Page 10 of Bread with the Orc
His expression now carefully blank, he focused on the liquid in his cup. “I will bake in the back. You will deal with the customers. You’re good at that. Your teas will turn the bakery into someplace where people want to linger.”
“And your pastries will keep them coming back each day,” I finished in an awed whisper. “Dorvak, are you serious? I mean,seriouslyserious? You’re offering me a chance at a job, a chance to sell my teas in your bakery?”
“No.” He took a deep breath and lifted his intense gaze to mine. “I’m offering to combine our businesses. It’ll be better for both of us, better for Harmony Glen. And you will not be a failure.”
How was I supposed to turn down such an amazing offer? “Yes!” with an excited squeal, I threw myself at him. “I wouldlovethat, Dorvak!”
It wasn’t until he wrapped his free arm around me, lifting me off my feet and pulling me to him, that I realized how inappropriate that had been. We were going to be business partners, nothing more, and I’d thrown myself at him as if we were old, trusted friends.
And you know what? It feltamazing.
Chapter Four
Dorvak
When an orc maleis properly motivated, he could move mountains.
And I wasverymotivated to have Laney Wong sharing my space.
One day, by the gods below, she would share my bed, and maybe my life. But for now, I would content myself with watching her light up the room with her smile each time she danced her way through the bakery, checking on customers.
Her smiles for me were shyer, more subtle, but I dared to hope they, combined with her body’s response to my nearness, meant one day I could claim her as my own. MyKteerhowled with glee at the thought.
For now, though, I would try to be content with herthinking of me as a business partner. And maybe, considering the way she teased me…a friend?
In the week following the glorious just-between-business-partners hug in her now-empty tea shop, my life changed significantly.
For one thing, I went from a calm, empty place of business with only a few customers in line during the lunchtime rush, to just a ridiculous amount of chaos. It went from a nice, open front room to…this.
Together, Laney and I moved her tea-brewing station, her mother’s teacup collection, her tables, her chairs, her display cases…until everything was crammed into my space in haphazard confusion. I stood in the center, hands on my hips, scowling at everything until she’d bustled over with a broom in her hands and a kerchief tied around her head.
“Go make some bread,” she commanded. “I’ll arrange everything out here.”
“I don’t want to make bread.” I glowered down at her. “I make the dough in the evening for the morning baking.”
“Then go make me some bearclaws,” she commanded imperiously, shooing me—actually sweeping me with the broom!—toward the kitchen. “I’ll call you when I need my big strong male.”
I should have been sullen as I stomped toward the back, but the fact she’d called mehermale mollified me somewhat. I made her bearclaws—with almonds—and by the end of that day, we’d sold out of those as well as my typical loaves.
Yes, my space was more chaotic now, and my hours were more full. I not only prepped the bread dough in the morning, but now I made batches of pastries. And as word got around about our new joint business, more and more customers stopped by during the day. I was having to bake in the middle of the day now too.
“You need a new sign out front,” she announced one day as she arranged the jelly donuts in the display case. “Dorvak’s Breadsisn’t comprehensive enough.”
I was bent over the sink, scrubbing down after the cooking oil attacked me. “I make bread. People like bread.”
“You makedeliciousbread.” I liked the way she emphasized it without looking up, as if it was completely natural. “But now you make a bunch of other stuff.”
“And you make tea.”
She shot a smile at me. “Dorvak’s Bakery and Tea Shop?”
Gods below, I loved to hear the sound of my name on her lips. Flustered, I tucked my lips into a frown and turned away. “The tea shop isn’t mine.”
“Dorvak’s Bakery and Laney’s Tea Shopseems like a mouthful.”
A mouthful? The thought of what I could do with my mouth when it came to Laney made me groan, although I swallowed it down and closed my eyes.
“You okay, Dorvak?” She passed the now-empty tray through the window to the kitchen. “Want me to get some medicine for those burns?”
