Page 17 of A Perfect Match
“We definitely need this,” he says.“Your abs play so well on camera.”
I grunt out a laugh.I’m not sorry for the workout.With these long days, it’s hard to get to the gym.I haven’t even started the hunt for one in Bayshore yet, and most days I just crank out a bunch of push-ups right after I wake up.
Once all the chairs are moved and only two tables remain in the sidewalk, I need a break.Sweat prickles across the tops of my shoulders.The sun is out but the breeze is chilly, so I’m not too hot, but a breather sounds nice.I hop up onto one of the tables and draw a few deep breaths, looking out over the parking lot.I can imagine all the cars that will be filling it, the regional food bloggers coming to try my specials, my family from Wisconsin driving down for a long weekend.I can almost hear my mom’s excited gasp, the way she’d say “Your dad would be so proud…”
It's no secret that I do what I do in honor of my father.He passed away from cancer five years ago, and it still feels like it happened yesterday.I was an adult when he passed—a fresh twenty-five—but I wasn’t ready or remotely prepared, even though we knew it was coming.He was a fiend in the kitchen, and he’d be proud as hell of the business Mav and I built together.Prouder still of this one.Fuck, I wish he was around to see it all.
I’m lost in my feels, which means I need to get back to work or I’m going to start getting snot nosed and teary eyed here in the middle of the damn sidewalk.I hop off the table and reach for an umbrella.It swings around easily in my arms, and I’m still thinking about my dad when I pop it open to see how it looks expanded.
“Oh my god!”
There’s a shriek.
“The muffins!”
I spin on my heels to see what the hell is going on.But my shoe connects with something first—a spongy muffin.Thoughts are forming a logjam in my brain—why am I stepping on a muffin?Whose muffin is this?Why was someone screaming?But before I can begin to answer any of these questions for myself, Piper is in front of me.
“Are you done here?”she hisses.
“Depends on what you’re talking about,” I offer, but the way her brows draw even tighter together tells me that was the wrong response.My gaze slides over this Cloud Nine cutie—who’s somehow even more attractive when she’s mad at me.A frilly white apron covers her clothes, and a big white box in her hands has an open lid—with a suspicious number of muffins on the ground around her.“What the hell happened?”
“Youhappened.”
“I’m just minding my own business.”
“Sure, if that’s what you want to call it.I came out here to politely ask you to clear the way for my customer, and you nearly beheaded me with that umbrella.Now I have to go bake another dozen muffins on the fly for her order.”
“Good thing you’re a baker and know how to do that.”As soon as the words leave my mouth, I know that was another wrong response.“Why were you carrying her muffins out here anyway?”
“She’s in the car, waiting for me to hand them over,” she seethes, slamming the lid of the box down.“She just had hip surgery.It would sure be nice if I wasn’t battling mylandlordevery step of the way these days.It’s like you’re purposefully making things harder.”
I blink from sheer surprise.She couldn’t be farther from the truth.“Are you serious right now?I’m one hundred percent focused on my lane.Not sure if you can tell, but I’m in the middle of renovating a building that I purchased.With my money.To openmyrestaurant.I’m focused on myself.I promise you.”
“Oh?”Something devilish lights up her eyes, and she takes a step closer.“Maybe that’s exactly the problem,Kru.You’ve been blocking the sidewalk for an hour.Putting on this ridiculous display of—” she sputters for a word for a moment “—physical fortitude for some non-existent audience.And now you’ve completely ruined my customer’s bulk order because you’reso focused on yourself.Seriously, Kru.I know it might be hard to fathom, but I still have my business here too.”
Her words are irritating.Actually, they’re hurtful.And now I’m getting mad.
“I know you’d love to believe that my entire world revolves around you,” I tell her, stepping closer as well, “but the fact of the matter is that things will work best if you do you, and I do me.This is a temporary inconvenience, but you’re acting like it’s the end of the world.Once the construction is done and the patio furniture is in place, you’ll never be inconvenienced like this again.”
“Until you think of something else to bother me with,” she spits.
“Do you think I’m making it my life’s work to bother you?”
“I think you have a financial interest in trying to get me out of my shop, yes.You already got me out of the apartment.I’m sure you could use an extra six hundred square feet for your neo-hipster chain restaurant small plates menu or whatever you’re going to serve in there.Shit, you probably need a bar to dance on too—don’t you take your shirt off and dance hourly?Isn’t that part of the gimmick at Ray’s?Lucky for you Cloud Nine already has a bar ready for you to strip on.”
I cock my head, equal parts annoyed and amused.“You’re just writing my business plan on the fly, aren’t you?Keep it coming.”I pull my phone out of my back pocket, opening the Notes app.“Go on.Tell me my next move.I’m writing it all down.”
She rolls her eyes.“Not surprised this aligns with your goals.But be honest with me—just admit you’re trying to drive me out of here.Because then maybe you’ll stop with these dumb games.”
“Whoa.Hang on.”I lift a palm and jam my fingers onto it to form a T.“Time out, champ.You’re jumping to a lot of conclusions and this ain’t a track meet.”
She rolls her eyes.“Ha ha, so funny.”
“You’ve done nothing but throw muffinsandaccusations at me since you stepped out of your angry cloud over there.So you’ve got two options right now—go back inside your shop, take a breath, and try again, or just keep walking and let me finish what I’m working on.”
She purses her lips.“I don’t like those options.”
“Not my problem.”
