Page 2 of Love Unwrapped
Her grandmother had always been her hero, always there for her whether she needed it or not, which she appreciated, but not so much on a workday. Grams was the reason she had to mute her cell phone at the office in the first place. “Grams, we’ve talked about this. I’m very busy while at work. What’s going on?”
“Honey, you haven’t signed up for the Christmas Bazaar and I need you. We have so many donations this year…”
Her ears perked up as she pushed the button for the third-floor parking garage. She interrupted her grandmother before she could get rolling on a twenty-minute one-sided dialogue, regaling Andi with the entire list of donations they had received. Not that she wouldn't love to hear about them, but it had been a long day at work.
“Grams, I need community service hours. This is perfect.” She always helped her with this project, ever since her grandmother moved into the large retirement community. Of course she would be there anyway, but she couldn’t deny the timing turned out perfectly. “What would I do?” she asked, stepping out of the elevator when the doors opened.
“There’re two projects we need help with. Do you remember Molly? She’s making her ribbon bookmarks, but the hot glue’s burning her fingers, so she’s asked for help. I don’t know why she insists on doing those every year. They never sell well and then she’s useless for teaching the intro to knitting class for an entire month while she heals. We’d tried talking to her…”
“Focus for me, Grams.” Andi nodded at a co-worker as she pushed through the door. “Who else do you need help with and how fast can this happen?”
“It’s next week, honey. We also have thousands of cookies to package. You‘d need to be there Wednesday through Saturday. The sweetest man has donated…” When her grandmother talked about men being sweet, she knew somehow that would end up with her asking Andi who she was dating. She reached inside her purse, pulling out her key fob to unlock her door as she waited for the inevitable. “He’s very handsome, honey. Are you still seeing that attorney who can’t eat nuts? He can’t eat your pecan pie, can he, dear?”
She laughed right into the phone as she started the car and let the Bluetooth connect. She’d give it to her grandmother, pecan pie was a first in her argument that Steven wasn’t right for her. She had ultimately agreed. He’d been perfect on paper, checked all the boxes she had for appropriate dating material, but they didn’t fit. After seeing the women in her family—her Grams not included—make horrible choices in men and after having made a few similar mistakes along the way, she refused to be involved with a man who didn’t fit her. She’d broken up with Steven almost six months ago, but she’d kept that bit of news from her matchmaking grandmother. She’d learned that lesson years ago after a particularly bad blind date set up by her grandmother.
“Grams, you’re too much. You always make me smile. I can be there next week. I can also bring someone. I think my assistant might need the hours, too. Will that work?” When her grandmother didn’t answer right away, she offered up the stats on Bree, hoping to deflect Grams to new blood for matchmaking. “She’s twenty-six, working on her MBA, and single. I think she could use your help.”
“Oh, she sounds lovely. I can’t wait to meet her.” Her grandmother’s excitement caused another burst of laughter as she backed out of her parking spot.
“I’m sure she’ll be delighted to be your latest victi…um…project.”
Grams harrumphed but didn’t contradict her. Maybe if she threw Bree under the bus, she could avoid being setup this year.
“Send me an email with the exact details. We’ll be there.” Of course, she needed to call Bree to get her buy-in and also warn her of about her grandmother’s intentions.
Chapter 2
Blake had Babs schedule the volunteers to arrive mid-morning Wednesday, so he could get them settled on their assignments before the lunch and afternoon pick-me-up rushes flooded the store. He’d supply snacks and coffee when they needed it, and they could work in the prep room in the back for the afternoon. No reason anyone should be hungry on his watch. Blake left one employee, Chelsea, behind the main shop counter and escorted three of the four volunteers—all women—to a table off to the side, where he could chat with them while keeping a look out for the last volunteer’s arrival. After getting everyone situated with a coffee and doughnut, he explained the process. They’d have to decorate any cookies that needed it, such as the gingerbread men and some ornament- and reindeer-shaped cookies. Those not interested in decorating could package and label the finished products, such as the snickerdoodles, sugar cookies, brownies, and carrot cake squares.
He asked about their experience with baking and thought through who would be best suited for what assignment. The front bell chimed as the door opened, but the lack of a corresponding closing chime drew his attention. A woman stood in the doorway, silhouetted by the mid-morning sun streaming in the front windows. As he adjusted to the glare, her features came into focus. Blake recognized her instantly, his spine stiffening as he sucked in a breath, and if her lowered brows and frozen stance in his doorway were any indication, she’d had no idea whose shop she had intentionally walked into. Well, she did now. The words emblazoned across her chest drew his attention even more than the way the fitted cotton fabric molded her ample breasts—Volunteer.
