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I shrug. “Pay the price. Whatever that may be.”
“Hot,” she whispers and turns back to Maven. “Keeper,” she stage whispers loud enough for everyone to hear.
“Willow,” Maven chastises and shakes her head before her gaze lands on me. “We open in twenty minutes. Will you have everything set up by then?”
“Sooner,” I assure her. “Need to make sure you understand how it all works.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s your shop, and you want to be involved. Right?”
Maven nods. “Right. Thanks. I’ll get back to it, then.” She sets the tray down and looks around the room before her gaze darts to the ground, and she shuffles back to the kitchen.
“Get your head out of your ass,” Joaquin suggests. “A woman like Maven won’t stay single forever.”
“She’s not my type.” I shrug and lean back against the wall.
“Liar,” he counters.
“Whatever. I don’t have time for this. I need to get back to work.”
Joaquin chuckles. “All women are your type, Wilder. You just haven’t found the right one yet.”
I shake my head. “Not all women, Joaquin. Not all.”
Joaquin studies me for a minute before he nods and goes back to work. I watch him for a moment before my gaze strays to Maven.
She’s laughing at something Willow said, and the sound fills the room. I can’t help but smile. Maybe Joaquin is right.
Maybe I should give Maven a real chance.
Chapter Fifteen
Maven
“Come on,” Wilder says back at the club. “Let’s stop in my office first to double-check that I can see everything going on at the shop.” After another long day at the bakery, I’m almost ready to go back to my prison, but the idea of seeing something other than that barren room is too enticing to reject.
“Fine. You have an office?”
Wilder smiles like a kid in a candy store. “Sure do. Brand spankin’ new. You’ll love it.”
“Meh, honestly, I’m not big on computers. They are a necessary evil for the most part.” Beyond software to run my business, I don’t do much social media and definitely no online dating.
“That was before you saw my set-up. Come on.”
He grabs my hand as if we’re more than two people spending time together out of necessity rather than desire. Even though I know I should pull my hand away and rub off the electricity arcing between us, I don’t. I can’t.
“I don’t know, Wilder. You’ve seen one techie set up, then you’ve seen them all.”
He stops and turns to me with a mock, hurt expression. “You’ll eat your words, babe. I’m not worried. Come on.”
We come to a stop at a thick metal door at the end of a hidden hallway off one end of the bar area, and Wilder pushes it open. “Go on inside and check it out.
I step inside and look around the room with cherry wood walls, glass and metal desks, and what looks to be the most expensive office chairs on the planet. Gia sits in one of them. On the other side of a glass wall sits a bunch of tall black contraptions with flashing lights. “What’s all that.”
“Servers. Keeps important data stored that no one else can get to.”
“Shit. Really?” That’s like some CIA type of shit, and suddenly, I’m both worried and intrigued. “Who are you?”
