Page 8 of Seeing You

“He had an accident last year and doesn’t get out much, but…”

“Are you going to talk to him, or do you need to go hide? Because no one would blame you if you bolted. I can create a distraction.”

“Hide?” Jade asked. “Why would you need to hide? Who is he?”

Ashlynn grinned. “Billie’s ex. The great love of her life who turned into the biggest asshole in the world. We hate him.”

“Really? It’s him? You’re sure?” Jade whispered, even as she kept sneaking glances at him.

Breathing out a long, steadying breath, Billie nodded. “Marcus Calloway. I…I never thought I’d see him again.” Pausing, she let out another shaky breath and fought the wave of nausea rolling over her. “I honestly hoped and prayed I’d never see him again.”

“What are you going to do?” Ash asked. “Because you know he’s going to step up to the counter any minute.”

Oh God, whatwasshe going to do?

Screw it. I’m not the one who has anything to be ashamed of. He does.

And with that decision made, she straightened and prayed she wasn’t about to make a major fool out of herself. Smoothing a hand over her hair, she stepped up to the counter, and…waited.

Marcus wasn’t really paying attention to her as he walked up to the display case. He studied everything for a minute, and when he looked at her, it didn’t register right away who he was seeing.

Then it did, and the look of horror on his face was almost comical.

“Welcome to Books & Beans,” she said smoothly, even though she was ready to vomit. “How may I help you?” Doing her best to sound professional and not the least bit personal, she smiled and waited.

“Holy crap.Billie?What are you doing here?” he asked, sounding like a total snob.

And looking like one too.

Who the hell went out to a coffee shop in Sweetbriar wearing a suit?

“I work here. Actually, I’m part owner. What can I get for you today? The chocolate croissants are new to the menu, and all the muffins were freshly baked this morning.”

All he did was stare.

Several people came in and got in line behind him, so she did what she had to do. “You’ll need to step aside until you’re ready to order,” she said sweetly, before turning her attention to the person behind him. “Hi! Welcome to Books & Beans! What can I get for you today?”

Luckily, Marcus moved over, but his eyes never left her. It made her nervous and anxious, but it also pissed her off. How dare he come into her bakery and then act surprised that she was here! Obviously his father had to tell him she worked here. She saw the man almost every time he came in here. John Calloway had always been a kind man, and even though seeing him was always a painful reminder of the past, she never let it affect how she treated him.

For the next several minutes, she and Jade helped customers while Ashlynn stood to the side with wide-eyed amusement.

I’ll deal with you later…

As soon as the last person was gone, Marcus was back at the counter, looking as annoyed and unyielding as ever.

And sexy as hell.

Damn him.

His sandy brown hair was fashionably askew, his powerful jaw was covered in stubble, and those dark, beautiful eyes that she used to be able to stare into forever, but right now, looked pretty hostile.

Smiling, she asked, “Have you decided what you want?”

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them. The old “never ask a question you don’t want the answer to” immediately came to mind, and she hoped he took the question as she meant it. Food. She was talking about food.

“What I wanted was a wife and partner,” he said, dripping sarcasm.

Okay, so he took it the other way…

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