Page 23

Ellie

The lights are still off in the front of Sprinkles when I unlock the door. Stepping inside, I know Elaine is here already. I can already smell the pastries baking in the oven.

It’s Monday morning, so the rush will be pretty heavy today. I start my normal routine of making sure everything is stocked and ready to go out front before making my way to the back in search of any other forms of life.

Just like I thought, I find Elaine hard at work frosting the danishes when I step into the kitchen.

“Hey! Good morning!” I greet her with a smile.

“Oh, hey, Ellie. How are you doing this morning?” She asks, glancing up, returning a warm smile.

“I’m good,” I reply, stepping closer to examine her work. “Need my help with anything this morning? ”

She stops what she's doing and sets the piping bag down before smiling at me, but the smile doesn’t quite look like her normal one.

“Ellie, I wanted to talk to you before we get busy this morning.” She says so sweetly.

Oh, shit, this can’t be good. The look on her face tells me it's bad news. And I already know what it is.

I can't help it; I blurt out before I can stop myself.

“You don’t need me anymore, do you?” My throat tightens, and my eyes sting with tears before she even answers.

Just my fucking luck. I knew she was looking for a replacement this entire time, but I didn’t expect it to happen so quickly.

She brushes her hands on her apron and walks over to me. “Oh, honey, don’t cry.”

“I’m sorry, Elaine, this is so unprofessional of me,” I say, dabbing the corner of my eye. “I’m just a little emotional here lately.”

“No, I mean, don’t cry because I'm not getting rid of you.” She quickly responds.

“I just need to cut your hours back, hun. I gave you more hours to help you out a bit… Well, hopefully, it helped you some. But now that I’ve hired a new baker, I can help out more in the front.

And I just can't afford to keep everyone on the same schedule.”

I’m nodding along as she speaks because I get it; I totally do. It's just a really big hit to my ego and my pocket right now. I haven’t had any new inquiries with my event planning business. I have two small weddings I'm currently working on, but that’s not enough to pay my bills.

“No, I totally understand,” I say, forcing a smile with blurry eyes. “I truly appreciate everything you’ve done to help me out.”

She pulls me into a motherly hug, and I really miss my mom right now. I know we don’t always have the best relationship, but it’s times like these when I wish she were closer.

“Of course, sweetie, I will just need you to do three days a week now… if things get too much, I will try to give you more hours.”

“Thank you, Elaine,” I say, and truly mean it. She's helped me so much already.

The doorbell chimes, letting us know we have a customer.

“Shoot, I forgot to lock the front doors back. I will go handle it.”

Walking back out front, I see Jaydon standing there looking fine as hell, casually making his way up to the counter. Great, just what I needed today.

“You know, you should really lock those doors.” He tips his head in the direction that he just came from while standing with his chest puffed out and both hands in the front pockets of his jeans.

My huff is overly exaggerated as I look at the ceiling. “Jaydon, I'm not in the mood for games. What do you want this morning? Coffee? Something to eat? Just tell me so I can get this over with.”

He steps right up to the counter, resting his hands on the edge, taking his time to study me.

“First, you’re gonna tell me why you avoided me all day yesterday and didn’t respond to any of my texts.”

I’m afraid if I make eye contact with him for too long, I will be sucked in and possibly fall too deep. I can’t let that happen.

I pretend to think hard, tapping my lips. “Maybe I wasn’t even home yesterday. Maybe I stayed with Kevin, and I didn’t get any texts from you.”

He chuckles, taking a step back at my blatant lie —whatever, we both know it— and swipes his thumb over his bottom lip that’s turned up into a cocky smirk, before leaning back in .

“Peachy, you left my texts on read. And we both know you were home. You were down in the kitchen eating all my damn food yesterday.”

My smug tone falls flat at his words. He’s joking, but it hits deep. “Yeah, about that, I am going to the grocery store tomorrow once I get paid.”

“Don’t worry about it, I'm going today after work.” He winks. “So, back to my question. Why are you avoiding me?”

Ugh, he drives me insane.

