Page 57 of Sugar Coated Secrets

My eyes cut to Danny, and he glances at me with a warm expression. “It’s obvious I like you, Dulce. Very much. I’m…”

"The last time I checked, you were still fucking the server at the restaurant. So that means, if I’m as good at math as I am at driving, you had an epiphany about a week ago when it came to Dulce.”

“You son of a bitch,” Danny growls, lunging at Ford.

I step between them, placing my hand on Danny’s chest. “Danny, stop.” I can feel Ford step close behind me.

“I should arrest you,” Danny says angrily. The blatant hate for Ford in his eyes.

“For what?” Ford laughs sarcastically. "Go ahead, fuck with me, and after I’m done with you, you'll be lucky if you have a job as a security officer at a grocery store," Ford warns.

I whirl around and catch Ford’s blue gaze. “Please stop?”

His eyes hold me for a second. “Come with me. Let’s go get what you need for the shop,” he says. “Katie can stay. I promise to have you back before it’s time to close.”

I shake my head. “I…” The back of his fingers caress my cheek, causing the words to die in my throat and my stomach to flutter.

“Please, Dulce. Let me do this for you.”

My eyes fall to his lips. The warmth of his skin on my cheek is easing my anxiety. There is no way Ford is responsible for the break-in or what happened at prom. I can feel it in my gut. He could have easily left the same way he did before prom, and no one would question him.

“Okay,” I agree.

"You've got to be kidding me," Danny sneers as he walks around me, his gaze fixed on Ford. “You hurt her, and the only thing you’ll be driving is a go-kart.”

“Is that a threat, Officer Mays?” Ford says through clenched teeth.

“It’s a fucking promise, asshole.”

“Good,” Ford says, glaring at Danny. "She needs someone to watch over her, not fuck her.”

Danny bares his teeth. “Like that’s not on your mind whenever you look at her.”

Ignoring him, Ford simply walks around him and opens the front door, holding it for me to walk out first.

I guess we’re going car shopping.

18

DULCE

The car is silent as Ford drives out of town. The tension is thick, like breathing hot air under the sun. He hasn’t looked at me since we left the bakery. I'm not sure what he was thinking or if what Danny said was true.

“Is it true?”

“Huh?”

“What Danny said back there.”

"What? About my offer to buy you a van?"

“No,” I say, moving the vent from the air conditioner so the cool air can hit my skin. "What's on your mind when you look at me?"

After a few seconds, I get tired of waiting for him to answer and look out the window. “Not the way he made it seem,” he finally says.

“Oh,” I say, giving him a smile of regret. “Of course not.”

Maybe I shouldn’t have asked, but I just want to know the truth. Why is he helping me?

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