Page 27 of Bad Boy Bakers, Vol. 2

Chapter Five

Grey pulled into the parking lot of Bad Boy Bakers at a quarter to ten.

He’d estimated this ought to be past the breakfast rush and before the crowds started for the daily lunch special.

After much discussion, he and Rebecca had decided this news would be marginally better coming from him, as Jonah would likely appreciate the man-to-man discussion.

Grey wasn’t actually sure that was true, but better Jonah’s displeasure come at him than at her.

He wanted a chance to set the boy straight, if necessary.

The bell rang, announcing his entrance. Jonah was at the register, checking out a customer.

His friendly smile didn’t waver as he continued the transaction, but he exchanged a look with Brax, who nodded once and strode out from behind the counter.

Grey watched as he went to the window and turned the sign to Closed.

The display cases were still half full. Holt emerged from the kitchen, shooting Grey a steely stare as he helped process the last two customers.

They knew.

Not the way Grey had wanted things to go, but he’d deal with the situation one way or the other. Aware this might turn more antagonistic than he’d planned, he stood back, waiting as Jonah escorted those remaining customers to the door. Someone else was about to come in.

He flashed an apologetic smile at the woman.

“I’m sorry, we’ve got to close for just a bit.

We’ll be open again in fifteen minutes.” Then he shut the door in her face.

The moment the lock clicked, his amiable expression faded, and it was clear he was pissed.

That temper was leashed, but he definitely wasn’t happy.

Grey had expected this. “Who told you?”

At Jonah’s sides, his hands flexed and released. “At least five people. What the hell are you doing with my mother?”

This was coming from a place of protection.

Jonah had been the man in Rebecca’s life from the time he was eight years old.

And she had two more protectors in the honorary sons who came to flank him.

Grey appreciated them looking out for her and respected the love they clearly had for her.

Because of that, he didn’t brook offense when they all crossed their arms, bowing up in some kind of intimidation tactic.

“What I’m doing is courting her.”

Jonah blinked at the old-fashioned term. Given how things were going, it was entirely probable they’d blow on past that stage pretty quickly, but Grey wanted to romance her in a way he hadn’t been able to back in the day, so the phrase still applied.

“You’re… what?”

“Are you aware that your mom is a brilliant, beautiful, vibrant woman in the prime of her life?”

“My mom is awesome. I’m aware. What does that have to do with anything?”

Did the kid even hear himself? “Everything. Look, I care about your mother. I cared about her well before you were born. She was one of my best friends growing up, and we have a shared history that you know very little about. We have a connection that we’ve mutually chosen to explore.

I came here today to tell you about it, out of respect for you and the relationship that you and I have had.

But understand this: I’m not here for your permission. I don’t need it, and neither does she.”

A muscle ticked in the younger man’s jaw. Oh yeah, he didn’t like that.

“I appreciate that all y’all want to look out for her.

You’re her son. Y’all are her unofficial sons.

Those protective instincts speak well of all of you.

But don’t interfere. That’s just gonna piss us both off.

I know your mom hasn’t been seeing anybody—” a fact which still blew Grey’s mind, “—so you haven’t really had to do this before, but she’s a grown adult and can make her own decisions. Right now, that decision is to see me.”

The silent standoff continued for another long minute. Grey said nothing, letting Jonah do whatever he needed to do to swallow down the anger and frustration.

“I won’t see her hurt. Not again.”

Shoving down his instinctive insult at the implication, Grey folded his own arms. “Are you under the impression that your mother is fragile? Because I can assure you that the strength and tenacity that carried you through BUDS and completing countless missions as a SEAL sure as hell didn’t come from Lonnie. ”

Jonah’s brows slammed together. “I thought you were friends.”

“We were. That doesn’t mean I was blind to his faults.

” He dared a step closer. “I know you’ve got complicated feelings about him, but I’m not him.

The last thing in the world I want to do is hurt Rebecca.

I know what she’s been through. She deserved a hell of a lot better, and I intend to give it to her. ”

“That sounds pretty damned declarative,” Brax observed.

“I’m not operating on maybes. Not with her.

I’m around as long as she’ll have me. Can I promise I won’t fuck it up?

