Page 29 of Sweets and Sycamores

READY WHENEVER YOU ARE

The next day, Mia drove them a couple of towns away to a charming place hidden in the mountains. The evening air was frigid and harsher than in Sycamore Falls when they stopped in front of a boutique and entered quickly, running from the wind.

The owner greeted Mia and welcomed them to look around the store. They had their backs to each other, perusing opposite racks, when Mia cleared her throat and drew Allie’s attention.

“So, are you getting along with my brother?” she asked as if talking about the weather.

“He hasn’t fired me yet.” Allie chuckled halfheartedly. If Dominic had let her stay through all the previous trouble, he would likely let her stay until Hallows Eve.

“Dom is all bark, no bite, I can promise you that.” Allie felt Mia shift closer, their shoulder blades touching.

She whispered, “The nature of his magic can lead to a lonely life. He’d murder me if he knew I’m telling you this, but many years ago, he had…

someone.” Allie’s heart snapped to attention, and she was grateful Mia couldn’t see the curious look on her face.

“They had been together for a while, and Dom… He was always on the road with his assignments, but he wanted a life outside of that. A family. She didn’t trust him to be around enough to do that, so she left him. ”

“Why?” Allie breathed.

She didn’t trust him.

How could anyone not trust someone like Dominic?

“I don’t know, and I don’t want to remember that traitorous bitc—” Mia inhaled. “The thing is, under all the thorns and grumbles, my brother is a good man, Allie. I just wanted you to know that.”

Allie held back the sharp agreement bubbling inside her, thinking Mia would interpret it in her sneaky way.

She had been a stranger to Dominic, and he had been there for her more than the people who knew her.

People who were supposed to be her friends.

He’d helped her not only by offering her temporary work and a place to stay, but he went so far as to get involved with her power control issues, uprooting something that could have ended her life. The seal that could have destroyed her.

Dominic was not just a good man; he was a great man with a huge, beautiful soul. He hid it under a spiky demeanor, grunts, and scowls, but if you looked past them, it was right there. Allie found it endearing.

How could someone have Dominic and decide to leave him? The thought terrified her. She had to leave him in about a month.

But she didn’t have him. Which, funnily enough, did not make it easier at all.

“Do you have a date for the wedding?” Allie asked, wanting to distance herself from the dangerous subject that was Mia’s brother. She didn’t wait for her friend to answer before she added, “What about Brandon?”

“What about Brandon?” Mia parroted defensively. Allie turned around and faked interest in a dress next to Mia, knowing she had struck a chord.

“What’s going on with you two?” Allie dared ask. After all, Mia had asked her about Dominic, and even if she had ignored it, Allie heard the not-so-subtle implication in Mia’s voice.

“Nothing’s going on.” Mia picked up a hanger from the rack, studying a bright pink taffeta dress that would look terrible on her. Allie slowly took it from her and put it back, raising her brows in a silent challenge. Mia sighed and said, “We’re just friends.”

“Aha.”

“Do you have a date for the wedding?” Mia shot back, a flirty grin stretching her beautiful tawny skin.

“Brandon asked me the same thing the other day,” Allie said with her own cocky grin. Something passed over Mia’s features that turned her smirk into a thin line. She didn’t want to play any games with her friend, so Allie told her she was going alone.

They shifted their focus to the task at hand, and Mia found a dress she deemed perfect for Allie: a forest green velvet dress with a thin cord around the waist that could be tied into a bow, with a deep V-neckline and a skirt two palms over her knees.

“Isn’t it too short?” Allie turned around in the tall mirror. The dress was beautiful and sexy while still appropriate, and very much within her price range.

“It’s not too short. It’ll go perfectly with these.” Mia handed her a pair of knee-high soft leather boots with a block heel in a brown so deep it was almost black. “I’m tall enough as it is,” Allie said as she reluctantly put them on. Of course, they went perfectly with the dress.

“Some people are still taller than you,” Mia muttered under a smirk.

“It’s too cold for a dress like this,” Allie tried her last argument. She wanted but didn’t want to be convinced to get the dress. If Mia wasn’t here, Allie might have mooned over it, but for sure wouldn’t have tried it on, let alone left with it. Now that she had…

“Trust me, it won’t be cold.” A wordless challenge lit up Mia’s eyes, and Allie didn’t have time to question her before she scurried back to look for her own dress.

