Page 56 of Beachside Kisses With My Best Friend

“Yeah, maybe.”

“You don’t seem all that excited about it, though.” Kelsey shifts in the seat to face me better, smoothing her hand down the front of her denim bib pants she’s paired effortlessly with a cute white tee. “Are you worried about financing? Or having second thoughts?”

Leave it to insightful, observant Kelsey to give words to what I’ve been feeling ever since I told Marla I’d take over.

A group of older ladies with bright pink jackets shuffle into the lane behind me, talking loudly. The shared bench creaks as a few of them take their seats.

I raise my voice so my friends can hear me. “I mean, I got the loan secured, thanks to Jordan. So that’s not the issue.” I press my lips together. “Something’s been bothering me, but I’m not sure if it’s just fear that I won’t be able to do it, or something else.”

“Maybe,” Chloe says. “I was definitely fearful before I took over Something Blue, but there was also this excitement bubbling up inside of me at the thought. Do you feel any of that, or solely the fear?”

“Mostly the fear, honestly.” I shake my head. “But I don’t know why. It’s the most practical option. When the custody battle’s over, and Jordan and I get our marriage annulled, I’ll need something solid to fall back on.”

“You know, I haven’t seen any of your cakes on display lately at the bakery.” April refills her soda for the third time. Her hands shake a bit, and come to think of it, her eyes look slightly bloodshot, like she’s fighting to stay awake. Maybe another one of her self-imposed deadlines is looming. “Are you still taking orders?”

I sigh. “I haven’t had time.”

“But you love that. Maybe once you take over for Marla, you’ll be able to add more of that in?”

“I don’t know. As she’s telling me everything she does in a day, I can see why she doesn’t do much of the baking anymore. I think I’ll probably have to hire someone to do it once she’s gone and I’m the one running the business end of things. Her granddaughter, Lexi, is willing to work more, but her college schedule keeps her pretty busy.”

“Ugh, but Mare…” Lucy trails off, tugging on the end of her braid as she frowns. “Sweet macaroni. That’s likewhoyou are. You’re a baker. A cake decorator.”

I lift my chin. “And now, almost, a business owner.”

“Of a business that’s not your own,” Elisse says.

She opens her mouth to say more, but at that moment, an employee with a mohawk saunters over, pointing at our lane. “Hey, if you guys aren’t gonna bowl, we’ve got a line out the door waiting for a turn. Mind hurrying it along?”

In a flash, Chloe’s bodyguard Tia emerges from the shadow and holds her hand to the guy’s chest, her menacing dark eyes hovering over him. “Move along.”

“Yeah, back off, dude.” Elisse bares her teeth at him. “We paid for two hours on this thing, and we’ll use it however we want.”

The college-aged guy holds up his hands and backs away like she and Tia are both feral animals, muttering a few expletives under his breath.

Shaking out her short bob, Elisse returns her attention to me and waves her hand. “As I was saying, don’t you want to make the bakery your own? Or better yet, go out on your own. I thought part of your agreement to marry Jordan in the first place was so he would invest in you.”

“It was, but?—”

“But what? So far it just seems to me like he’s getting all of the benefits out of this arrangement. Free babysitting, a housemaid, a personal chef.” She arches an eyebrow. “Unless there areotherbenefits we aren’t aware of?” At that, her lips quirk into an evil smirk.

I press a fist against my stomach again, which roils some more. Because all I can think about are his lips on my cheek. His tongue tracking down my neck. His warm breath gliding across my collarbone.

And how I wanted, how Iachedfor him to aim all of his attention at my mouth…

“Um.”

That one word has my friends in hysterics. Lucy shakes my hand and practically screams, “What? Tell us everything.”

I groan and bury my burning face in my hands. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“Let’s start at the very beginning…” Chloe singsongs in a perfect Julie Andrews impression.

So I do. I let it all fall out—every word, every look, every shift in my feelings, my attraction, my fear.

My confusion over whether he actually sees me as more than a friend. (Every single one of my gal pals says, “Oh yes, absolutely, no freaking doubt.”)

Ryder calling me “Mommy.” (To which all of my friends say “Aw!!”)

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