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He was behind the counter, talking to a customer, and I couldn’t help watching him for a second. He smiled that sweet, bashful smile of his. His eyes sparkled as he listened to the customer, and the thing was, I knew it was real. He wasn’t pretending to care about what the person said—he truly did.
Damn, he really was pretty. If he wasn’t so beautiful, then maybe we wouldn’t have been in this position in the first place, but the second I’d seen him, I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off him.
His gaze flashed to me, and immediately a small scowl furrowed his lips. It shouldn’t be cute, but it was, and actually prompted me to smile, which only made his grumbly face turn more serious. He wanted to be more annoyed by me than he was. I didn’t know why that was so fun; clearly, I was an emotional masochist.
He continued to talk while trying to ignore me, but his eyes kept flickering in my direction. When I cocked a brow at him, as if to ask what? a small grin replaced his look of annoyance before he quickly wiped it away.
The woman turned to look at me. “Oh! Is this him?”
“Yes,” Parker said, his scowl returning. “This is Elliott, my husband.” The word sounded sticky in his mouth, like he hadn’t wanted to set it free.
“Guilty as charged.” I walked over. She looked in her sixties and held a Beach Buns box in one arm. “And who is this beauty?” I held my hand out for her.
She fanned herself. “Well, aren’t you a charmer. He’s a charmer, Parker.”
We shook. “Guilty as charged,” I said again and winked. One quick glance at Parker confirmed he was rolling his eyes at me.
Well, at least someone appreciated me, since he didn’t.
“You have no idea how surprised we all were to hear about you! But we’re so happy. Our Parker deserves the world, and I’m so happy he finally found his person.” She turned to Parker. “Though I’m still upset we didn’t get to go to the wedding. You always wanted to get married at the beach, but I guess when you fall, none of that matters as much. Just that you get to tie yourself to them.”
Fuckity, fuck, fuck. “That was my fault. I just…couldn’t wait to call him mine. I’m lucky Parker puts up with me.”
“There will come the days when he wonders too!” She grinned. “And you about him. That’s just the way marriage goes. Anyway, it’s so nice to meet you, Elliott. I’ve been coming here since Beach Buns first opened. You got yourself a good one.”
“I know I do,” I said, which was true, even if he was filthy. “I just wish he didn’t leave his dirty clothes on the bathroom floor.”
She laughed.
“It’s not that bad,” Parker cut in.
“Oh no. I assure you, it is.”
“He snores,” Parker fibbed. He’d slept in bed with me exactly one night in Vegas, and we were both too drunk to notice something like that.
“Lies!”
“He does. And he’s a terrible cook.” He crossed his arms, clearly proud of himself.
“Aren’t you two the cutest? I better be on my way.” She waved goodbye and left.
As soon as the door closed, he said, “Why did you tell her I’m messy?”
“Because, beautiful, it’s true.”
I’d said it enough that the compliment shouldn’t throw him off his game, but I could tell he struggled with how to reply, which made me laugh and him grumble how much he hated me.
There were a few other customers in Beach Buns, and two other workers, but no one was paying much attention to us. With a lowered voice, I asked, “Are you okay?” because I figured pretending he was happy and in love had to be hard for him.
He appeared shocked by my question—because he was surprised I cared, or that I noticed?
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just getting used to it.”
And I was going to make it worse. “Are you almost done here? I thought we could take a walk.”
Worry creased Parker’s brow. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, same ole thing. Married-life stuff.”
Thankfully, he relaxed some. Had he thought I was going to call this off? I wouldn’t have expected him to hate that idea so much.
“Yeah, actually, I’m about done here. I’ll meet you outside in a few minutes.”
CHAPTER TEN
Parker
I was stressing, trying to figure out why Elliott had come to Beach Buns. Sure, he used to come in every now and again to flirt with me, but he hadn’t been there at all since we’d gotten married. It seemed like something was on his mind, though, and that made me nervous. What if something went wrong?
After taking a few deep breaths, I forced myself to chill out. I touched base with my employees about a few things I wanted to make sure were done today, then went outside.
