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“See you on Tuesday,” he said with a final smile as he turned to leave.

I stood there and watched him go, deliberately ignoring Jackie. It was only as I walked back into the kitchen that I realised he’d made sure I known he’d arrived.

Because he wanted to see me.

Over the next few weeks, Jace became a regular visitor to Toasty, popping in most days we were open, usually for croissants or pain au chocolat, although he did branch out in trying the occasional Danish, cinnamon bun, or morning bun. Once or twice a week he’d get some bread too, happily taking my recommendations as he slowly worked through our regular selection, as well as the specials that we made whenever we fancied them, like a stilton, date and walnut sourdough or jalapeño and cheese bread.

Every time he appeared, I put down whatever I was doing and went out to see him, and the few times I didn’t see him arrive, Jackie stuck her head into the kitchen to tell me myfriendwas here. Apparently everyone at Toasty was now well aware of whatever was going on between me and Jace, to the point where Charley’s morning greeting had become “Did you ask him out yet?” followed by a loud boo when I said no.

I kept telling her that I barely knew anything about him, and that he could be married—although he didn’t wear a wedding ring—or have a partner. Sure, he’d mentioned in conversation once that it was just him at home, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t dating someone. I didn’t even know if he was queer.

But as the weeks went on, and I found myself more and more bereft on the days he didn’t come in, I knew I had to take the chance and ask him.

If he said no, he said no. And while I’d probably end up losing one of my favourite customers if he did, I’d rather that than keep pretending I wasn’t attracted to him.

I finally plucked up the courage to ask him on a random Thursday towards the end of March, on one of those spring days where the sun was shining and everything suddenly seemed a lot greener. I’d been trying, and failing, to make another batch of dough for Friday’s milk chocolate and raspberry morning buns, but I kept making mistakes and, in the end, I’d been forced to throw the whole thing out after I’d accidentally dumped garlic powder into it.

“Your friend is here,” Jackie said, coming into the kitchen as I scraped the dough into the bin and put the mixing bowl in the wash. “What happened?”

“I put garlic into morning bun dough.” I sighed. “If it hadn’t been a sweet dough, I’d have been tempted to try it. Maybe do like a garlic and cheese one.” It was an idea off the top of my head, but one which definitely had potential. I’d have to experiment with it on a day when I wasn’t so wound up and frazzled, or it wouldn’t be anywhere close to edible.

“Do you want me to tell him you’re busy?” Jackie asked.

“No, I’ll be right there.” I quickly washed my hands and brushed off my apron, ignoring the looks from Charley, Kev, and Marilyn. Hopefully they’d all stay in the kitchen, but I could bet a tenner that they’d all be listening intently. Nosy fuckers.

I walked out behind the counter, noticing it was starting to get busy and making a mental note to ask Kev to come out and give Jackie a hand. Jace was looking at the selection of sweet treats we’d got, his eyes fixed on the white chocolate and rainbow sprinkle cookies that Marilyn had made.

“Looking for something sweet today?” I asked, and then almost cringed at how cheesy I sounded. But Jace laughed and I found myself holding my hands up in admittance. “I know, that was bad.”

“Not bad, just cheesy.” He grinned. “Luckily for you, I like cheese.”

“Then I have something you’ll love,” I said, immediately thinking of the cheese and pesto bread I’d not long taken out of the oven.

“Oh?”

“It’s bread, I promise.” I chuckled and, fuck, could I have been any more awkward? “I did, er, want to ask you something though. And it’s totally fine to say no, I won’t… er, shit.” I sighed and looked down at my hands, suddenly noticing the way flour had settled into my knuckles. “Would you ever want to maybe get coffee or something? Maybe breakfast?”

He stared at me for a long moment and I felt the bottom drop out of my stomach. Just when I thought I’d made a mistake, the brightest smile spread across his face, reminding me of the beautiful way bread rose in the oven, blossoming into something twice its size and absolutely delicious.

“I’d love to,” he said. “What are you doing on Sunday?”

“Not much,” I said with a smile of my own. “I’ll probably still be up by four.”

“Same. Do you have…” He patted his pockets and pulled out a pen. I knew what he wanted and regretted leaving my phone in the kitchen. I grabbed a nearby paper bag, because it was the only thing I had nearby he could write on. “Thanks.”

He wrote his number on the bag and put his name underneath, as if I’d forget it was his. “Here,” he said as he handed it over. “You can message me and we’ll figure out where to go.”

“It should totally be Bramble & Honey,” Charley’s voice yelled from the kitchen.

“Yes, thank you. If the gallery is quite finished,” I said, throwing a glare in their direction. I turned back to Jace as I folded the bag carefully and slid it into my apron pocket, my whole chest feeling like it had suddenly doubled in size. “So, what can I get you this morning?”

ChapterFour

Jace

Bramble & Honey was a gorgeous little restaurant on the high street, with a yellow front and blue lettering, that oozed cosiness from the moment you stepped through the door. The walls were a soft primrose with flowers and plants painted onto them, along with prints and shelves full of jars and dried flowers. The tables had blue and yellow checked tablecloths with little vases of daffodils resting in the middle, and white chairs tucked in underneath.

Since it had been pouring with rain, Riley had told me to meet him inside, and as soon as I opened it, the warm scents of tea and breakfast wrapped around me like a hug. I put my umbrella down and looked around to see if I could see him, but it seemed like I was here first. As it was barely after nine, there was hardly anyone else here but Riley had booked because apparently it got busy very fast, and I could see why. The whole place was charm personified.