Page 11 of Bread By the Grim
But the more I think about it, the less that rings true. Phil is beautiful and sexy, but she’s also kind and smart, and I’ve never seen anyone roll dough the way she does. Her upper arms have got to be so incredibly toned—I’d give anything to see them bare, run my hands down them, and let them drift to her waist… and there I go again.
It’s gotten to the point where I don’t even have to be near her anymore. All I have to do is think about her, and my gremlin is ready to take over.
It’s a talk we need to have soon. I can’t let it take over before she knows about it and risk scaring her off, but I dread how much it’s going to change things between us. Every person I’ve ever had to tell gets that same pitying look in their eyes when I explain to them I have a dark side–a side I can’t exactly control.
And even though Phil and I aren’t in a relationship, I know this tiny bit of information will haunt us. She’ll always think about it every time I get grumpy or frustrated. She’ll look at me with fear in her eyes every time my voice gets too loud, every time I wake up on the wrong side of the mat. I like who we are now without that between us. Not that we’re anything.
I’m just her boss.
And I’m the worst boss in the world because all I do is think of all the places I could fuck her in this bakery.
Her naked body pressed against the round part of the glass case as I slid into her tight pussy from behind.
Splayed out on the island so I could feast on her before fucking her until she was screaming my name.
Pressed up against the wall in the walk-in cooler, her legs wrapped around me as she bounced on my cock.
The health department would not approve.
“Hey, Grim,” Phil says two weeks into her time at the bakery. “You got a minute?” We’ve finally gotten into a routine similar to the one I had with Bernice. Phil wakes up early and gets the donuts started, then works the morning shift at the counter. At ten she’s done for the day and I take over until five when I close for the day.
Some days, Phil hangs around, helping me with the counter. Other days, she sits in the back and makes a batch of something special to sell for the day. Today, though, she looks troubled, and I’m immediately worried as I turn to face her.
“Yeah, what’s up, Phil?”
She chews on her bottom lip for a moment before she meets my eyes. “You know how I said cakes were my thing back home?”
I nod.
“Well, I kinda took a wedding cake order. I hope you don’t mind. I’ll gladly pay a percentage to the bakery to use your equipment. I’m sorry. I didn’t even think. I just said yes?—”
I stare at her blankly. “Why would I mind?”
She stops and stares at me. “I-I don’t know. I guess because I didn’t ask first.”
I shake my head. “Phil, it’s my bakery, but I wouldn’t be where I am without Bernice. She made a lot of changes and additions over the years that really made this place work. As long as you’re always trying to make this place a success, I’m happy to support you.”
“Thank you, Grim, you have no idea how much that means to me.” She reaches out and pulls me into a full-body hug that is both amazing and absolutely terrifying. My gremlin feels like a separate entity, pushing against the inside of my chest, desperate to escape.
I wrap just one arm around her, not wanting her to feel how hard just being this close to her makes me, and she backs off immediately.
“Sorry, not trying to be all up in your personal space. But thank you. This means so much to me. I can work out a contract between you and me for use of your kitchen.”
I shake my head. “As long as it doesn’t interfere with your duties and you’re paying for the ingredients,I don’t mind you using the equipment. You don’t need to pay me for it.”
“Thank you, Grim. You won’t regret it!” she moves in to hug me again, stops herself, then grabs my hand to shake it. “I’m learning. I will get better at remembering to respect your personal space, I promise.”
She hurries off to her room, and my eyes fall to her ass, her hips swishing in the marvelous way they do in the tight jeans she wears to work in.
If only she would keep forgetting.
Chapter 7
Phil
Idon’t know if I do a good enough job at pretending I don’t need him to come with me, but after a few, “I’ll be okays,” I let Grim wear me down. And by wear me down, I mean I try not to jump at the excitement of getting to go somewhere with him after work.
It will still be work—we’ll be delivering the cake I’ve spent the past week working on to the Performing Arts Center—but it will be a chance to see Grim out in the real world away from this tiny little world of the bakery we live in most of the time.