No.
He glanced down at the clipboard in front of him then flipped through his papers to see the list of volunteers Babs had sent him. He had not seen her name on there. He groaned when he spottedAndreaunder the volunteers from Rora Airlines.Just great. He’d seen the name but hadn’t put it together with the Andi Wilson he’d known a lifetime ago. What the hell had Babs been thinking? She knew him, knew their history. What was that old woman up to?
The group turned in unison to see what had drawn his attention. Bree smiled and waved the woman over. He hadn’t seen Andi in nearly a decade…maybe longer, but he’d never forget that scowl—that derogatory stance and energy coming off her. It didn’t fail to piss him off, even all these years later. Or maybe the fact that the vision of her in his doorway turned him on revealed the real reason she pissed him off.
“Come on in, Princess.” He really did try to keep the sneer out of his voice. “Don’t stand with the door open. You’re the last to arrive. Grab a coffee and doughnut from Chelsea at the counter and come join us.” He waved a hand in that direction. He’d rather join his old SEAL team on maneuvers in the dead of winter than allow this woman to know how she still had the ability to affect him.
Blake didn’t wait to see what she’d do. She’d either follow his directions or she’d walk away. He didn’t know which he hoped for. He took a deep breath and left it up to fate. When he redirected his attention to the group, three sets of eyes stared at him with something akin to curiosity. He didn’t give in to those non-verbalized questions. Hell, he wouldn’t give in to an outright question. Blake’s past would stay there, forbidden from invading his present. He’d made a good life for himself over the last ten years. And sure as the sun rose in the east, he didn’t need Ms. Priss giving him hell for the next four days. He hadn’t seen her in over a decade, but his response to her hadn’t changed at all, which pissed him off too.
~~~
Not much startled Andi anymore, but the shock of seeing Blake Mangold, her sister’s ex-boyfriend, standing in this bakery might have been the top of the leaderboard. So startled, she could do little more than stare at him, her heart dropping to her knees as her eyes narrowed. Andi reached a hand out to stop the door from closing as she stepped back to view the address on the door’s frame Nope, this was the right place. Bree at the table, waving her inside, should have been verification enough, but seeing Blake sitting across the table from her had momentarily scrambled Andi’s brain cells.
Reality had her breath pushing from her lungs at the same time the hammering in her chest picked up a beat. This was bad. What was her grandmother thinking? Did this mean her sister was back in town? She pulled her lip between her teeth, gnawing on the tender flesh in a straight up anxiety-filled moment as long-buried memories flashed through her head with record speed.
Blake and Andi were in the same high school…same grade even. He’d dated Natalie, her sister, throughout his senior year. Nat had graduated the year before, but she’d worked as a waitress at a local bar, not sure what she wanted to do with her life. Nat and Blake’s relationship had caused her family so much grief. Blake had played a role in turning Nat against the family. The constant partying and trouble Nat had gotten into had turned Andi’s teenage years into a living hell. Her parents had fought with each other, then fought with Nat, trying to find the best way to calm their daughter down, to get her on the straight and narrow.
But then Nat and Blake had been arrested for robbery, and that had been the end of her parents’ marriage and her home life as she’d known it. Her mother and father had disagreed on how to handle the situation, her father refusing to see what Nat had become. The battle had ultimately caused their divorce. Andi had gotten a scholarship to college, and headed off to the dorm as soon as she was able. Her family imploded, but her sister’s troubles hadn’t stopped. Luckily, through it all her grandmother had been there to listen. Try as she might, she never let go of the fact that everything bad that had happened to her family had started with that man who called her the pet name she hated most in the world—Princess.
Like fingernails on a chalkboard, the memory of that voice, calling her “princess” every single time she saw him, grated on her last nerve. Men like him, all buff, rugged, and full of swagger, were exactly the formula that did women in.
Andi stood there, tucking her chin to her chest, letting her long hair fall into her face. She’d worked hard on herself, no longer that same naïve, insecure young girl. What was he doing there? He’d gone into the military in lieu of serving jail time over ten years ago. Maybe the armed forces hadn’t worked out well for him. She could totally see the military kicking him out with his over-the-top, cocky attitude. She stiffened her spine as she brought her head up again.
Maybe this was community service hours for whatever halfway house he’d landed into for his latest fiasco-causing stunt. She squared her shoulders and reached for the door handle again.
Her past did not scare her, and she gave her foot a mental stomp to drive home the point. The visceral reaction she’d always had to that man no longer bound her. She practiced law, deciphering all the legalities of operating an airline in the United States. She could handle anything Blake Mangold dished out.