No. I’ve got a Y chromosome, so that pretty much guarantees I’ll screw something up.

But I give you my word I’ll do my best not to, and own up to my mistakes when I make them.

I’ll treat her with respect and friendship. ” And love.

But he didn’t mention that to her son, because it was clear the kid was struggling more than a little with the whole thing, and it hardly made sense to tell him when he hadn’t outright admitted it to Rebel yet. He didn’t want to scare her off by pushing too hard, too fast.

“I don’t like it.”

“You don’t have to like it. You just have to respect it. Let me ask you something: Would you have a problem with any guy dating your mother? Or is it specifically me, because of who I am to you?”

Jonah’s gaze shot up, his shoulders dropping in surprise at the question. “It’s…” He seemed to flail around for the right word. “Weird.”

Grey bit back a smile. “Weird how?”

“You’re part of a different life. I don’t know how to wrap my brain around you being in this one. And being in this one connected to her instead of me.”

For the first time, it occurred to him that maybe some of Jonah’s inflexibility about this wasn’t about his mom.

“My history with her doesn’t negate my history with you. All those years we worked together, served together, haven’t just gone away. And I hope you don’t want to dissolve that association just because there’s an extra layer of connection between us than there was before.”

Possibly more of a connection than Jonah could imagine. But those suspicions were a long way from being confirmed, and Grey wasn’t about to screw up his second chance with Rebecca by bringing it up before she was ready.

Jonah’s shoulders relaxed. “No, sir. I don’t want that. I just want her to be happy.”

“So do I. We both realize there’s gonna be an adjustment period for all this. Maybe in the meantime, you could work on calling me Grey?”

His face flexed. “I think I’m gonna have to work up to it. I’ve got a lot of years of military protocol to overcome.”

Grey chuckled. “Fair enough. Are we okay?”

“As long as you treat her right… yeah.”

That was good enough for him.

“Girl, when you break a streak, you go big!” From her seat in Rebecca’s stylist chair, Crystal Blue closed her eyes and shimmied her shoulders. “Mmm mmm mmm. That man is H-O-T hot.”

Rebecca’s cheeks heated. As Crystal owned the local diner, if it wasn’t already all over town that she and Grey were dating, it would be by the end of the day.

And that was… fine. She didn’t love being the center of gossip—she much preferred dishing it—but it wasn’t her first time in the spotlight.

After Lonnie left her, she’d been the subject of all kinds of speculation for years.

At least this go round, it wasn’t negative attention.

She just hoped Grey got to Jonah before the gossip train did.

That wasn’t how her son needed to hear about this.

She still wasn’t entirely sure this was best coming from Grey.

If he’d been anyone else, there’d have been no question.

But given the two of them already had a prior relationship, maybe he had a point.

God knew, things would be tough enough when the truth came out.

She didn’t want anything else to damage that foundation.

“If I’d known you had that to wait on, I wouldn’t have ragged on your single status so long,” Candice interjected.

“I wasn’t waiting for him.” The idea that she’d been actively delaying her life somehow, because of a man, stuck in Rebecca’s craw. “I had no idea he was planning on coming back to Eden’s Ridge.”

Donna, ever the peacemaker, simply smiled from Candice’s chair. “Well, whether you knew or not, obviously he’s something special to have overcome your self-imposed ban on dating.”

Resuming the application of color to the rest of Crystal’s hair, Rebecca made a half-hearted protest. “It wasn’t a ban exactly. There was just nobody who seemed worth the effort.”

“That one looks worth all kinds of effort,” Crystal declared. “Worth trying out that new gym they put in around the block.”

With a bland stare, she worked the color through with gloved fingers. “I hardly think a new training program at a gym is going to make up for thirty years and birthing two kids.”

She’d very deliberately avoided thinking about how different her body was now than it had been the last time Grey had seen her naked.

Back then, she’d been young, fit, and pageant-ready.

She’d spent most of her adult life unlearning disordered behavior and thoughts around eating and health, and she wasn’t undoing all that hard work over any man.

Not even Grey. If he had an issue with her older body, then he wasn’t the guy for her.

End of story. But given their chemistry was still alive and well, she didn’t think he’d suddenly be repulsed by a little extra padding and skin that wasn’t quite as firm as it used to be.