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Like a creepy stalker, I watched her as she sang to the music playing over the speakers and danced around her kitchen, putting cookies into the oven, dusting powdered sugar over fresh chocolate croissants, and licking a spatula once she finished pouring the batter into a large pan. I could have watched her for hours, but I realized that was a terrible thing to do.
Like the asshole I was, I pulled the door open and walked right in, not even considering that it would startle her.
But it did.
With a scream, she whirled around and dropped the empty mixer bowl she’d been taking to the sink. Her eyes were filled with fear until she saw it was just me.
I stood with my hands raised in peace, and her terrorized expression turned into a glare. The smirk that came to my face couldn’t be prevented, because I’d always thought she looked adorable when she was mad.
“You.” Her voice was damn near a growl, which was impressive given her usual light tone.
“Miss me?” I taunted, but immediately regretted it. Something was seriously wrong with me to always be antagonizing her. But I couldn’t stop myself.
“Yes, I miss the days when you lived off the island, and I never had to see you. You should do that again.” She crossed her arms over her chest and honestly, it was so cute I almost laughed. I knew that would only make her irate, so I bit my tongue.
“Sorry, Em. I’m not going anywhere.” I shoved my hands in my pockets to stop myself from reaching out to her. I could see her hurt and anger all too easily in her eyes, and I just wanted to comfort her.
“Fudge,” She spat her version of a curse word, looking up at the ceiling. “Want to explain why you copied all of my ideas, then?”
“I didn’t copy anything,” I replied, walking further into the kitchen to look at her baked goods. Desire for another macaron or even a danish nearly had my hard exterior breaking, but I held my will.
“As if I would believe that! You posted a video nearly identical to mine!” Her voice cracked a little, showing her emotion.
“It’s nothing personal, Emma,” I said like an idiot. But the words were already out of my mouth. Apparently, I’d forgotten to have a soul today and act like the tough businessman I am when I’m around investors and other business owners instead of a caring guy like I used to be with her. Since the words were already spoken, I just shrugged, hoping to lessen their harshness.
She laughed almost maniacally, and I wondered if I should be worried that she would stab me with a kitchen knife. “Ofcourse,it’s personal! How could it not be!” She paced across the kitchen, keeping a prep table between us. A frustrated screech left her lips before she turned to me. “What game are you playing, Liam? How could it not be personal when there is so much history between us?”
My hard expression fell immediately when she looked away to conceal the tear forming in her eyes. “I have never intended to hurt—”
“You come here and open a competing business right next to mine after being gone for eight years. You have a successful business, and instead of staying in your lane, you decide to ruin theonedream I had for myself. If I’d known you were ever coming back to Amelia, I would have followed FMC3 to New York because this island will never be big enough for us.”
I could only stare at her in shock, my vocal cords paralyzed. Years of pain filled her tone and I realized she was still just as hurt as I was over our past. But more than me, because I was the one who’d quit on her. I was the one who allowed our fathers to dictate our lives. I was the one who had made the choice.
“I’m glad you didn’t move, Em.” I couldn’t form any other words than those, and they were the truth. She turned to look at me, her watery blue eyes locked on mine.
Her mouth was open as though she was going to say something, but her head jerked slightly. She sniffed the air a few times and then bolted into action, racing towards the oven. Throwing on her oven mitts, she flung the door of the oven open and grabbed the baking sheets and threw them down on the prep counter.
The cookies were all obviously overcooked, some even burnt. My gut twisted as I watched her throw down the last tray and then fling off the mitts. I took a step closer to her, feeling responsible for this, since I’d walked in and distracted her. But I didn’t get another step closer when her head snapped up and she glared at me, face red.
“Out.” She said in an even voice, but I knew it held fury. She pointed to the door, and when I didn’t move immediately, she screamed, “Out!”
#
13
Emma
I was beginning to lose faith in myself, my business, and just about everything else in the world. It had been nearly a month since I’d gone to Isabella’s. Nearly a month since Landon told me he could pull a favor for me to potentially help me get ahead and gain more traction for my business. But nothing had happened.
I wanted to believe that whoever he was pulling a favor from would be able to come through for me, but as the days ticked by, I realized that I was still on my own with this. Next door to my enemy, whose business was directly tanking mine.
It made me want to walk into Liam’s bakery and give him a piece of my mind, but I could just imagine how that would go. He would give me that expressionless face, crossing his muscular arms over his chest, and make me wonder why I would even have entered the stereo at all.
He was always great at that. Holding his ground. He never let anyone tell him what to do, where to be, and how to act. Instead, he would just keep his expression neutral and stay silent until whoever was affronting him talked themselves into a circle and got uncomfortable with how intense Liam’s stare was.
The only time he’d ever listened to anyone else was when his father forced him to break up with me.
I’d just showed up at my bakery every day, making all of the goodies with Anne and then sending her home early most days because I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford my bills if I didn’t. I felt so guilty that I wasn’t able to give her as many hours as she wanted, and told her that I understood if she wanted a different job. She’d stayed faithful though, and said that she would work whenever I needed her.