I lean closer to him so Elaine doesn’t hear. “You know why, Jaydon. You basically told the whole damn bar you fucked me.” His hand quickly goes up to cover his laughter. My eyes roll on their own accord. “It’s not fucking funny.”

“No, Peachy, it’s not… but the look on that cocksucker’s face was. Why the fuck do you let him talk to you like that?”

“He didn’t say anything wrong. He just wanted to leave,” I state calmly, my face drained of any expression. He doesn’t need to know I’m not actually with Kevin .

“I can’t quite figure you out, Ellie.” His head cocks to the side, deep in thought, as his tongue runs across his bottom lip. The way his dark eyes study my face makes me uncomfortable—mostly afraid he’s going to figure out my secrets .

“Come on, Jaydon. What are you getting? The regulars will start rolling in soon.”

“Just my usual, Peachy. You know who—I mean what—I like to taste on my lips.” His smirk is my kryptonite.

I turn towards the espresso machine and close my eyes, taking a deep breath. Why does this man have to play with my emotions and be so fucking gorgeous? He’s constantly fucking with me.

This cannot be good for my mental health.

It’s my turn to make dinner tonight, but I don’t have a fucking clue as to what I’m doing.

I can’t cook to save my life. Jaydon said he wanted chicken Alfredo and salad—well, we both agreed on that.

I found a recipe online by searching easy Alfredo recipes.

It’s just that I’ve never cooked it before, and I’m sure it’s going to be horrible.

Jaydon picked up all the ingredients from the grocery store a few days ago. I tried to give him money for half of the groceries, but he wouldn’t take it from me. Since then, I’ve skated around him as much as possible, trying my best to keep my distance .

So tonight, since he so thoughtfully wouldn’t let me give him anything for the grocery bill, I’m trying my best not to fuck up dinner completely. Only, he doesn’t have a clue that I can't cook to save my life. We might just end up eating salad for dinner.

I prepared everything—gathering the butter, cream, and seasonings and setting them out on the counter.

It can't be that hard.

I throw everything into the pot and begin stirring, melting the butter.

I read through all the comments on the recipe earlier, and everyone says it’s easy and delicious.

So, I'm feeling good about this, and I'm pretty sure I can have dinner ready by the time Jaydon gets home from work. Well… that’s my goal.

I want to show him that I can do this, that I can get something right in my life.

Cooking a nice dinner for the both of us is surely a way to prove something to him.

What—I’m not exactly sure of. But I need to do this.

I feel like I owe the man something for letting me crash at his house and buy me endless amounts of food.

He won’t ever take my money for groceries.

So, I’m determined to make this the best dinner possible for him.

Everything was going good until the smoke detector went off...

As soon as I hear the fire alarm, my heart falls to my stomach.

Shit.

I didn’t know you could burn Alfredo sauce.

I went upstairs for only a minute to change out of my clothes and into something more comfortable. Okay… well, maybe it was more like fifteen or twenty minutes. But dammit, I thought it would be fine on medium-high. The recipe said to simmer for ten minutes.

I’ve fucked up.

I drop my face serum and run down the stairs.

Dammit, how did I forget about the fucking food cooking?

I’m downstairs in record speed as the kitchen fills with a light haze, and a small flame surrounds the pan. I have no idea what to do. My head quickly bounces back and forth, looking for a fire extinguisher. I don’t even know if he has one, or where the hell it might be.

Panic sets in .

I’m about to run for the kitchen faucet when the side door to the garage opens.

Fuck! He’s home early.

My heart drops into my stomach.

He steps inside. His eyes go wide, taking in the sight before him.

“What the fuck—” he slams the door behind him, dropping his gym bag, and runs towards the stove the same time I do.

I'm in so much fucking trouble.

“Oh my god, I'm so sorry,” I blurt, pacing the kitchen.

He reaches for the knobs, turning the gas off. Then he grabs the handle and carries the burning pot out the back doors onto the patio. The fire fizzles out the moment the pan hits the grass.

“What the hell were you doing?” his voice rattles me when he steps back inside.

