Page 5 of Asking For It

Violet, my store manager, would be in soon to open up.

Time to get down to the big order. In my dreams, I was making enough money to hire more bakers. People I trusted as much as I did Violet to do their jobs without constant supervision. For now, the task of baking was mine.

I had a rhythm to my work that let me manage multiple batches at once. There was always a temptation to sample the goods, especially with me having skipped breakfast, but more coffee kept my stomach from growling.

The familiar ringtone that Anne, Sadie, and I all used for each other reached my ears. I pulled the call up on the tablet I kept on my counter, to find Anne grinning at me.

“You’re baking,” Anne said as a greeting.

I grinned. “What gave it away—the apron or the kitchen?” The happy note from last night still lingered in my thoughts. I turned back to my work, knowing she wouldn’t mind.

“I’m just perceptive like that.” Her tone was as bright and sunny as the weather. She’d had a long run of stress at work, but since a few things fell into place, she was a lot more like her old self. It was nice to hear. “Real quick, so you can work, girls’ night out this weekend?”

Just the three of us? “Totally up for that.”

“Yay. So, what has you humming?”

Was I? “I’ll share details, but not until we’re face-to-face. This weekend, probably.”

“I’m never going to live that down, am I?” Anne laughed. When she’d first hooked up with her guys—as in her boss and Sadie’s brother—she put off telling us by saying she’d rather have the conversation face-to-face.

“Maybe someday. Just not today.” I turned to find her pouting at the camera. Too adorable. “All right, I’ll spill. Otherwise you’ll think it’s a big deal, and it’s not. I got hit on last night, and while it didn’t go anywhere, it made me feel good.”

“You’re being vague with your pronouns.”

No. Just with my counting. “Because it’s not a big deal, because it didn’t go anywhere. Text me details for this weekend.”

As I resumed working, I tried out the humming again. I liked that. I kept a tuneless song flitting around me as I worked on cupcakes. Those needed to bake and cool first, so I could decorate them while everything else was cooking.

It might have been nice to lose track of time, but with a timer on each step, that wasn’t happening. Still, the next couple of hours passed quickly.

“There’s someone here to see you.” Violet’s cheerful voice startled me as I was stepping away from the oven.

Not the best timing, but not the worst either. “Do me a favor, keep an eye on those.” I nodded to the oven. “If I’m not back in twenty-five minutes, take them out?”

“No problem.”

I dusted the flour from my apron before hanging it up on its hook, and headed out into the main shop.

FredandBarneywere standing near the front counter. They were dressed differently than last night, both looking gorgeously sexy in suits that accentuated their sturdy builds, ties that my imagination wanted used on me, and flat expressions that growleddon’t fuck with us.

My stomach turned in on itself, and every muscle in my body tensed. How did they find me? Did they follow me home?

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