Page 7 of Sultry Nights

Hanna grinned. "You sure?"

Jared laughed. "Yeah. One for me, one for my dad. He's never had one of your cinnamon rolls, and I want to be the first to introduce him to nirvana."

Hanna laughed. She had dimples and perfect white teeth, and her dark wavy hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and wrapped with a net. She turned to set the warm cinnamon rolls on the counter, and he could see she wore a pair of jeans that fit her body perfectly. From the front, she was covered in an apron.

Hanna looked into his eyes, and he couldn't have looked away if he tried. "I hope you feel the same way as Jared. He's been my best customer these past few weeks."

Quinn blinked and realized she'd spoken to him. "He has great taste and doesn't boast about much, so I'm sure they'll be as delicious as he's claimed."

He stood woodenly by as Hanna rang up their order, then deftly slid their rolls onto small white plates.

She looked into his eyes as she handed him his order, and all he could do was stare. "Enjoy." She brightly added.

He nodded, took his plate, and followed Jared as if he couldn't think a thought for himself. What kind of dumbass had he just become?

5

Hanna watched Quinn and Jared saunter over to a table and sit down.

She couldn't help but notice that Quinn's long legs under the table looked out of place. His presence in her little bakery made it feel impossibly small.

He was handsome, and he had a cute little grin. The way he stared at her, well, it kind of reminded her of her high school days when the boys wanted to get to know her a little more. They grinned, their cheeks were pink, and sometimes the tips of their ears were too. They were cute and unassuming, she would say.

Taking a deep breath and hauling her tray of cinnamon rolls to the display case, she quickly unloaded them onto the decorative tray in the case and took her dirty one back to the kitchen.

She rotated her head on her shoulders. She'd been tense. Actually, all night last night and up until just now. It was a relief to feel the tension subside. Maybe it was Jared and his little smile or his dad and his cute grin. Whatever it was, she was grateful for it.

Yesterday after calling the bank, she'd found out that her ex, Isaac, had sweet-talked a clerk into getting him access to her bank account.

That was the problem with him. He could be deadly with his charisma. It's what had nailed her, and that's a fact. Luckily, they didn't have children, though she'd love to have a sweet little one to hold.

But having a child with Isaac would have been horrible. He was a terrible person. Her parents seemed to know it from the start, but she wouldn't listen to them. She'd been so besotted by that ass.

Anyway, after finding out he sweet-talked the clerk, she was worried that anybody else could be taken in by him, too. She asked the bank what their controls were as far as moving forward and that no matter who he sweet-talked or tried to get to; he did not have permission to access her account, or anyone else's for that matter.

The bank assured her they'd taken steps to secure accounts and were doing a full forensic audit of the banks' accounts now that they'd uncovered this breach.

The clerk had been fired, and they were retraining employees at this moment on protocols. That helped ease her mind a little bit, but it didn't help the fact that he had still done it. And she wanted her money back. The bank had replaced the money Isaac had taken this last time. She now wondered if he'd done it before in smaller amounts and she hadn't noticed. She was so busy at the bakery every day, and working on her little house at night, that she didn't have time to check her accounts. Maybe her dad would take that on, too. Oh, she dreaded the conversation they'd have over this.

For the time being though, she needed to make this bakery her cash cow. Her grandmother started the bakery, and her mother ran it for years. And while it hadn't made them millionaires, the bakery had always provided their families with a certain amount of security.

She hadn't intended to come back and run the bakery, but her mom's hands couldn't handle the workload anymore, and she begged Hanna to come back to Blossom Springs to keep the family bakery going. Since she was getting unmarried, the timing was perfect.

Her grandmother, Mae, had named the bakery after herself: Mae's Bakery. And Hanna was determined now, more than ever, to make sure that it was successful.

Luckily, years ago when she had married Isaac, her parents had demanded that everything that was in her name remain in her name. They'd kept things separate, including the bakery bank account. Her father demanded Isaac never have access to that account. She'd been mad at first. Oh, she loved him. He'd never hurt her. And why were they being so cruel?

And now, as she thought back on it, she really owed her parents an apology and a big thank you for keeping at least this part of her security safe from him.

She picked up a tray of cookies that had been cooling and walked them out to the bakery. The second she walked out of the kitchen door, her eyes met Quinn's.

She smiled and felt the heat rise up her chest and her cheeks. And it actually made her feel a little giddy. The last thing she needed to be was giddy.

She transferred her cookies to the more decorative tray in the display case and then wiped the crumbs that had fallen. She couldn't help but glance over at Quinn now and then. And it always seemed when she looked at him, he was looking at her.

Picking up her dirty cookie tray, she moved back to the kitchen, set the tray on the counter, and leaned forward with her palms on the steel table. Taking a few deep breaths, she told herself to straighten up. It was just a cute little flirtation. And goodness, it felt wonderful.

She didn't need to dwell on that now, good Lord. She was just getting rid of Isaac and hadn't even done that completely, the way he continued to interrupt her life.

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