Page 121 of Sour Lollipops and Sweet Nightmares
Shaking off the shiver crawling up my spine, I turned off the timer, dropped the wooden spoon in the sink next to my mixing bowl, and opened the oven door. The scent of fresh-baked cookies wafted over me, making my mouth water.
It took Mom and me years to perfect our recipe, but we did it. There wasn’t a chocolate chip cookie out there better than ours. They had the cookie crunch but were still soft and chewy with melt-in-your-mouth sweet goodness. I would’ve eaten one right then and there if they weren’t so hot. They would be cool enough after my shower.
After setting them on the cooling rack, I turned to head for the bathroom.
A knock on the door stopped me.
My brow arched at the clock on the wall.
It was 9:45 pm. Not too late for someone to come calling, if they were a friend. But the only friend I had was Rachel, and she wouldn’t knock. She’d walk in. So, who was here?
I looked at the owl, as if he would know—which he didn’t—then at the door. “Who is it?”
A male voice said. “I’m looking for Georgia Pyne.”
That sounded oddly formal.
I crept over to the door and lifted up on my tiptoes to look out the peephole. The man standing on my porch definitely looked formal. The black suit he was wearing was well-tailored and obviously expensive, and the way he carried himself, with his shoulders rolled back and head held high, was almost regal in nature. In short, he was not someone who should be knocking on my door. And certainly not at ten at night.
“What do you want?” I asked through the door.
He didn’t look threatening, but that didn’t mean I trusted him. The fact that he was knocking on my door at all was sketchy.
“Can you open the door, please, Miss Pyne? I would like to talk to you about my brother Kash.”
This was Kash’s brother? I could see the similarities. Same eyes and dark hair, although this guy didn’t have Kash’s playful charm. He was very straight-faced. The real question was, why was he here at all? Did something happen to Kash?
Creaking open the door, I looked out at him. “Is Kash okay?”
“He’s fine. I came here to find out what you want.”
What I wanted?
“I don’t want anything.” Why would he assume I did? Was I missing something?
“My brother might buy that line of bullshit, Miss Pyne, but I don’t.” His stern eyes narrowed in on me. “I know girls like you, and I will not let my brother fall prey to your games.”
I was so confused. What games? “Are you sure you have the right person?”
“Oh, I have the right person.” One sweep of his eyes down my length, and I felt more judged than I ever had before.
“Now…” He cleared his throat and pulled a check book out of his jacket pocket. “How much will it take for you to leave my brother alone?”
What the hell was this guy talking about? “What?”
“Money, Miss Pyne,” Kash’s brother explained. “That’s what you’re after.”
“I don’t want your money.”
“Of course you do,” he snorted. “That’s what all you gold diggers want.”
Wait… he thought I was a gold digger? “I really don’t care about your money.”
“Right,” he pocketed his check book. “Why settle for money when you can have the Murphy name?”
Wow, this guy had a bad perception of humanity.
A stern finger pointed at me. “If you think I will let this relationship with my brother continue, you have another thing coming.”
