Page 3 of Too Lethal to Love

According to Scarlett, the bionic limbs were permanently attached to their bodies. No straps. No harnesses. A seamless melding of steel and flesh that was beautiful and tragic at the same time. Beth spent many nights wondering what themarriage of man and machine looked like underneath their clothes.

Well, what it looked like under the clothes of one VIPER boy in particular. That had to stop.

The teen chomped on her gum as she opened a binder on the counter and leafed through it. “Red flowers, you say?” She eyed Beth’s glittery silver nail polish. “And metallic dusting because you obviously like bling. And I love your coat. It twinkled like fifty shades of purple under the streetlights when you walked in.”

“Thanks.” Beth ran her fingers over the faux fur cuff. “Now, about my cake.”

“Oh, I remember now. How could I forget? My boss gave it to your husband a few minutes ago.”

Beth slammed her palms onto the glass countertop. “Mywhat?”

The color drained from the teen’s face as she retreated. “You, uh, didn’t send your husband to get it?”

Unease skated down Beth’s spine as she swung her head to the door.

He’s not here. I’m safe.

The emptiness and her affirming mantra didn’t stop anxiety from rippling toward full-blown alarm. “I don’t have a husband. I don’t even have a boyfriend. Who the hell did you give my cake to?”

The teen backed through a door. “Uh, let me get my boss.”

Beth nodded, afraid if she opened her mouth, she’d beg the teen not to leave her alone in the empty storefront. “He’s not here. I’m safe.” She whispered it again as she dipped her hand into her enormous tote bag and wrapped her fingers around the small pistol at the bottom. The security of the warm metal grounded her but didn’t stop the past fromhammering at her resolve not to hide behind the counter and cry.

Fighting the rising panic, she scanned the small bakery.

The busy sidewalk.

The crowded parking lot beyond.

Nothing out of the ordinary. Just shoppers and a weary donation-collecting Santa.

Pushing trapped air out of her lungs, she trained one eye on the entrance, the other on the door the teen had disappeared through and sang along with the Christmas song playing overhead. Her grip on the gun didn’t lessen any with the distraction technique she’d learned from her therapist.

A chorus later, a woman who appeared to be around the same age as Beth emerged from the back of the bakery. “Hi, I’m Angie.” She dusted her hands on her apron and smiled. “I’m the owner. My apologies for giving your cake to the wrong person. The man knew your name, though.”

Beth’s pulse pounded as fast as the sweat forming on the back of her neck. The lack of an imminent threat didn’t stop her fears from vaulting her into the past.

No.She tugged at the ends of her curls. He’d never shown himself before. Why start now? This was just a misunderstanding. Or maybe the bakery’s computers had been hacked by a criminal trying to steal credit card information and someone took a liking to her cake order.

God, that last bit sounded stupid, but she couldn’t live with the scenario she feared. There had to be a reasonable explanation. “Did my alleged husband know anything else about me?”

“He knew what type of cake it was. The occasion. The names on the cake. The address and the phone number on the order form. He even mentioned that you’d gotten a cake here a few months ago for your twenty-eighth birthday.”

Beth’s pulse rang in her ears like a gunshot with everypiece of information Angie rattled off. She clutched her gun tighter. “What did he look like?”

“Tall, dark, and sexy, from what I could tell underneath his sunglasses and ski hat. And he thanked me in the sexiest Spanish accent.”

Beth relaxed her grip on the gun a smidge. Could it have been Nic? He fit Angie’s dark and handsome description and excelled at making women blush when he spoke Spanish. She’d asked him to pick up beer for the party. Maybe he’d decided to grab the cake too. “Did you notice anything unusual about the cake stealer? Anything identifying?”

Like a black bionic hand?

“No, nothing unusual.”

Beth tightened her fingers around the gun again. It couldn’t have been Nic. His mechanical fingers were hard to miss, and he wouldn’t have said he was her husband and missed the chance to hit on the gorgeous redhead.

Angie pointed to the glass-front refrigerator on the far wall. “I’m happy to give you a full refund and a new cake free of charge, of course. I’m afraid it will have to be a plain white sheet cake because that’s all we have left, but I can decorate it with the flowers and sprinkles that you ordered.”

“Fine.” Beth eyed the binder on the counter. “Do you always keep that out in the open?”

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