Page 85 of Baby For The Billionaire Silver Fox

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Sneek Peak at Falling For The Billionaire Next Door

Chapter 1

Theairconditioninginthe bakery was broken again, and I fanned my hand in front of my eyes as I punched in the property owner’s number to complain.

Summer in New York City was a big hellish ball of sweltering heat radiating everywhere, especially in all the spaces between buildings. The slow streams of sweat running down my face and back confirmed it.

I left a stern voicemail and hung up. I was having a hard enough time getting customers into my bakery, I didn’t need this insufferable heat inside the shop to push them away. I sighed, feeling a bit beaten down. I needed to chill, literally, and now seemed like a good time to get an ice cream cone. Not that I needed an excuse for ice cream, but days like this needed that extra special goodness.

“Maddie?” I called out to my assistant. When there was no response, I called again and walked back to the bakery’s kitchen to find her. She was working with earbuds in, or more precisely, she was banging out a rhythm on the metal bowls. I waved my hand to get her attention and said, “I’m going to take a break. Please watch the front.”

She smiled and nodded, her pink ponytail moving to the beat of her tunes. As soon as I stepped outside, my phone buzzed. I was praying it was an AC repairman, but the caller ID saidNana.

“Nana, my favorite person,” I said while groping around in my big purse for my sunglasses. “How are you?”

“Lexi, my big city girl,” she chuckled. “I’m peachy. How are you?” I felt my eyes get a little misty, or maybe it was just sweat, but I missed her.

She’d done nothing but encourage me when I moved away, always cheering me on even though I don’t think she ever understood my need to get out of Coopersville and make something of myself. I’d firmly believed New York City was where dreams came true, unlike my hometown. So I got the heck out of there as soon as I could.

“I’m okay, Nana. Missing you, and wishing you’d just move here already and live with me or Ron.”

I could practically feel her shaking her head vigorously, and I smiled as she brushed me off. “What’s there in the city for an old-ish lady like me? This place suits me—it’s home.”

“I know, Nana. You stubborn thing,” I said affectionately.

I was distracted as I spied the ice cream truck. “Oh joy, hang on a sec, Nana.” I quickly scanned the menu, and called out to the guy in the window, “Can I please have one scoop of Chocolate Therapy and another of Boom Chocolatta?”

On the phone, Nana yelled, “Make that two!”

“Of course!” I snickered. “I’ll mail it to you.”

Nana laughed. “And how’s the bakery doing this week?”

I debated what to tell her. I didn’t want her to worry, but she could sniff out a lie like a pig could sniff out truffles. “Let’s just say it’s still got a way to go before I can call it a roaring success, Nana. I am still experimenting to find the sweet spot—no pun intended. I’m trying different recipes, discounts, loyalty cards, and other marketing strategies.”

I did some quick damage control on my ice cream cone and continued. “One of the major problems right now is a much bigger bakery just moved into my area, and I’ve lost some clientele.”

She sighed. “I’m sorry to hear that. You’re a great baker, and I haven’t tried anything I didn’t absolutely slobber over—except that one unfortunate peanut and kiwi thing. People will come around, Lexi. You are good at what you do.”

I wanted her to be right, but things weren’t looking good for my Sweet Bakes shop. I really needed this to work. It was the whole reason I moved here. I needed to get this right for myself.

Although I was worried, I wasn’t a whiner, and I tried to change the subject. “So, how’s the garden looking this summer?”

“Please don’t be hard on yourself,” Nana interjected. “Look how far you’ve come, starting from nothing, and opening a shop with amazing baked yumminess.” She added with conviction, “You’ve got this.”

“I’m working on it, Nana.” Failure wasn’t part of my plan. I rubbed my forehead. “You’re the best, you know that?”

“Of course I do,” was her quick comeback. “But listen, you’ll figure it out. Maybe you need to do more of the TokTok.”

I laughed, and kissed the phone before hanging up and walking inside. Maddie was ringing up a customer and beaming at the woman. “Great idea! Next time I’ll color my hair black, and do the tips purple.”

After the customer left, Maddie turned to me with a serious look. “Lexi, we have a problem. One of the display coolers stopped working.”

“Oh, bother. Let’s move everything to the other one.”

I rummaged around in the junk drawer until I found a couple of screwdrivers and a flashlight. I struggled to pull the display case away from the wall. I would pull the damn motor out if I needed to, not that I would know what to do with it. The last thing I could afford was a new display cooler or even to pay someone to fix it.

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