Page 5

“Yes, the poor thing had some heart trouble. He needed some time away to get better, so I moved here to help.”

“Moved fromwhere?” I scowled.

“Holly Creek. The cutest small town in upstate New York you’ll ever see.” If it was possible, her eyes dazzled even more at the mention of her hometown. Damn, I’d hate to see her a year from now, when prolonged exposure to the city might have a way of turning her sour, snuffing out her light. “Have you been there?”

“To Holly—er, no. Haven’t had the pleasure.” Then I recalled my purpose for being here. It certainly wasn’t to get intrigued by this woman. I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat. “Doug’s put in a long run here. He should retire and close this place down.”

“He’s thinking about it, but I’m hoping I can take it over. I’ve always dreamed of having a place like this all my own one day?—”

“A deli?” I smirked.

“Sure, why not? I’ve worked at my mother’s diner all my life. It was my dream to study at a culinary institute and eventually open my own restaurant, but…life has a way of not working out sometimes.”

“Chelsea? This man is here to see you,” one workercalled to her, pointing at Aiden standing tall in his fireman’s uniform.

“Oh, excuse me.” She rushed over and left me, while Aiden winked my way. And now I felt like a heartless bastard. One who’d crushed a beautiful woman’s day. As I watched Aiden deliver the news, warning her with a citation that she couldn’t have this many people occupying the space.

Damn the timing, but this was business, nothing personal. I didn’t know her, and the less I knew about her, the better. Otherwise, forcing her out of my building would get complicated. Who needed complications? I left quickly, without looking back.

4

RAKED BY REX

CHELSEA

I slammedthe door to our apartment and tossed a bag of sandwiches for dinner on the counter. With my hands on my hips, I stewed about the day, and paced the five steps between our tiny kitchen and our even smaller living room back and forth. I’d storm into my own bedroom, but Sophie was studying and sitting on it—the couch.

It turned out New York apartments weren’t flashy and big in our price range. Maisy and Sophie each had a matchbox sized room, while I rolled over a privacy screen and made my bed on the couch each night. Not convenient, but I didn’t complain, considering this to be my only shot at beginning to live out my dream.

“Chels? What’s wrong?” Maisy called from her stool, perched at the breakfast counter and what had become her desk.

“Just something happened today with a fireman,” Iexplained.

“Ooh, was he handsome?” Sophie’s dark eyebrows shot up, and her hazel eyes begged for details. The business major never missed a beat when it came to guys.

“Well, yes, he was, in fact, and he had this interesting accent?—”

“What kind? Like dark and mysterious or?—”

“Sophie, that’s beside the point. It’s what he did that irritated me.” I spilled the events of the morning, with the mysterious man showing up asking for Uncle Doug one minute, and the appearance of the fireman the next.

I left out how gorgeous Mr. Mysterious was, though. I’d hoped to talk to him more, but he disappeared before I had the chance. In a city of millions of people, I’d probably never lay eyes on him again. But what did it matter? I wasn’t here to fool around; I had work to do.

“This is just great. Two weeks in and I’m already getting cited for violating the fire code.” I tossed my hands into the air and plopped onto the couch. “But I won’t let anything stop me.”

“That’s it, boss girl. Stay determined.” Maisy rushed over and sat on the floor in front of me, considering we had no other seats.

“I can’t help it if word has spread fast about our new menu, drawing more people in every single day.”

“I caught your social media post today and how you went live talking about the specials. You should do that daily,” Sophie encouraged. She’d been a huge help to me, modernizing the look of Uncle Doug’s deli with a new logo, and setting up social media accounts. I also created a new menu, and had thered awnings installed outside. Doug supported whatever I wanted to do, and paid for the improvements.

It really surprised me. The pace of the city certainly moved faster than home. When Mom updated the menu at Flora’s Diner a few years ago, hardly anyone noticed, and went right on ordering “their usual.” Guess that’s one difference between small town dining and here.

“Thanks. But what am I supposed to do, turn people away? If only I had a bigger place and more seating.”

Maisy set a hand on my knee. “One step at a time, Chels. Someday soon you’ll have your own place, I know it.” Her support of my dreams encouraged me, especially considering I’d supported hers of going off to study neuroscience at an ivy league school. She took after our father, and being the ultra-smart one of the family, why shouldn’t she get this degree and do something useful with it?

Sophie elbowed me in the ribs. “You know what time it is? Time to forget about all of this. We have that invitation to the speed dating event tonight, remember?” One of her friends worked as a DJ around the city and invited us. It sounded fun at the time, but now, I sighed, sinking back into the couch, and could easily fall asleep any minute.