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One-two-three,I pumped, and out of nowhere, a chunk of cookie went rocketing out of the woman’s mouth and across the room, hitting the glass window with athwack.
The woman wheezed, gasping as she sucked in a lungful of air.
Penelope appeared in front of her while Topher stared wide-eyed, a cookie halfway to his mouth.
“Lady, are you okay?” Penelope asked.
The woman blinked. Moisture pooled in her eyes as I came around to get a look at her face, which was now an angry shade of red.
Fear squeezed my chest like a vice. “Maybe I should call an ambulance. You might need checked out.”
“Ichoked,” Cranky Lady said, stating the obvious. “It was those dry cookies. I knew everything looked stale.”
I straightened as my jaw dropped, taking offense at the insinuation our cookies were dry. Batter and Bake had actually grown quite the reputation for being the best bakery in the Commonwealth. We would never sell dry goods, and I wasn’t about to let this woman suggest otherwise, even if she did just have a near-death experience.
I opened my mouth to protest when Penelope cut me off, shooting me a meaningful look that said to shut up. “Well, we’re just glad you’re okay.”
The woman scoffed and stood, clutching at her chest like she was dying and the cookie might suddenly peel itself off the window and re-lodge in her throat.
“Okay?Okay?” the woman repeated, her tone incredulous. “I nearly died from choking, and thenshetried to kill me!”
I gasped. “Kill you? Isavedyou. Maybe had you not crammed the entire cookie down your gullet at once, you wouldn’t have choked. You should be thanking me.”
Behind me, Topher coughed, probably choking on his millionth free sample of the day. With my luck, I’d have to perform the Heimlich all over again. But I didn’t have time for that, so I ignored him and stared Cranky Lady down.
“I’ve never been treated so poorly.” Her eyes turned to saucers and her mouth gaped as she snatched her pastry box, filled with her so-called dry cookies, off the table and waved it in my direction. “You’ll be hearing from my lawyer when my ribs start aching tonight.”
“Is that a threat?”
Cranky Lady ignored me and turned, angry eyes flashing blue thunderbolts as she went, heading for the door.
Once she left, I glanced at Penelope. “Can you believe that lady?”
Penelope worried her lip with her teeth, eyes darting toward the door and her ceremonious exit. “Do you think she meant it? What if shedoessue you?”
“What? Are you serious?” I asked, like it hadn’t occurred to me that the woman might follow through. Although, now that I thought about it, maybe she was serious. She didn’t exactly seem like the type to bluff.
Still, I ignored the sinking in my stomach and said, “That’s crazy. She can’t sue me. I saved her. You all saw it,” I said, waving manically toward the table she vacated. “She was choking, and I performed a perfectly good Heimlich and saved her life.”
I glanced back at Penelope, meeting her espresso eyes which softened as she said, “Yes, of course. I’m sure you’re right.”
I nodded and turned away from her, heading back to my perch behind the counter, telling myself I was right. The woman was just crazy.
So why did I have a pit at the bottom of my stomach?
Chapter 2
THORNE
Myknucklesturnedwhiteas I gripped the remote. Images of me splashed over the television screen. One of me dancing half-naked in a fountain at the park. Another of the night I punched the paparazzi outside my hotel room. And the latest . . . driving a golf cart into the lake while intoxicated. TMZ was having a field day.
I chucked the remote control across the room, where it cracked against the wall.
Great, it probably broke. Now they’d add vandalism to my list of sins. Entertainment Tonight would call for an interview, demanding I talk about how I destroyed private property from The Breakers, my current digs—the place where I’d be residing for the next ten months while I filmed my latest movie.
My phone rang from its perch on the coffee table. One glance at the screen told me it was my agent. Ignoring it felt like the safest option, but not the smartest. I was skating on thin ice as it was and I knew it, so I leaned forward and snatched it up.
“Hey, Trainer. Always a pleasure. What can I do for ya?” I answered, leaning back into the sofa, waiting for the ass-chewing I was bound to receive.
