Page 25 of Cowboy Devil's Embrace

“Avery, aren’t you always telling me to get out there and date? Why wouldn’t you take your own advice?” I asked.

“Um, hello? I have a kid,” she said.

“So? Does that mean your pussy was no longer able to accept any unattached penises?”

“Oh my God, Pen! An unattached penis better be silicone, as in a dildo, because that is just gross! Besides, I have Rosie, and no single man wants a ready-made family. Especially with her special issues,” she mumbled.

“Avery, stop it. First, you know what I mean,” I said, rolling my eyes. “If he’s single, why not go for it? And second, my goddaughter is perfect. She only throws up on people who are assholes,” I replied, and we both had to work on stifling our giggles.

“I can’t believe she did that to Mark, though. I mean, I thought he was a good guy,” Avery said, shaking her head, recalling one of her infrequent, failed dates.

“Cheats on his taxes, apparently,” I said, repeating something I’d heard from my accountant.

I had to hire Mrs. Mitchell as my own CPA when Burt filed for divorce to get all my affairs in order. We’d shared one before that. But I couldn’t trust my old accountant since he was Burt’s golfing buddy, and I did not want my asshole of an ex snooping around my finances.

“Easy with the frosting there, Pen. You’re going to send MCR into a diabetic coma,” Avery said.

I looked down and frowned at the mess I’d made while my mind had been wandering.

“Shit,” I muttered, wiping up the disaster.

“Don’t throw it out! Come to mama,” Avery said, grinning and taking the ruined cupcake from my hands, placing it in a tiny pastry box.

“I’ll have you later,” she told the dessert.

“I can’t believe I did that,” I muttered, but that’s what happened when you baked with anger instead of love.

And any time Burt slithered into my head, I was angry.

“Wanna take a minute?”

“No, I’m fine. Besides, I don’t have that kind of time. MCR will be here soon,” I replied.

I prepped a fresh bag of frosting since I actually wound up squeezing this one so hard it ripped a seam.

Oopsies.

“That’s it. I let this go long enough, but Pen, we need to talk.”

“What? About that?” I asked, concentrating on the task in front of me.

Avery crossed her arms and tapped her toe, like a proper mama bear scolding her errant child. I snorted a laugh then shook my head.

“Seriously, I don’t know what you are talking about, Av.”

Normally, I kept this stuff bottled in. Like how I didn’t want anyone to know about the problems in my marriage. Burt’s incessant lying. His habitual cheating. And now, even after the divorce, he was after me for a piece of my bakery.

The man could not stop pecking at me like he was a vulture, and I was just a piece of carrion in the side of the road.

Avery had her own problems, though. I didn’t want to burden her now any more than I had back when I was living with that asshat.

And just look at how that worked out for you.

“Burt’s lawyer sent another letter,” I finally confessed.

“What?”

“He isn’t going to leave it alone. He wants everything I have, Avery,” I whispered.

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