Page 23 of Worth the Heat
“Update,”I bark into the phone.
“Jesus, man. I just gave you an update ten minutes ago. Nothing has changed,” Trace says with an exaggerated sigh.
“I don’t fucking care. I said updates every ten minutes. If you don’t text me, I’m calling. If you don’t answer, I will hunt your ass down until I get the fucking update.”
I hear a rustling and the jingle of the bell on the front door of the bakery. “Look, Seb, she’s fine. Business as usual. Seems like only regulars have come in today, and definitely not the douche who had her by the throat earlier. But you gotta calm the fuck down.”
I find myself growling as I grip the wooden bar beneath my hand so tightly my knuckles turn white. I reply back with every ounce of sarcasm and snark I can find in the depths of my body. “Look,Trace, I’ll react any fucking way I want to when we’re talking about my woman’s safety, and you don’t get to tell me to act otherwise.”
“Yours, huh?” he says with a laugh. “She know about that?”
Fuck. “Not exactly.”
“You know, I may be more single than you, but I’m fairly sure that it’s frowned upon to keep women in the dark about their own relationships.”
“She’s not in the dark.” I pause, wondering just how far gone Isabella really knows I am for her. “Maybe she’smostlynot in the dark.”
Trace snorts. “How is that any different?”
“It’s a work in progress. She’s like a baby deer, and I’m scared she’ll either get spooked and run, or …”
“Get run over by a car,” he finishes.
“Something like that,” I mutter. “I’ve had a lot more time to think about a relationship with her. I don’t think she’s ever really believed that I’ve had a thing for her.”
“Why?” he asks incredulously.
My brows furrow as I contemplate how to explain my thoughts. Why is Isabella so surprised at my interest? Why has she turned me down every time I’ve asked her out? Did she really think it was a bet with her brothers? It can’t be that. All of her siblings know about my feelings, so why hasn’t she believed any of them? “I honestly don’t know. I’m not sure if she’s lost trust in all men, or if she’s wary of just me. Maybe she thinks it’s a fun time for me, but she doesn’t understand I’m playing the long game here. So I’m patient. Gonna wait her out, show her that I’m a guy she can trust.”
Trace is silent, and when I’m about to joke that he’s being tooquiet for my liking, I hear a bunch of noise as he blurts out, “I’ll call you back.”
“What? Why? Did something happen? Trace? Fuck!” I pull the phone away from my ear to see he’s ended the call. My heart rate shoots through the roof as I grab my keys and take off running. Shoving open the door to my bar, I’m almost to my car when my phone vibrates with an incoming call.
“I’m fine, don’t freak out. It’s fine. I’m fine,” Isabella says breathlessly.
“What happened?” I shout as my feet slide on gravel in the parking lot.
I hear another commotion as the phone jostles between hands before Trace answers me. “I heard a crash, then Isabella shrieked. A cabinet fell off the wall.”
“A cabinet fell off? How the fuck does that happen?” I ask.
“Well, from what I can see, there don’t appear to be suitable brackets holding up any of the upper level cabinetry in here, and —” Trace abruptly stops, and I hear Isabella murmuring in the background, “— and she just admitted she’s known about the cabinets needing to be replaced, but hasn’t had the money to do so.”
“You know what I’m about to say,” I state.
“Yup. Limits?”
“None. Whatever the fuck it takes to make that the safest damn kitchen in the entire state.”
“Got it. You want to talk to your girl?”
“Yes.”
I hear her mutter, “I’m not his girl,” and both Trace and I reply in unison, “yes you are.”
“What?” Isabella snaps as she takes the phone back from Trace.
“Are you alright?” I ask quietly.