They found an equally short dress for Mia in a soft, elegant pink with a square neckline and short sleeves that fit her like a glove.

She paired it with red high heels, and Allie was suddenly curious what Brandon’s face would look like when he saw Mia.

Her unruly mind also wondered what Dominic would think about her green dress, and her fickle heart went galloping at the thought of his emerald eyes scanning her from top to bottom.

Walking out of the store, she was grateful for the strong wind that knocked some sense into her.

Dominic decided to close the bakery early the day before the wedding. He had planned to tell Allie last night, but she and Mia came back pretty late from their dress shopping, giggling and shoving each other when they entered the bakery, craving sugar.

He had gone upstairs but watched them from behind the curtain to make sure they made it back safely.

And maybe also heard them because he lingered by his den like a creep.

They raided the fridge where he had left half a pumpkin pie and two caramel brownies he absolutely did not make for them.

Dominic made them for himself, and there were leftovers.

He knew Mia would come over and snoop into his fridge; it wasn’t the first time and certainly wouldn’t be the last.

The next morning, the bittersweet coffee smell filled the space up the stairs, beckoning him to start the day. He descended into the bakery with the plan to post the schedule for today on the door, triple-check everything for tomorrow’s event, then get on with the morning’s baking duties.

His plan went to hell when he walked down the narrow hallway leading into the bakery and found Allie bent over the counter.

She was wiping down the surface, her body aligned with the entryway, those dark, tight jeans hugging her form perfectly right in front of his face.

Dominic swallowed, his hands forming fists at his sides.

He should look away. It was inappropriate to stare like that. What if she turned around and found him gawking? Allie was his employee. He was her boss.

He was an inappropriate, drooling moron because he didn’t look away.

Dominic had never denied that Allie was an attractive woman.

Extremely attractive, with her long legs, soft curves, and sensual lips.

He always noticed things he wasn’t supposed to be noticing and, more than once, sent silent thanks to whatever gods were listening that no magic in the world gave anyone access to his thoughts.

A flash of pain snapped him to attention. The knuckle of his fist was caught in a strong bite in his mouth, as Allie stretched on her tiptoes to reach the farthest corner. Her soft blue sweater traveled up, revealing a sliver of her ivory skin.

Dominic felt hot, as if a fever was coming over him, and swallowed the sound that was building in his throat.

“Allie!” he shouted instead. She turned around, alarm coating her features, looking from left to right as if trying to identify the threat that made him shout like that.

“What’s wrong?” She dropped the cloth and approached him. Dominic thought he’d scared her before his eyes moved to her freckled face. Allie was frowning, some shadows he’d never seen hanging around her eyes, as if she was ready to torch anything or anyone he would point at.

Literally.

His heart might give out.

“I need help in the kitchen.” Dominic pivoted and left, desperate to put some distance between them so he could clear his head. Except he did not stop in the kitchen but went back upstairs, straight to the bathroom to splash cold water on his face.

Dominic was acting strangely. He said he forgot something upstairs but carried nothing back with him except a weird look on his face and a couple of water droplets hanging from his jaw.

Allie thought he might not be feeling well, but every time she asked him, he grunted a “Fine.” She made him mint tea at lunch, which he drank only after it had cooled down.

The short shift was more than welcome today as it gave Allie enough time to prepare for tomorrow’s event.

She laid out her outfit, styled her hair into tame curls, and had an early dinner.

Tina and Harper had told her their two chimera pets would be present, and all others were allowed as it was an outdoor event.

Allie gave Ekko a bath, his purple scales shining under the soap bubbles, and prepared a white bowtie for him for tomorrow.

Besides sometimes acting like a clumsy creature, Ekko was a great companion.

If anything, his being clumsy made Allie feel closer to the dragon.

“Let’s get some practice in, too, shall we?” she told Ekko, who flew in happy circles around her, then plopped on her shoulder before Allie opened the door.

“Everyone is worried.”

A voice she didn’t recognize carried from the bakery. Allie turned around to stay in her room and give Dominic privacy, but stopped and cracked the door a bit more instead when she heard him say, “She’s not like that.”

“How do you know for sure?”