Page 24 of How Sweet It Is

I shouldn’t say anything. I should ignore Levi and go back to his books. But I feel too guilty to sidestep him right now. “There are some things about me I can’t tell you,” I say quietly.

His eyebrows furrow. “Can’t or won’t?”

I want to impress upon him the truth, that I wouldn’t lie to him if I had any other choice.“Can’t,”I stress. “I really wish I could. But I would never steal from you. I want to help your business succeed.”

He rests his arms on the back of the chair and studies me. “All right. I believe you.”

Relief makes my spirit soar. “Really?”

“Yeah.” He shrugs. “I don’t know why. I can tell you’re not lying to me right now.”

I have no idea why this is so touching to me, but I start to tear up. I haven’t been able to talk to anyone without lying since I moved to Willow Shade Island. I didn’t think it would affect meas much as it has. But right now, I’m being real with Levi, and for some reason, he feels it. That means a lot to me. “Thanks for believing me.”

He lifts one eyebrow. “That, and the rest of my inheritance is locked away in a trust fund you can’t touch. So if you take off with two mill, it’s not the end of the world.”

I laugh at his joke. “That’s really good. I’m glad you have the rest of your millions safe.” I turn back to my computer.

“Is Rafe your bodyguard?”

I cringe, because even though he’s wrong, he’s not that wrong. “No. He’s my cousin. Seriously, don’t ask me more questions.”

Levi grins like he knows something. “Well, I’m going to call him your bodyguard, because I know he’s not your cousin, and he’s been sitting outside my bakery for over an hour. If he’s not your bodyguard, he’s a super creep.”

I don’t say anything to him as I call up my accounting software.

Levi leans closer to me. “And in case you aren’t aware, your bodyguard has a thing for you.”

I snort. “Rafe was just sending you a message to back off.”

Levi shifts in his backward chair. “I got that message loud and clear.”

“Good. Then let’s move on to the budget part of this evening.”

Levi groans but lets me ask him questions about how much his utilities are, how much he projects he will spend on ingredients, and his other expenses. He doesn’t know all the answers and brings me crumpled receipts at one point, but I get the gist of what his expenses are. As we work, I remember what Kiera said about selling Italian sodas, and I mention it to Levi. “It wouldn’t be really expensive to start selling drinks like that.”

Levi raises his eyebrows. “That’s a great idea. I could even get cappuccino and espresso machines and start selling coffee too.”

“Yes. That will be more expensive, but a lot of bakeries sell coffee, and it’s always a good draw.”

He rubs his hands together. “I could sell specialty blends.”

I slowly nod. “Yeah. That would make you stand out. However, you might have a hard time with a higher price point, since this island isn’t very large.”

“You’re right. Maybe I can start with the regular stuff and carry one or two more-expensive blends to see how well they sell.”

“That’s smart.” I pat him on his knee. “You just might be able to make it in this business after all.”

He gives me a once-over. “I might? You mean, you think there’s a chance I’ll fail?”

“Approximately twenty percent of businesses fail in the first year. And that goes up to fifty percent after five. Those aren’t good odds.” I watch his face fall, and I quickly backpedal. “But you’ve got a ton of capital, so you’re already ahead of most people.”

“So what you’re saying is, I could lose a lot of my inheritance trying to make this bakery work,” he says quietly.

I feel awful as I see the insecurity in his eyes. He’s afraid of failing at this. His thumb taps the back of the chair as he pretends it doesn’t matter.

“If we invest the bulk of it, it can be earning you money each month.”

“You think my bakery won’t bring in enough to live off of?”

---