Page 57 of Candygrams

I shove the anger down and focus on his question. “I have to drive into town and open the shop.”

“The shop?”

“Yeah, me and my friends, Bonbon and Candy, pooled our resources and opened a hybrid candy shop/bakery. I have the picture we took when we first opened right over here on the mirror.”

“Uh, you want me to drive you?” He steps in front of me making his offer.

I’m already shaking my head.

“No. I’m sorry I had to wake you up so early as it is.”

“Are you coming back tonight?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll make us dinner. So, you don’t have to worry about it since you’ve been up so long working.”

Chapter Six

Ander

I follow her out to make sure she gets in the car safely. I’m not crazy about her having to drive so far so early in the morning only to work all day and drive back. It’s one of the reasons I told her I would have dinner ready when she got home. It just seems unfair that she should have to wake up so much earlier to start work only to come back home to cook for herself and me. She told me she has an apartment close to the shop, but her mom and dad pull her away using the animals and her bond with the place she was born and raised to suck her in and add more stress for her.

The more I learn about the Perkins, the more I don’t like them. It seems to me the only good thing they ever did was have Lilly. The farm hand that Lilly had mistaken me for finally shows up midday and I do not like the look of him. He has beady eyes that remind me of an old bull I once had that couldn’t be trusted. Every time you turned around he was in with the heifers trying to mount them.

He started to put up a small fight, but I waved a wad of cash in front of his face, and he hit the road fast. There’s no way I was going to let him anywhere close to my Lilly. Unlike her parents, I know exactly how special she is and I’m not about to let her go!

By the time I hear her car pulling down the gravel driveway, I’m finishing setting the table. When she comes through the back door, I’m ready. Almost. I’m unprepared for the sight of Lilly with flushed cheeks and her sun-beam blonde hair piled high on the top of her head, a smudge of flour still on her chin.

“Oh wow! This is…wow!”

I come over to her, drawn like a magnet to its opposite. I wouldn’t be able to stop myself if I tried. She’s just too…bewitching. My arms encircle her to pull her closer to me. If she’s a witch trying to steal my soul then all she has to do is ask for it. I would gladly hand it over as long as she let my husk of a body stay with her. I brush my hand over her chin where the flour is before I swoop down for a kiss.

I didn’t really know how to tell her this morning that I was dreaming of her so it made perfect sense to me when she magically appeared at the side of my bed, hers being the only mouth I wanted to kiss. The last thing I want is for her to be afraid of me. It would go against everything I'm working for. I want her to trust me implicitly, to tell me all her secrets and fears, to come to me with all her problems, and to know who she can run to if she ever needs…anything!

But I can’t stop myself from taking this one soft kiss for my own, my lips brushing against the softest lips I’ve ever felt. I end the kiss way too soon. Sooner than I want to, but the right thing to do if I ever want another one. Her eyes remain closed for a couple of seconds after giving me the perfect opportunity to look at her sweet face without her realizing I'm watching her.

When her eyes do pop back open, a hint of worry is there.

“I’m not sleeping with you.”

I fight the overwhelming urge to tell her she’s wrong. Instead, I try to figure out why she thinks I might be pressuring her to do it before she's ready.

“Because you made dinner. And, um, made things pretty.” She pulls away from me and goes to the flowers I put on the table. Roses, because I wasn't certain what kind she might like.

“I don’t think just because I made you dinner and bought flowers that you’re going to sleep with me. What kind of man even does that?” Her eyes come to mine like she might be searching for the truth. “If anything, it’s a thank you for not making me sleep in the dong room.”

She starts laughing and relaxes noticeably.

“I’m also doing it because I know you have to be tired and you cooked for me yesterday. It seems only fair.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry if I seemed ungrateful.”

“No, you’re cautious and I’d rather you be that way than trust everything and anything you run across.”

Her smile looks tired as she sits at the table. “You’d make a good daddy.” Horror rushes across her face. “Oh my God! That did not come out right. I just meant you sound like you’d be a good dad since…shit, it isn’t getting any better.”

Now I’m the one smiling. “You don’t have to be a father to want the best for the women around you. You just have to be a decent human being.”

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