Page 8 of Hungry As Her Python

I sighed.

Time to see what I could salvage from the latest disaster.

I’d just had the whole store repainted after the Palm Sunday fire, and here we were again—a few days away from the Summer Solstice Bash and some firebug had decided my bakery was a repeat target.

You heard me.

We’d been hit.

Again.

My phone buzzed with texts from Evie and Donny, both offering to come down. But why should they? What could they do?

So, no, I didn’t answer.

This was small scale compared to some of the messes we’d handled.

I wasn’t dragging them out of bed at 2 AM for a little mess.

Okay, fine, it was more than a little mess.

But it was mine to handle, and I was a big girl now.

“What else could go wrong?” I muttered.

And right on cue, the Fates heard me and cackled.

A patrol car rolled into the lot, and like an instant replay of what happened on Palm Sunday, six and a half feet of trouble unfolded from the driver’s seat.

Broad shoulders.

Blond hair.

Eyes that could hypnotize a girl into making very, very bad decisions.

Plus, he wore a concerned expression that made me want to kick him in the shins.

The snake! Pun intended.

I groaned. “Of course it’s you.”

Because my girly bits clearly hadn’t gotten the memo about my no dating Shifters policy—they perked up like he was bringing cupcakes and an apology.

Memories from our night together—sweaty skin, his low growl, the way his hands owned me—flashed, and I had to lock my knees to keep from puddling at his boots.

“Can I have a moment, Maribella?” Conrad asked, his voice a deep rumble.

And just like that, I remembered exactly why I didn’t trust springtime in Castor’s Corner.

Or myself.

I pursed my lips and waited, because if I opened my mouth too soon, something stupid was bound to come out.

Last time Conrad had shown up here in uniform, I’d made the catastrophic mistake of thinking he wanted to talk about us—or rather, the utter lack of an us—because I’d shut him down more times than a health inspector in a cursed kitchen.

Egads. The man was so freaking hot it ought to be illegal.

Chapter Two-Bella