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“No, I have something to drop off for Alivia.” Saying her name made me blush, and I hated it.
“Oh, sure, hold on a sec,” she said, getting up and walking up the main stairs to what I guessed was probably to Alivia’s office.
Someone was playing the grand piano in the corner of the dining room, and I tried to pick out the tune, but couldn’t quite find it.
I forced myself not to look toward the stairs as I heard someone descend.
“Hello, Charli,” she said, and I turned around, holding the paperwork and the little box of treats. I had to remind myself not to crush it with my grip.
“Oh, hi. Yeah, um, I brought over the paperwork for Linley,” I said, handing it to her.
“Great, thanks so much.” Alivia paged through the paperwork, making sure it was dated and signed in the right places before looking back up at me.
“Would you like a cup of coffee? Or tea?”
I was about to tell her that I had to get back to work, but my mouth had other plans.
“I’d love a cup of coffee.”
Alivia set us up on the front porch with a view of the sparkling ocean across the street.
“Thank you,” I said as she handed me a cup of coffee with cream and sugar, as requested.
“I um, brought you something from the bakery,” I said, pushing the treat box over.
“Oh, thank you. Those look delicious.”
She opened the box and selected the cherry tart first, biting in with a satisfied sigh.
“I haven’t seen you at the bakery,” I said as she chewed, and I tried not to think too much about her mouth.
“I usually call in my order and run in to pick it up and run out. We consume a lot of Sweet’s Sweets around here.” She finished the tart and licked her fingers, and I almost melted into a puddle on the porch. I had to stare into my coffee to get myself together.
“Great,” I said, my voice a little choked. “Have you ever thought about stocking some of our breakfast items here?” Was I really trying to pitch a sale here? What was wrong with me?
“Yes, we contacted Martha, but she said the bakery couldn’t handle the volume with what they’re already doing. It’s such a shame, but we had to make other arrangements.” That was too bad. I did know that the bakery was having a problem with scaling. We were doing too much business for our small space. My aunt and uncle were currently applying for loans to buy a space to expand the kitchen so we could take bigger orders. It was going to take time, though.
I sipped my coffee and looked out over the water.
“You looked like you were having fun last weekend,” she said after a few moments of silence.
“Yeah, it was great,” I said, remembering that she’d watched me sing my ass off. How embarrassing.
“You have a lovely voice,” she said, and looked up to find her watching me.
“I think you’re exaggerating, but thanks,” I said, feeling my face heat.
Alivia leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes for a minute.
“You could come out with us sometime,” I blurted out. What was I doing?
I shoved the chocolate cookie in my mouth to stop myself from saying anything else.
Her eyes opened.
“That’s nice of you,” she said. “You don’t have to do that.”
“It’s not just me. My friends wanted to invite you. You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”
