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I send my mind back six years ago to the days when Augie and I first began to date. And honestly? All I remember was him grabbing my hand at the reunion when everyone else was pairing off. We were already friends, so it made sense.
But did it? He doesn’t pay attention. Neither of them do. They don’t even know the difference between cinnamon rolls and sticky buns.
“Mmhmm,” I reply thoughtlessly. “She is unbelievable.”
Chapter Six
Bishop
A knock at my office door makes me feel like sprinting from my desk. “Come in!”
I’d spent the last few days in long meetings, only seeing Cherise in brief glimpses through the swinging door as she worked in the kitchen as I passed. As much as it pained me to go all day without seeing her, I had intentionally put some space in between us. I won’t go into the kitchen again. Every time I see her, my feelings grow. And when I witnessed the behavior first-hand of her groom and mother-in-law-to-be, I ended up visualizing a hundred different scenarios in which I steal her away. That man, Augie, does not appreciate Cherise. But none of that is my business, and I need to apologize if I created tension between the otherwise happy couple.
But were they ever happy? I can’t picture it. Never mind that. None of my business, I remind myself. My heart and my libido are both out of line.
There is so much I need to say to Cherise. I repeat the main points silently before she enters.
But it isn’t her. She’s sent one of the other kitchen staffers to deliver my cinnamon buns and coffee this morning.
“Thank you,” I tell the server. “When you go back to the kitchen, could you please tell Cherise I need to see her?”
The woman nods and retreats from my office, and I decide to wait and have coffee and rolls with Cherise.
Ten minutes pass, then 12, then 15. My coffee now cold, my bun not the ideal temperature, I pick up the tray and march down to the kitchen. I could have my administrative assistant reheat everything for me, but I need to move my body. I need to see Cherise.
In the kitchens, she’s nowhere to be seen.
“Where’s Cherise,” I ask one of the cooks. He thinks for a second, then tells me she had to go deal with a personal matter.
It’s out of order for me to feel annoyed that my pastry chef didn’t drop everything to see me when I asked for her. And yet, there’s a stomping, growling yeti inside me that is making demands. To see her and to be seen by her. To scoop her up and trap her in my sex cave forever.
No, no. To apologize. Remember?
Stalking the lobby, I finally spot her outside the main entrance talking to that fiancé of hers. I head straight for them. As I approach, I spot a taxi with its door open, and Myrtle is inside, likely waiting for her son to join her.
Don’t butt in, my conscience tells me. But the other part of me just needs the proximity.
And, I have a perfectly good excuse for talking to everyone.
Augie’s back is to me, and Cherise sees me through the glass, approaching. Her eyes widen in surprise when I step outside and seeing her reaction, Augie turns to face me.
I hold out my hand to shake his,
and that’s when I gauge his mood. Clearly, they’ve been arguing. I look up and see Cherise looking tired, withdrawn, unable to meet my eyes. I don’t know what happened, so I have to control my urge to burn everything to the ground.
“Everything satisfactory?”
Augie shrugs. “She wore me down. The Williams sisters always get their way, I guess.”
I open my mouth to speak, but I don’t even have the words.
Patch it up, idiot.
But I say nothing. He nods and gets into the cab, unaware of all the thoughts going on in my head. Oblivious to how wrong it is to leave his fiancé on the sidewalk looking like she just gambled away her life savings.
That’s when I realize I don’t want to patch things up. And I have nothing to apologize for. There are only two people who owe apologies to anyone, and they are driving away in a cab at the moment.
I turn to Cherise, who looks up at me and smiles weakly. “My future family.”
