Page 45 of We Never Kissed

“I’m gonna get a dozen,” Alex said, gesturing to thedonuts. “Plus, I heard there was some hot little thing working behind the counter.”

Heat rushed to my cheeks. He’d said it quietly enough, but I still shot my gaze over to Sammy to see if he had heard.

“Uh…that’s kind of you—for the fundraiser, I mean.” Yeah, I sounded formal and awkward, and I hated it. All I wanted to do was hug him and before “us,” I probably would have and now I felt like I couldn’t.

“Okay…I promised your mom, and I figured I might as well bring some donuts for my team. I’ve been riding their asses a little hard lately with this deal.”

“Oh, yeah, when is that going to be done?” I knew finishing that deal wouldn’t guarantee he never had to deal with Jessica again, but I blurted it out anyway.

“Three weeks maybe,” he said with a grin.

As Alex slowly and meticulously picked out each of his dozen donuts, our eyes kept catching each other’s and holding little conversations.

When he was done, he added, “Four of those Apple Fritters, too, please.”

I’d needed two boxes to fit everything, and once I had it packaged up, I moved to the cash register, set them in front of Sammy, then pretended to clean the area around the coffee maker while Sammy rang up Alex, and Gunnar helped someone else.

“Hey, man,” Sammy said to Alex.

“Great turnout.” He handed Sammy his card. “Are we still on for the cigar room on Friday?”

I was surprised because I didn’t know anything about that—not that he had to run his plans by me.

“About that…” Sammy said.

As Sammy ran the card, Alex said, “You’re not backing out on me, are you?”

“Not backing out, but what if we hit the cigar room next time and do a double date, me and Cass and you and Lauren?”

My mouth flew open, but thankfully, Sammy couldn’t see me behind him. Gunnar must have been listening, too, because he shot me a look. I tried not to let it affect me, but why the hell would Sammy think Lauren and Alex were dating? Then my brain shot back to that kiss at the bar. Alex must not have set him straight, and I knew why. It wasn’t a big deal… Unless they actually went on a date, and that was where I would draw the damn line with this charade.

My pulse raced as I waited for Alex’s answer; the adrenaline almost had me speaking up, claiming my man right there in front of Sammy and all these strangers.

“I think I can handle my own dating life.”

“Can you?” Gunnar said, and we all snapped our heads to him. He winced and said, “Oops,” then handed awoman her coffee and pretended everything was perfectly normal.

Alex picked up his boxes from the counter. “Thanks, man, but let’s stick with the cigar room. Should be fun and we can…catch up.” Alex’s eyes darted to me, and I hoped that meant he was thinking the same thing I was. The longer we kept us a secret the worse it would be when everyone found out.

“Yeah, sure,” Sammy said. “Talk soon…”

There was a woman behind Alex itching to order so that took Sammy’s attention as Alex moved away from the counter. I didn’t want him to go yet, but I knew he had to. Moving to the side counter, I watched him stop at the table where Dax was seated. He set his boxes down, gave Dax a hug, and the two exchanged words I couldn’t hear.

The rush had died down, but when the door opened, I took my gaze over that way on instinct. Then I almost gasped, my jaw slacking for the second time that morning.

It was Mark.

Chapter 26

Alex

I had to do a double-take when I saw Mark enter the bakery.What the hell is he doing here? My chest tightened as the obvious answer punched me right in the gut. Of course, he’d show up at some point. Any man in their right mind wouldn’t let a woman like Ava go without a fight.

I took my gaze over to my woman.That’s right, asshole, she’s mine now. I didn’t have anything against the guy, really, so my anger didn’t make sense. Ava looked just as shocked as I was. Instead of getting in line, Mark moved to the far side of the bakery, where a decorative shelf lined the wall and housed framed pictures, bakery utensils, and some prepackaged goods.

My pulse was pounding, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it was more fear than anger, that somehow he’d convince Ava to give him another chance. After all, it sounded like Mark hadn’t done anything wrong—other than not being me, obviously—and he’d wanted to marry her.

I eyed the door as Ava made her way over to Mark to greet him, knowing I should go before Sammy or Cass saw how worked up I was getting. Then, I made a split-second decision when Mark gestured toward the door. I said a quick goodbye to Dax, grabbed my boxes—conveniently leaving my keys on the table next to him—then quickly headed out of the bakery ahead of them.

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