Page 10 of Delicate Escape

THEA

The bakery buzzedwith the hum of the breakfast crowd. This and the lunch rush were usually my favorite parts of the day. They were busy enough that I lost myself in the steady pace of taking orders and delivering food. I didn’t have time to think about anything but the next task.

But not today.

Today, all I could think about was Shepard Colson. The way his eyes twinkled when he teased. How the early morning sun had caught on his hair, making those hints of auburn beneath the deep brown flare to life. And the expanse of muscle he’d exposed as he pulled his ruined T-shirt over his head.

“Earth to Thea.”

I jolted at Sutton’s teasing voice. “Sorry, what?”

She pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. “Walter has an order up.”

The cook in his mid-seventies gave me a wave and a wink.

“Sorry,”I mumbled again.

“It’s almost like something has you off your game,” Sutton singsonged. “Or maybe it’s someone.”

I couldn’t help the slight stiffening of my muscles—the tension that wove through them like strands of steel wool. “I just didn’t get enough sleep last night,” I muttered, grabbing the two plates Walter had waiting.

I dashed around Sutton and moved straight to the table with a couple from out of town. “Here you go. Did you need anything else?”

The woman beamed up at me. “I think we’re good. This looks amazing.”

I did my best to answer her smile with one of my own but was only marginally successful. “Just flag me down if you change your mind.”

By the time I rounded the counter again, Sutton had finished ringing up her customer and turned to face me. “He likes you.”

That tension pulled tighter. “Who?” I played dumb, moving to the bakery case to adjust our stock.

“Thea,” Sutton said, leaning against the back counter laden with completed orders.

“Hmmm?” I kept straightening the pastries until they would’ve passed a drill sergeant’s inspection.

Sutton didn’t say anything. It was the ultimate mom move—waiting me out until I was forced to straighten and look her way. But when I did, it was to find nothing but gentleness and a hint of worry on her face.

That was worse. I didn’t want Sutton looking deeper. I knew she already saw more than I should’ve allowed. But that happened when you started letting people in. She and Rhodes had both seen the cracks in my façade.

“He’s a good man,” Sutton said softly. “Did you know he helped me with a few things around here for nothing just because he saw me struggling with the reno on my own?”

My stomach twisted. I hadn’t known that, but I wasn’t surprised. Rhodes had shared more than a few stories about the ways her brother went above and beyond for the people he cared about. But I didn’twant to know. Not when I already felt the buzz of attraction. That hum was dangerous, potentially lethal. Which meant one thing: I needed to stay far away.

“I’m not interested in dating,” I told Sutton. “Not Shep or anyone else.”

She sighed. “I get it. I really do. I know what it’s like to get burned. It makes you hesitant to put your hand anywhere near the stove again.”

Understatement of the century. “I’m good, Sutton. Really. It’s just not something I’m looking for.” And Iwasgood. Having Brendan destroy so much only made me value what I had now all the more. Moose, my home, my garden, even the tendrils of friendship I’d found with Sutton and Rhodes. I didn’t need more.

Sutton’s lips pressed together as if she were holding back something she desperately wanted to say. Then she gave in to the temptation. “I just don’t want you to miss out on something amazing because you’re scared. Men like Shep are one in a million.”

I studied her for a moment, something that felt a whole lot like jealousy flaring to life. “Do you like him?”

Sutton’s eyes flared. “No! Not like that. He’s a friend. That’s it. But I’ve seen the way he watches you.”

I stiffened again, and Sutton saw it.

“Not in a creepy way. Like he’d give anything to simply have you look his way.”

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