Page 16 of Don't Leave Me

“Yup. Jax and Cody are pretty awesome.” She smiles with so much pride. I can tell she really loves her brothers.

“I'm impressed.”

“Because I'm related to someone famous?” She rolls her eyes.

“No, that some rich hockey player hasn’t swooped in and convinced you to marry him.”

“No rich hockey player wants me. They have enough puck bunnies to keep their attention.” She sighs like this actually bothers her.

“Well, you’re definitely keeping my attention.” I lift her hand to my lips and press a soft kiss to each knuckle. “Tell me about the bakery you want to open.”

We spend the rest of dinner with Sophia describing her dream bakery. I smile and laugh as she describes how she wants to have baking classes and host children’s parties. She’s so excited and animated about her dream. I think she’s going to love the surprise I have in store for her tonight.

“Where are we?” Sophia glances around at the building and frowns.

“This is Sydney’s Sweets. It’s the best bakery and it’s open twenty-four hours a day.” I grin as I take her hand in mine and lead her towards the front door. Her hand feels so small in mine and it makes me want to protect her even more.

“Really? I’ve never seen a bakery open twenty-four hours.”

“Yup. The owner says people deserve to have sweets whenever they’re craving them.”

“That’s really awesome.”

As we step inside the shop, Sophia’s eyes light up. She rushes up to the display of desserts and peers inside like a little kid.

“There are so many options! This is amazing. None of the bakeries by me have this many desserts available daily. Do the options change a lot?” She peeks up at me in awe.

“There are a few things that switch out, but for the most part, they stay the same. I think it’s mostly seasonal things. Like the s’mores cookies get exchanged with pumpkin cookies in the fall. Then they get switched with hot chocolate cookies in the winter.”

“What about the spring?” She grins.

“Well, the spring is for lemon cookies, of course.” I wink at her, making her grin grow.

“I love that. There are a few places near me that switch out the flavor of cookies every day and I hate it. Sometimes I’m really craving cookies they don’t have that day and then I'm left disappointed.” A little pout settles on her lips and it’s taking everything in me not to kiss her.

“That sounds awful. What do you want to get?” I place a hand on the small of her back and grin when she steps closer to me.

When it’s time for Sophia to go back to Philadelphia, I'm going to be crushed. She’s so easy to be around. So quick to laugh and smile no matter what we’re talking about. She brightens my day and makes me look forward to the next time I get to see her.

“I want all of it,” she whispers. “I guess…” She taps her chin, trying to make a decision.

“Hey, Peck. What can I get you?” Melissa steps up to us with a box ready to go. I chuckle to myself when I notice it’s the biggest box Sydney carries here.

“Hey, Melissa. Can we have one of everything?”

“Of course! Do you want me to put it on your tab?” She winks at me.

“Yes, please. I can only imagine what my bill will look like this month,” I joke.

Since I moved here, Sydney tells me she’s paying for my help with desserts. Any time I want something sweet, I can go to Sydney’s Sweets and take whatever I want. We joke around about me having a tab, but Syd never makes me pay. She says I help her out too much and she owes me more than what I could eat in desserts in one month.

“Peck, we don’t need to actually get one of everything.” Sophia places her hand on my chest and stares up at me with the biggest blue eyes I’ve ever seen.

“Don’t worry about it, sweetheart. I'm happy to indulge your sweet tooth. Plus, I kind of want a little of everything too.”

Taking a chance, I wrap my arm around her waist and tug her against me. She could get mad and push me away. She could yell at me and put me in my place. But when she wraps her arms around my waist and rests her head against my chest, my heart starts hammering against my ribs. I could get way too used to having her in my arms.

“You’re such a sweet guy.”

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