Page 8 of Bear in a Bakery
He nodded, pleased. And completely ignoring her sarcasm. “They did a nice job. It looks very dry in here.”
Rolling her eyes, Allie turned to go into the back. She needed to keep her interactions with Dax to a minimum. The pulse in her temple was pounding and her chest was tight with irritation. She was doing everything possible to ignore the needy ache between her legs.
Ben looked at her in question when she resumed her spot at the counter and picked up a rolling pin.
“Contractor is here,” she muttered, and began rolling the last of the almond sugar cookies. “We need to finish up these cookies and get busy tidying up the store.”
“Oh, good. I told him to come as early as he liked. Gave him a key.”
“Let’s just finish up here, okay?” A thought popped into her mind. “When did you see Dax to give him the key?”
“We had a beer together at the Wild last night. Nice young man. He’s, uh, single.”
Allie set the rolling pin down a little too hard. “I know, you already told me. Maybeyoushould date him.”
“Sorry, I’m not into dudes.”
Dax walked close to the butcherblock counter where she was working, so silent that he could have been standing there this entire time and she wouldn’t have known. He nodded to her father in that bromance way guys had, and her dad nodded back as if he were forty years younger and wearing his ballcap backwards. Her skin began to heat, her nerves becoming a chaotic mess as Dax stood beside her.
Becks opened her eyes from the chair she was slouched in, blinked. Blinked again and then raised her hand. “I’ll date him.”
Ben snickered. “Honey, you can’t stay awake long enough to handle a man like this.”
“Dad!” Allie cried.
“I’m up for it. Allie, make some strong coffee and go get an illegal Ritalin from that kid down the street.” Becks moved to slip off her chair, but Allie stopped her with an amused wave. Her friend’s seizure disorder and narcolepsy might technically render her, ‘disabled,’ but Becks took her illnesses in stride with good humor.
Dax turned to Allie, and everyone else in the room seemed to disappear.
“Want to give me a tour so I can check out the plumbing, electrical systems and the general layout?”
Breaking from his gaze, she cut the dough with a flower-shaped cookie cutter, not bothering to look at him. “Dad can show you.”
Dax leaned down with one elbow on the counter so he could peer directly at her face. His voice was low, the whispered timber of it making her nipples perk.
“I thought you owned this place.”
“I do.”
“You’re not acting like it. You want daddy to make decisions for your business?”
They locked gazes. Dax’s was too self-satisfied. She wanted to wipe that look right off his face. Or lick. Or kiss. Anger and irritation and for fuck’s sake, a helping of lust, filled her completely. How dare he imply she wasn’t capable or willing to run her own damn business. She’d had enough of men always doubting her.
Allie continued cutting the last row of cookies without taking her eyes off Dax. Her dad rushed over and took the cutter from her hand. “I’ll finish these up. I know, I know, 350 degrees for ten minutes and not a minute longer.”
“Fine,” Allie said and untied her apron. Whipping it over her head and dumping it on the counter, she turned. “This way.”
She wasn’t going to let this sexy brute get under her skin, or anything else. Allie walked briskly to the back hallway that led to the storage and refrigeration rooms. Looking up where the raccoons had damaged part of the ceiling, she gasped. Huge brown circles coated the remaining ceiling tiles. Damn, the sprinkler.
Dax nudged her along, as if to prevent her from dwelling on the ceiling.
She responded by walking into the storage room. The critters hadn’t made it to this room, luckily, and the sprinkler system was never installed in here. A sense of pride filled her when she stepped in, as always. The room was carefully and meticulously organized, the bright pink walls cheery, and the custom oak shelving lined with coordinated fabric baskets. Boxes and plastic tubs all sat in their places, along with extra baking trays, bowls, and other equipment. This room mimicked the customer area of the bakery, the pink and yellow colors, and black and white damask fabrics exactly the way Allie had pictured for bakery when she’d bought it. She’d put a year’s worth of work into this place before she opened for business. No way was she going to let normal maintenance issues bring her down.
Afraid to look up, but doing it anyway, her heart sank at the same water spots dotting the ceiling as in the hallway. She’d thought this room had gone unscathed.
“Oh no.”
Dax put a big hand on her shoulder and gave a light squeeze. She whipped a look where he touched her, her body humming at his touch.
