Page 10 of Second Chance for Mr. Alden

Issac was a thorn in my side. I hated when he tried to throw his weight around. In the past, we often worked on similar campaigns, and I’ve hated him ever since. It was hard for me to see what his followers saw in him. He was a good-looking guy, and even if his nose was slightly bigger than average, it fit his face. My animosity towards his shit-stirring ways was what made me point it out more than once.

“Issac.” I walked closer, slowly lowering my wrap from my head. “Fancy meeting you here.”

He visibly straightened his spine and tossed me a thinly veiled glare. “Jessamine.”

Our dislike was mutual. He was a snake and lied about products just to get paid. Those were the accounts we didnotshare.

“Leave her alone,” I spoke softly.

“I can fight my own battles.” The woman in the red shirt frowned, her posture stiffening.

“I’m sure you can.” I smiled at her. “But Issac here, is being a total douchecanoe. Now, I can’t imagine your product placement with Betty’s Bakery would like to see you eating other people’s baked goods.”

We had mutual frenemies, and I’d heard all about the ridiculous arrangement he had with Betty aka Bettina Stone. While under contract, Issac wasn’t allowed to touch any other baked goods. If he was seen doing so, he forfeited his contract and owed them money.

“What? How do you know ...” he stopped to gape at me. “What proof do you have?”

“I recorded you, asshole. Do you honestly think I’d let this opportunity go when I see you screwing up so badly?”

His face turned a mottled red. “Jessamine Sulton. You conniving bitch. You wouldn’t!”

“Issac, you have five seconds to get out of here or I’ll post what I saw.”

“I won’t forget this, Jessamine,” he muttered and stomped away.

“What the hell was that about?” The dark-haired woman asked. “I could’ve handled him myself, you know.”

“I’m sorry.” I stuck my hand out, not put off by her grumpiness. “I’m Jessamine Sulton. And trust me, you needed to speak his language. He’d have given you a bad review and gotten all of his flunkies to do the same even if you’d given him his money back. Issac’s a total dick.”

Her nose scrunched up. “He really is.”

I wrapped my scarf back around my head and face. “Let’s hope that’s the last you hear from him.”

She looked over my shoulder at the crowd behind us before lowering her voice and asking, “Did you really record him?”

I leaned in and whispered. “No, I actually don’t even have my phone on me.”

“Oh my God, that’s too much.” She laughed. “Did you want to try something?”

I looked at her samples and decided to buy one of everything as a peace offering to my bodyguards. Not that Alden ate many sweets, but Gage did. And knowing both men, Alden was probably going to tear me a new one for slipping away.

I grabbed a brochure from her table. “I don’t have a lot of time today, but I’d love to stop at your place, maybe sample a few more things, and if I like what you have, I’d love to give you a boost through my social media accounts.”

I flipped the brochure over to the back to take note of the location. “Hold up! You’re opening a location in Rhode Island?”

“Yeah.” She smiled. “Our second shop. I run the original here with my grandmother and am branching off on my own. We have family there.”

“Perfect. I spend quite a bit of time there myself. I’ll be sure to tell all my friends to stop by.”

“That would be great.” She stuck out her hand. “I’m Ruby, by the way.”

I shook it, liking that she had a firm, no nonsense grip.

The longer I stayed put, the more the hair on the back of my neck rose. I tried to shake it off, but my intuition was usually correct. “Listen, Ruby, I need to run. Any chance you can box up one of everything and I can grab it on my way out? I’ll pay now, but I need my hands free for a bit.”

“Sure.” Ruby quickly rang up my total.

I paid, working hard to ignore the prickling of my scalp. My muscles tensed as I discreetly glanced around for the source.

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