Page 2 of Falling for the Knockout

He looked up at her and smiled. “There, you’re added to my contacts.” He seemed proud of himself, and Aurora wasn’t sure if she should cheer or giggle at his triumph.

“Great,” she said, “you promise to call me when you have any news about Elio?” she asked. She wondered if his gruff, sexy voice would still sound as good over the phone as it did in real life. She had thought about him whispering to her in bed, but that wasn’t something that she let herself do often, knowing that he didn’t see her that way.

“Yep,” he agreed. “I’m going to start putting stuff out. We open in about an hour.”

“Yeah, I need to finish making the donuts and then, I’ll give you a hand,” she offered.

“I’ve got it,” he assured, “no need to hurry.” It kind of hurt her feelings that he was blowing her off and telling her that he didn’t want her help. It felt more like he was telling her that he didn’t want her around, and that was easier, to some degree, for her to accept. At least he was being honest with her, and no hope was better than false hope.

“Suit yourself,” she mumbled under her breath as she walked back to the kitchen to finish frosting and glazing the donuts she made earlier. She wasn’t lying when she told him that she needed this job. But there were other jobs out there, and maybe it was time to start searching again. At least then, she’d be able to get through a day without feeling let down by a man who didn’tseem to know that she was alive.

Mornings always started out slowly, especially weekends. People usually came in for sweets and bread after church, and this Sunday was no different. She hated when it was slow—it gave her time to think about everything that she was missing in life—including the man who was currently helping a few guys in the front of the bakery. He seemed to know them from the way that he was laughing and carrying on with them. She was right earlier—he talked to everyone except her. It had nothing to do with the lack of coffee or the early hour. He didn’t like her and watching him with his friends drove that point home for her.

She grabbed the coffee pot and headed in Tony’s direction. If he didn’t want to talk to her, she’d just have to talk to his friends. Maybe one of them would pay some attention to her. God, it had been so long since any guy paid any attention to her. And once they paid her a bit of attention, they seemed to lose interest. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that by the second or third date, the guys all wanted sex, and she wasn’t ready for that next step. Aurora was saving herself for someone special, not that she’d ever find him at this rate. That was probably why she was still a virgin at the age of twenty-three. Her friends from high school were all married and having kids—at least, that was what their social media pages said.

Aurora knew that sticking around her hometown, after her mother passed wasn’t an option. There was no way that she’d live with her stepfather. Plus, she thought that her fresh start would finally help her find Mr. Right, but she was wrong. She had been in town for almost six months now, working for Elio,and wishing with all her might that Tony would finally notice her.

“Can I get you guys some coffee?” she asked.

“Oh, I’ve already got them covered,” Tony said. She nodded and started back to the kitchen, just wanting to hide, when one of the guys called her back.

“I could use a refill,” he said. She smiled and nodded, grateful that he gave her a reprieve after Tony flat-out dismissed her.

“Sure,” she said, filling his mug. “Anyone else?” she asked. They all nodded, and she filled their mugs too. “If you need anything else, just ask Tony,” she breathed.

“How about your number?” one of the guys asked.

“And your name,” another chimed in.

Tony sighed and introduced her. “Guys this is Aurora. She works here, and as for her number, you’ll have to discuss that with her. But, if you’re as smart as I think you are, you won’t give any of them your number.” Aurora smiled, but her brain was trying to figure out if Tony had really just called her smart. He couldn’t have meant it. He never paid her a compliment and honestly, she wasn’t sure how to handle it.

“Aurora, this is Rocco,” he pointed to the guy in the corner. “And that’s our manager/promoter, Jonesy.” An older man nodded to her, and she did the same back. “And that’s Luca,” he said.

The guy sitting closest to her stood and held out his hand to her. “Good to meet you, Aurora.”

“Um, thank you,” she said, pulling her hand from his and sticking it in her pocket. “I’m going to go back to the kitchen andstart cleaning up,” she stuttered. She was lying. The kitchen had been clean for over an hour because she had been hiding back there, trying to avoid Tony.

She put the coffee pot back on the burner and rounded the corner into the kitchen. Aurora pulled her flour-covered apron off and tossed it in the pile of dirty rags that needed to be washed. She took the laundry home every night for Elio, hoping to save him from having to do it himself. She didn’t mind, really, and Elio seemed to really appreciate the help.

“Hey,” Tony said, finding her in the back of the kitchen. He looked around and then back at her. “You either were really fast or you just lied. I hope that my friends aren’t too much. They’re all boxers, and well, Jonesy’s whole life is boxing. I know that we can all get a bit rowdy, and I had no idea that they were coming today. Heck, Rocco, and Luca are supposed to be off bread, to meet weight for their upcoming fights.”

“Is that why you haven’t had any of my pastries for weeks now?” she asked. Aurora thought that it was just another way he was letting her down easily. Now, she felt foolish.

“Yeah, I seem to be more disciplined than the guys,” he joked.

“So, you have a fight coming up then?” she asked. She had hoped that he would invite her to a fight sometime, but why would he? If he didn’t like hanging around her at work, he probably wouldn’t want to hang out with her outside of the bakery.

“Yeah, three Saturdays from now,” he said. “I just don’t know where or who I’m fighting yet. Hey, would you like to come to my next fight?”

“Oh, you don’t have to invite me to your fight,” she insisted. “I know that we’re not friends or anything like that, so you don’thave to pretend to like me.”

He took a step in her direction, and she backed up against the stainless-steel counter. “What makes you think that I don’t like you and that we’re not friends?” he asked.

“Um, you don’t talk to me or anything, so I just assumed,” she said.

“Well, you assumed wrong, Aurora. I like you, hell, I more than like you, but you make me a bit tongue-tied.”

“I do?” she whispered.

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