AllFreeNovel
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I unlock the bakery door and step inside, taking a look around. The walls are painted and the counters were set last week. We had built a rack along the back walls that will hold wire bins for each of the types of bread, bagels, etc to go in. There will be display shelves in the counter for pastries and desserts. We still need to get those and the wire bins, set up the drinks counter, and some of the coffee equipment. Oh, and some tables and chairs would probably be important too.
Now that Hunter has balanced the books and caught us up on all of the paperwork that we were neglecting, we can see exactly how much capital we’re working with.
“So, what do you want to work on next? I vote for the tables and chairs.” I say as we walk around.
“Let’s do all of it.” Hunter pipes in.
“Uh... you’ve seen our books. We couldn’t afford to do all of that right now.”
“I’ve got money.”
I don’t even know what to say to that and we all just gape at him.
“You want to pay for our restaurant equipment?” Harley asks while she stares up at Hunter like he’s an angel.
The bakery will be her baby since she’s the one who likes to wake up early and bake. She’ll still help me out at the café but once the bakery opens, more duties over there will fall to me.
“Yeah. I want to pay for the equipment and for you to hire some more people to help out at both places. You guys can’t keep working yourself to death like you’ve been doing.”
“You’re just going to do this out of the goodness of your heart?” Cooper asks.
“No. I’m doing this for Peyton.”
Cooper studies Hunter’s face for a second before he smiles and wraps his arm around Harley’s waist.
“Ok, then. I’m going to take my wife and head home. We’ll see you both in the morning.”
I hug Harley goodbye and Hunter leads me back to our car. He holds the door open for me and we ride home in silence. Hunter keeps sneaking glances my way until we pull into the driveway. He takes my hand in his as we walk up the path to the front door and holds the door open after he unlocks it. I walk past him into the house and he turns to lock the door and turn on some lights while I pace in the living room.
“What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?” He asks as he comes closer to me.
“Just trying to wrap my head around everything.”
“Anything that I can help you with?”
I shoot a look at him as I continue to pace across the living room floor.
“You’re talking about moving here, marrying me and us getting a bigger house together. Now you’re going to start paying for stuff at our bakery? I just need a minute to catch up.”
Hunter takes a seat on the couch while I think everything through. Finally, I stop pacing and stand in front of him. His hands come up to grip my hips as I step closer to him and he pulls me down into his lap.
“You all caught up?” He asks as he brushes some hair back from my face.
“You love me.” I say.
“I do.” He says back while he stares right into my eyes.
“I love you, too.” I say back and it feels like my heart is going to explode out of my chest while I wait to hear what he’s going to say next.
“I know.”
“You know? How do you know?” I demand as I try to pull away from him.
How can he know that I love him when I just admitted to it myself?
“Peyton, you’ve already admitted that you were mine. You’ve shared yourself with me. Besides, I know that you can feel this connection between us. I know that we belong together and I knew that you would eventually realize that too. I love you, Peyton. I’m not going anywhere either, so please, please let me help you guys out with work.”
“Ok.” I relent.
Hunter smiles at me before he leans in and brushes his lips against mine.
“I love you, Peyton.”
“I love you, too.” I say before Hunter lifts me from the couch and carries me to bed.
