Page 31 of The Billionaire Is Back

“It certainly seems like you don’t,she muttered sarcastically…”

“I don’t! Except I thought he was back in town to help out his parents. So. I don’t see him doing that here.”

“It’s so weird seeing him in Damien’s T-shirt” is all my friend says in response, staring out through the window to the front of the store.

“What?”

“That old Stones T-shirt. He used to wear it all the time in high school. Damien, I mean.”

“What do you care?” I ask in a singsong voice.

“I don’t.”

“Certainly seems like you don’t. Hey, can you grab me more chocolate chips?”

“Hey, I don’t know if you know this, but there are about seven customers out there waiting for someone to take their order,” says Grady Barber, who is poking his stupid handsome head into my kitchen.

“Oh, well, let me just get out there and take some orders from some customers, then,” Vera says gleefully. “Hey, Grady, can you be a doll and fetch Claire some chocolate chips? Thanks, doll—you’re such a doll.”

And she disappears, leaving me alone in my kitchen with the man who throws everything out of whack. He places his shiny new laptop down on the desk near the door.

I frown at him. “Why are you here, Grady?”

“I’m being a doll and fetching you some chocolate chips,” he says, walking around the center baker’s table toward the wall of metal shelves like he owns the place. It is incredibly easy for him to find the chocolate chips because all of my bins are labeled and alphabetized. “Is it always this busy?” he asks.

“What do you think?” I try to arch an eyebrow at him, but my forehead has been furrowed ever since I saw him walk into the store, and I think it’s just going to stay like that forever now.

“And it’s just you back here?” he asks as he places the canister of chocolate chips on the counter near me. “This where you want it?”

“Yes, and yes,” I huff out. “Thank you,” I say, like I’m cursing him. I don’t even remember what I was in the middle of making just now. Something with dough. “Why are you here?” I ask again.

“Do you need help with anything?” he asks, as if I didn’t just ask him a question that he needs to answer.

Vera enters. “You aren’t gonna like this, boss,” she says. She calls me boss like once a month, and only when she knows I’m not going to like something. “We just got a special order request for a lemon bundt cake. For Saturday.”

“Absolutely not.”

Grady crosses his arms and leans against my counter. “Why not?” I can tell he had to stop himself from sayingYou aren’t exactly in a position to turn down special orders, now, are you, Little Sweeney?

“She has a strict No Bundt Stuff policy,” Vera tells him, straight-faced.

“Vera,” I hiss.

“You do!” She shrugs at Grady. “She does.”

“I wouldn’t call it that,” I mutter.

“That’s because you’re way too anal about bundt stuff.”

My cheeks are on fire. The cheeks on my face, I mean. “Vera! Stop.”

She skips over to the other side of me and leans in. “Oh, would you like me to put a plug in it?”

I will actually murder you,I mouth to her.

Bring it,she mouths back.

“Well, that’s a shame,” Grady says, ruefully. “I like big bundts and I cannot lie.”

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