Grabbing the sides of my head, I scan the mess I’ve made and feel horrible.

I shrink back, feeling about two feet tall, and stupid emotions rush to my eyes.

“I only went upstairs for a couple of minutes— Fuck. How did this happen? I’m so sorry, I think I ruined your stove.” My hand rests on my forehead.

And he's pissed at me.

Jaydon

I can see she's trying to hold it together. Her eyes fill with unshed tears, and she swipes just below them, looking away.

Fuck.

I hate seeing a woman cry.

Especially this woman.

A woman that could so easily be mine.

Dammit, I need to shake these thoughts.

I walk over to her, grab her hips, and spin her body into mine. Her breath hitches, but she surprisingly melts into my arms. Her soft body feels so good pressed against mine. I want to be her only comfort—the one she runs to when she's upset.

A need to protect and care for her surges through my soul.

I run my hands up her back, trying my best to give her what she needs.

“Peachy, it’s okay,” I whisper, my nose smashed into her hair, inhaling her sweet scent.

Her body shudders in my embrace .

She smells so fucking good—like honey and vanilla all mixed into one. She's starting to consume my every fucking thought, and I'm not sure what the fuck to do about it.

I glide my hand further up her back, stopping and gently squeezing once I reach her neck, my thumb rubbing soft circles at the base. I don’t know what the hell I'm even doing.

We stay like that for a moment, but when her head pulls up from my chest and she looks me directly in the eyes, I damn near lose it.

I want to kiss her so fucking badly.

The need is greater than I've ever felt before, but I also know now isn’t the time.

“Jaydon,” she starts, her voice strained, “I fucked everything up and ruined your stove.” I can feel her body deflate with frustration.

“It's fine,” I say softly. “The stovetop can be cleaned. It's no big deal.”

“It is though… you’re pissed at me.”

“I'm not pissed at you, Peachy. I’m just glad you’re okay.” I search her glossy eyes, wanting to say a hell of a lot more, but I hold back—because she's not mine.

Her lip pops out with a pout. “I guess I should have told you before now… I can't cook. ”

I can't help but laugh, shaking my head at her. She's so damn adorable right now. I tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

“Don’t laugh at me,” she sighs deeply, and I pull her body back into mine even tighter.

“I said it's fine… I can do dinner from now on, don’t worry.”

She looks back up at me. Holding her in my arms feels so damn good. Her beautiful eyes flutter closed, her long lashes resting lightly against her cheeks. I can't help myself when I lean down and place my lips to her forehead, inhaling her intoxicating scent and engraving it to memory.

I feel her body shiver in my arms, and I know she's just as much affected by me as I am by her.

Does she hate me… or feel something more ?

I’m torn between wanting to know, wanting to dig deep within her and make her confess her true feelings… or just letting this ride out between us and see where it goes.

She pulls back, lightly pressing me away with her palms. My arms stay locked in place around her.

She whispers up at me from beneath her lashes. “Let me get started cleaning this up.”

My arms reluctantly slip from around her. I squeeze the back of my neck, watching her walk away… but secretly wishing she were still in my arms.

It’s like someone is playing a fucking joke on me. The woman I’m falling for is living in my home… but somehow in a relationship with another man.

I’ve got to figure something out. I don’t know how much more of this torture I can take before I fucking lose it.

Ellie

I had to get out of his arms. I could feel myself falling—drifting into a place where I would never be able to return from, needing him a little more .

Why is he being so fucking sweet to me? How the hell am I supposed to stay away from him when he says things like that and holds me like it's our last day on earth?

Still feeling his stare, I busy myself, grabbing the sponge and cleaner, and start wiping off the stovetop, praying this mess comes clean. I finally hear him move. Turning my head over my shoulder, I see him walking into the other room and opening the window.

Luckily, the smoke detector isn’t tied into calling 911. I would have been mortified .

The haze quickly dissipated once Jaydon threw the pot outside and left the patio doors open.

I just can't shake these feelings. I've never felt like this before… and it’s a little terrifying.