I blinked at her.
“Fine. I’ll take three coffees the usual way, one loaf of white bread, one blueberry muffin, two chocolate chip muffins, three white chocolate chip cookies, and a chocolate cake.”
Felicity froze for a second, likely figuring out where to get started, then jumped into action.
“Are you all on your periods?”
“Saylor is. The blueberry muffin is for her. The rest is for us to get through the day.” She snorted and slipped to the side as more customers came in.
I told Felicity I had her order, and she turned to the newcomers. “That bad, huh?”
“Mm. Dylan used the last of the milk for his eggs this morning so she couldn’t have her Oreos cereal. On second thoughts, you got any of those white chocolate brownies?”
I wrinkled my nose. “I have regular ones?”
“Two of those, too.”
“Okay, you’re gonna have to run that by me again. I’m not a robot.”
Holley did just that, and I dutifully bagged up each of the items, cutting the bread loaf to her desired thickness before I wrapped that. “Thanks,” she said. “I think Seb will cry if we run out of your bread.”
I grinned. “I’ll pretend you didn’t just tell me that.”
She waved a hand. “He’ll get over it. Anyway, I do have to speak to you.”
“I wholeheartedly guarantee I don’t want to hear it.”
“Probably not,” she said brightly. “I know a guy who—”
“No.”
“—would be perfect for you.”
“No.” I put her things in a paper bag and turned to the coffee machine, quickly initiating it to do its thing. Thank God it could do two cups at a time. “I don’t want to date.”
“I know, but the thing is, I already told him you’d be there.”
I pulled two takeout cup lids down and closed my eyes. “Holley.”
“I know, I know, but it was a couple days ago and now he’s in town and I can’t back out of it.”
“Yes, you can. You can tell him something came up and I’m busy.”
“He’s here for two weeks.”
“That’s really not my problem.” I programmed for the third cup and put the other two into a cup holder. “It’s yours.”
“Please. Just this one time, and I’ll never try to set you up again.”
I’d heard that before. “I’ve heard that before.”
“Piper!”
I put the third coffee in the cup holder and looked at her. “How well do you know this guy? Is he some random you found online or in a coffee shop? Have you had more than one conversation with him? Will I find him attractive or interesting?”
“He’s not a random. I’ve worked with him, yes I’ve had more than one conversation, and yes, you’ll find him both attractive and interesting.”
I made a noncommittal noise as I slid her good along the counter to the register. “So he’s in publishing?”
“He is.”
“Better than the last hick you tried to set me up with,” I muttered. “Fine. This is it, though, and I mean it. This is the last date you set up me up on. You leave me alone after this.”
Holley rolled her head back. “Fine. I swear.”
I held out my pinky finger.
“What are we, ten?”
“I don’t trust you.”
With a groan, she looped her pinky finger around mine and shook. “Damn it. I bet you have security cameras that caught every bit of that, don’t you?”
“I do, and I’m going to download that bit of footage right now,” I warned her, ringing up her order and giving her the total. She swiped her card across the machine, and I smiled. “Thank you for your business. Have a nice day, now.”
