Page 36 of Some Like It Hot

“Can I eat them with you sitting naked in my lap?”

I laugh as I hand him the plate with two muffins. “I have to get ready for work. So no.”

“Can I eat them while watching you shower?”

I laugh again. “They might get a little soggy.”

He laughs. “Fine. I’ll stay outside the shower curtain. We can just chat while you get ready. How long do you work today?”

“Just through the morning rush actually,” I tell him.

“Then what?”

“I was going to sew for a little bit, but I could be talked into something else.” I gave him a grin. “Except Turks and Caicos. I don’t quite have that much time.”

“We can do anything. Think of something.”

“What do you want to do?”

“Spend the day with you.”

My heart flips.

Okay. I might need to stop texting Aidan and Blake.

Suddenly, a loud squealing pierces the air.

I jump and frown, trying to place the sound. I turn toward the door, realizing the sound is coming from the bakery.

Simon is on his feet. “That sounds like?—”

“The fire alarm,” I fill in. I feel the blood drain from my face. “Oh…shit.”

Immediately I run for the door. “Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!”

“Love, hold on,” Simon says.

I rip the door open and start for the stairs.

“Elise!” Simon’s loud, firm voice stops me two steps down.

I look up at him.

“Slow down,” he tells me. “You need to be careful. You don’t know what’s going on down there.”

“I know, but it’s the bakery. It’s obviously something I did. I was just down there!”

He comes down the steps. He stops on the step I’m standing on. “Maybe. But you still need to proceed with caution. You are more important than anything in that bakery.”

My eyes immediately fill with tears. “It’s Luna’s bakery. I can’t…”

Simon takes my hand and squeezes it. “It’s going to be okay. Come on. Slowly.”

He proceeds down the steps in front of me, pausing at the bottom to survey what’s going on.

My heart is in my throat. Luna has been one of the best friends I’ve ever had. If I damaged her bakery, set her kitchen on fire, did something to make her hate me…

“There’s no smoke out here, there’s no flames I can see,” Simon reports.

---