AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My t-shirt was a pale pink with the name of the bakery splashed across the front in cursive, my jeans and tennis shoes a far cry from his business attire. Grayson was wearing pressed black slacks and a pale blue button-down that made his eyes look phenomenal. He was all too perfect and I wanted to run my fingers through his hair, mussing it to make him appear less god-like and more like us mere mortals.
“Good morning, Grayson. What can I do for you today?” I tried to keep my professional smile on my face but I quickly realized my mistake when my words made a hungry look light up his eyes.
“There are many things you could do for me, sweet Lily. So many things.” His chest lifted as he inhaled deeply, making him look larger than normal and he leaned over, gripping the counter between us, as if to hold himself back. Grayson was a big man and I’d seen him intimidate people when it was necessary but I’d never been afraid of him myself. Instinctively, I knew he’d never hurt me.
My mouth grew dry at the intense look on his face and I licked my lips to wet them. Blue eyes dropped to watch the action and he leaned farther over the counter. Was this it? Was he finally going to kiss me again and pull me out of the sexual misery of the last few months?
My own hands pressed into the counter and I pushed onto my toes to bring our faces closer together, just as my eyes slid closed, a loud crash came from the kitchen, making me jump.
“Sorry!” Benji shouted. “Everything’s okay!” I looked over my shoulder, he was running back and forth in front of the tiny window overlooking the kitchen.
When I turned back around, Grayson’s hands were now in his pockets and a pleasant smile was back on his face as though nothing had happened. He was completely unaffected by our almost kiss. Maybe it wasn’t an almost kiss and my slutty brain had imagined the whole encounter.
At the spa, he’d made it clear that he desired me, he’d claimed me in front of a reception room full of people we both knew. And even though the thought of being with someone scared me, I’d felt an undercurrent of excitement to know that Grayson wanted me that badly.
A nauseating thought wound its way through my consciousness, maybe he’d changed his mind. He’d told me he was going to give me time and maybe I took too long. He might’ve moved on and was looking for someone who wasn’t as damaged as me. A woman would have to be a complete idiot to turn away a man like Grayson.
Oh God, it’s me, I’m that idiot.
I spun away from the counter, quickly grabbing one of the boxes we kept pre-folded.
“What donuts would you like this morning?” I asked with fake cheer while I grabbed a bakery tissue.
Grayson’s jaw clenched and he searched my face, a scowl forming on his own. “Whatever you want to put in there, sweetheart. The team’s not picky.”
My stomach flipped at the endearment, I loved when he called me sweetheart. The way he said it never felt condescending, it was as if I was cherished. Maybe I was reading into that too much as well, he might call everyone sweetheart.
I efficiently grabbed an assorted mix of the donuts on display, making sure to add in extra blueberry because I knew they were his favorite. Then I rung him up swiftly, refusing to make eye contact. When I went to hand him the box, instead of taking it from me, his hands bracketed my own and I gasped as shocks rippled up my arms.
We stood immobile, fingers nearly entwined as we held the box aloft. The door to the kitchen swung open and Benji stepped through with a full tray. I pulled my hands away, clenching them at my sides, still able to feel the warmth from his touch. “Have a good day, Grayson,” I managed to get out.
But he didn’t leave, he waited until I looked up. “I’ll see you this afternoon.”
I watched the door he’d walked through until Benji’s throat clearing caught my attention. I schooled my features before I turned to face him, “What?”
“Don’t you what me, missy. Why haven’t you made a move on mister I only come in this bakery to see the baker and not because I actually have a mega sweet tooth like I pretend to?”
“Why would I make a move on him? That would be completely inappropriate, he’s our landlord.” I busied myself by putting the fresh donuts into the display case, avoiding Benji’s probing gaze. But he was insanely patient and I knew he wouldn’t let me get away with ignoring him for long.
Benji tilted his head to the side and his eyes widened as he pursed his lips, “That’s a whole lot of bullshit, Lily-Bell.” I loved the nickname Benji’d bestowed upon me but his chastising tone made me feel like a child in trouble.
“He’s here every day and even brings in his precious daughter because he knows how much the two of you love to spend time together. I don’t think I even need to bring up his hot as fuck jealousy at the spa the day we met. But I just did, so there is your reminder that that man wants you, badly. So I repeat, why have you not made a move?”
My mouth opened to argue with him but thankfully, a group of teachers from the elementary school came in preventing me from making up an excuse.
Though my hands stayed busy, my mind was a mess, playing Benji’s words on repeat. I became more and more anxious as the hours passed and it got closer to the time that Daisy and Grayson came in.
We’d fallen into an easy routine in the afternoons and I found myself looking forward to it every day. Daisy would pick out her snack and they would claim a table to eat it. If I were able, I’d even sit with them and talk to her about her day. They were moments that I treasured, simply spending some time with the two of them.
I checked the clock for the thousandth time and realized they were late. That was unusual and I started to worry that something had happened to them. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket, tempted to call Grayson and make sure they were both all right. As I gathered the courage to tap on his number, the phone rang in my hand and I bobbled it a few times before answering.
“Hey, Winnie,” I put the phone in between my ear and shoulder as I rang up a customer.
“Hi, friend! I’m coming to see you and if you don’t have any of my lemon-raspberry cupcakes, you’re going to have a very upset pregnant lady crying in your shop which isnotgood for business. Be there in a few! Bye!”
Laughing quietly to myself, I opened the display case and pulled out a half dozen of her favorites to save for her. I was just boxing up the extras when Winnie walked through the door with Daisy at her side.
The relief that Daisy was okay was instant and shocked me with how worried I’d actually been. She ran over and I lifted the pass-through so that I could get my hug. She smelled like strawberry shampoo and sunshine and I breathed deep, my mood becoming instantly lighter in her presence.
