Page 54 of Ten Kisses

"I thought that was still going," he said.

Chapter 20

Salem

Two months later

Molly finally told her sister that she was seeing Salem. Sara had noticed that the two of them ran off at the campout that night, and she called Molly the next day and asked her about it. They had a whole long discussion. Molly had time to consider her position beforehand, and she was honest and upfront with Sara. She was logical, caring, and calm, and she completely disarmed Sara's ability to argue about it.

Sara was generally a sensible person and she was really smart, but fear made people do and say things they wouldn't normally do and say. She was scared and genuinely thought the match meant she would never find anyone.

But she loved her sister, and the confrontation had gone as well as it could. They had cried together and ultimately worked it out. Molly had talked to John-Michael, too, and that also went well. Salem got the three-minute version even though Molly talked to her siblings for about four hours that day.

Time had passed since then, and Sara had come around to Salem dating her sister. They were able to hang out together, joking around and being their normal, lighthearted selves.

It was a good thing because Molly's Chocolates was busier by the day, and she needed some help. Molly had recently put a small display shelf in three local grocery stores, and she could hardly keep them stocked. Sara had been coming over three times a week to help her package and deliver the chocolate to grocery stores.

She was able to increase production with the new machines, and her client base was expanding. Her branding was good and her chocolate was great.

Molly was so busy with it that Salem went to her apartment to help her. It was her landlord, Michelle's, birthday tonight and Salem helped her package some chocolate before they walked over to dinner at the main house.

They had a dinner party with ten or so people. The restauranteur was there, and so was a city councilman. Salem knew Darren and Michelle were doing a lot for Molly, and he put his personal feelings about Darren aside. One of the birthday guests had seen some of Salem's work and they talked about a possible job. Salem was always thankful to make good connections, and he was glad he had given Darren the benefit of the doubt.

It was a good night. They ate amazing food cooked by a chef who was right there in the kitchen, and they shared an engaging conversation with some pleasant people.

It wasn't until the end of the dinner party that things took a turn for the worse.

Molly had gone into the kitchen to deal with some of the dirty dishes. Salem was in the living room, talking to Michelle and one of her friends.

He glanced at Molly, and he saw Darren approaching her at the sink. He looked at the women again, just long enough, then he glanced at Molly again. His focus zeroed in on them as the landlord put his hand on the side of Molly's hip. He did it as he leaned in to put his dish in the sink, but there was no need for it, and it was in a spot that had Salem unable to look away.

Molly instantly stepped to the side, breaking the contact. She glanced up at Darren. Salem couldn't see her face but she looked at him. Darren made an innocent expression and smiled, and Molly said something to him and shook her head. She then turned and glanced at Salem and made some sort of silly face at him like she was exasperated.

Darren looked that way, and he smiled at Salem even though Salem was not smiling at him. The women pretended not to notice and kept talking.

Salem's blood was boiling.

He had never been so mad in his life.

That man had his hands on the side of Molly's hip. He was touching her somewhere he shouldn't have been. He did it casually, and he smiled, but it was not okay. Salem excused himself even though Michelle was still talking, and he walked over to where Molly was standing.

"Are you good?" he asked as he got closer.

"Yeah, I’m good. I was just gonna finish putting these into the dishwasher and then go tell everyone goodbye."

"What was that just now?"

"I'll talk to you about it in a minute. That was a little bit out of nowhere."

Salem took a deep breath and decided to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. After all, he had just been feeling like things were going smoothly.

It took them about ten minutes to say goodbye and make their way to her apartment.

"I don't know what that was at the sink," she said once they were inside her apartment. "Did you see him grab me? Is that why you came over and asked me if I was okay?"

"Yes, I saw him, Molly, what was that?"

"I know, and I told him to stop that before—when he did something similar."

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