Page 5 of Sugar and Spice
Mrs. O’Leary pursed her lips and I stepped forward, waving Daisy off. “We’re married.” I nodded at the bread in her hand. “Take that. On the house. An apology for seeing the missus and I in a tiff.”
“You’re always in a tiff, Austin,” Mrs. O’Leary replied, but she put the bread in her bag all the same. The Masons murmured in agreement, but they offered their congratulations with smiles and nods before they hurried off awkwardly towards the Christmas cookie case.
I raised a shoulder in a shrug at her. “Thin line between love and hate, Mrs. O’Leary. And let me tell ya, Daisy and I,” I sighed, before continuing on, “we have such a love.”
She snorted. “Congratulations. I’m glad you’ll both be staying in town then.”
Daisy squawked. “I am not staying here one more-”
I reached out, clamping a hand over her mouth and leaning in close to her. “Keep that pretty mouth of yours shut or I’ll have to kiss it shut again.”
Her eyes widened at me. And then, because Daisy Ortiz didn’t take shit off anyone, least of all me, she did what I should have expected her to do and bit me. I winced at the sharp pain in my hand. I almost shed a tear when she bit down harder, but still I didn’t move my hand from her mouth until Mrs. O’Leary had shuffled out of the shop. No doubt to tell all of Clarity what she had seen.
When the old woman was safely out of the shop I yanked my hand away and shook it before holding it to my chest with a groan. “What the fuck, Daisy?”
“Don’t you what the fuck me, Austin Finnigan! I’m here to what the fuckyou!”
“Keep your damn voice down, woman. There are good people trying to Christmas shop in peace,” I told her.
She rolled her eyes at me, but after a quick look towards the Masons who were doing their damndest not to look like they were eavesdropping on us while they stuffed snowmen cookies into their basket, she came forward and jabbed a finger in my chest while hissing. “You’re lucky I didn’t bite it off, you asshole.”
“Promises, promises,” I sighed heavily at her, grinning when she looked ready to flip me off. I was sure she would have too if we had been alone.
“What the hell are you doing telling a whole damn reality show we are married?”
“Technically I didn’t tell the reality show we were married. Piper did,” I reminded her. “I just agreed with her.”
She opened her mouth to reply but froze and went silent, her brows knitting together before she said, “Well you got me there.”
“Are you admitting you’re wrong?”
“Never.”
“Classic.”
“Listen, it doesn’t matter who said it first. What matters is that you agreed with it, and now there’s a whole reality show crew here looking to follow us around when we can’t even have one conversation without being at each other’s throats.” Her hair was free from the beanie that was probably still lying by the bread counter, lips pink and swollen from our kissing, and there was a blush in her cheeks that made her look sweet.
She looked pretty. So I decided to tell her. “You look pretty.”
She blinked in surprise at me. “What?”
I gestured towards her with my coffee cup. “Pretty. You look pretty,” I said, sipping my coffee.
Daisy was silent another beat, before crossing her arms over her chest and lifting her chin.
“Were you even listening to me?”
“Mostly,” I confessed.
“Goddammit, Austin.”
The way she said my name. Daisy might look sweet, but the way she said my name was downright sexy. Even if she looked like she wanted to kick me. I liked it. A nice departure from the “asshole” and “fucker” I was accustomed to when it came to Daisy addressing me.
“Yes, dear?” I asked with feigned innocence. The door swung open, a blast of cold hitting us as another family entered the bakery, this one with children. I knew from the look Daisy sent their way, all thin pressed lips and resignation, that this wasn’t over. She was going to want to talk in private, and whatever colorful words she had for me were apparently unfit for young ears.
Daisy took a step closer to me. “Listen, Austin, I don’t know what your game is but I’m going to figure it out. Piper did what she did, but you didn’t have to go along with it. And I’m going to find out why you did.”
“Sure thing. It’s a date,” I said, and she spluttered.
