AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Aspen, everything is perfect.” She pulls me in for a hug. I’ve grown to love the nurturing touches I never had growing up. Rudy loved me but rarely was affectionate. “You two have worked so hard, I’m so proud of both of you. I even had to come in the rear door. Have you seen that line?” She points outside. We both nod. Mila’s is a little more enthusiastic.
Mila glances down at her watch. “Oh! Ryker will be here in thirty minutes. We have to get moving.”
My nerves knot in my belly. I hope he likes it, and he’s not mad at me for doing this behind his back.
* * *
A million women’s screams flood the bakery when the front door swings open. We all stop and stare as a smiling Bree strolls in, followed by Ryker. She flashes a quick thumbs up close to her chest showing he still has no clue. When Ryker steps inside, he lifts his head from his phone, plastering a fake smile on his face as if he’s about to take a picture. But it drops as he takes in the bakery.
A confused expression quickly morphs to excitement when he reads the name of the bakery. Sugared Whiskey. His eyes search until they find mine.
He lifts a brow as he’s still registering the surprise. “I like the name.” He chuckles under his breath. “You’ve been busy while I’ve been gone.”
Rounding the sleek white counter, I meet him in the middle of the room. “I figured you would.” Even though I was in his bed hours ago, seeing him here makes me nervous. Everything I’ve ever wanted is right here. I twist my hands against my apron. “I had some help,” I reply, looking over at Beatrice and Mila.
“Whiskey, this place is amazing.” His fingers untangle my twisted ones, bringing one of my hands to his lips. “I’m so proud of you.” His approval snaps me out of my uncertainty and I wrap my arms around his neck in excitement. His tongue darts out to his bottom lip. “I’ll need you to model that sexy apron later tonight. And nothing else.”
“Um, hello, Ryker,” Beatrice teases from behind the cash register. “Mom, right here.” She points at herself.
Ryker’s cheeks flush as he puts me down. “Right. Sorry, Beatrice.”
His embarrassment doesn’t stop him from dragging me into his chest, his chin rests on my shoulder. “I hope you made enough for me to taste test.” He stares into the square glass case filled with rows of colorful desserts. I still can’t believe how beautiful the case turned out. Or the entire store. Even in my wildest dreams, my bakery never looked like this.
I shake my head wildly. “Nooo. I know you and your sugar addiction. There isn’t enough here to fulfill it, so don’t you dare touch the desserts. I’m already freaking out that I won’t have enough for all your girlfriends out there,” I tease.
He bites my shoulder and hums. “I bet they’ll get me some.” I tilt my head and glare up at him.
“All right you two, it’s about time to open.” Bree and April set up a table in a corner where Ryker and I will sign stuff and take pictures. I still don’t know why they wanted me to do it. Nobody will want my autograph. Especially with Ryker sitting next to me.
Dean and Halli stand right inside the doorway. My already small shop seems cramped and we don’t even have customers yet. At least, Beatrice’s security has positioned themselves around the building and didn’t need to be in here.
When sitting, Ryker leans over with his hand on my thigh and says, “You look beautiful.” My lips quirk up and I put my cheek against his shoulder. But then he adds, “Like you’ve been thoroughly fucked recently.” I hide my burning cheeks behind his arm.
And then the front door opens.
Ryker laughs at me as I pop up in my seat, smoothing out my apron and hair. I pucker my lips and glare at him for making me flustered. “That’s for your comments yesterday.” What is he talking about? “The one where you told me to grip it hard, making sure to slide my thumb down the vein.”
Oh, that.
“Ryker!” I whisper-yell, turning red again, slapping him on the leg. He grabs my hand and pulls it over his bulge. Hard bulge. Thank goodness people can’t see under the tablecloth. But as women stare at us with excitement, I’m certain they can imagine what’s going on. I can sense the scarlet shade of red on my cheeks.
I snap my hand back, putting both on the table so he can’t grab them again, and force a smile at the women. His laughter booms in the confined space. Ryker’s having too much fun. It was different teasing him on the phone, but sitting next to him with people staring at us is wrong.
Feeling awkward sitting here, waiting for people to walk over to us and more than likely ignore me while drooling over Ryker, I fidget in my seat and arrange the Sharpies on the table by color.
“You amaze me every day, Aspen.” Aww. I stop rolling the markers and twist in my seat. Our knees brush. “I can’t believe you did this in three weeks.”
Truthfully, I can’t either. Had Mila and Beatrice not had as many connections as they have, it would have taken months.
“Thank you.”
“I wanted to ask you something before you left this morning. But you can imagine my surprise when I woke up to an empty bed.”
I wince at the memory of sneaking out. “Sorry.”
“I guess I can forgive you since you did all this.” He laughs, holding his arms out wide, resting one on the back of my chair. “So, I wanted to ask you—”
“Oh my gawd,” a girl squeals, standing in front of our table, fanning her face. I wince at her shrill voice. Wow, that’s a high pitch. She bounces on her toes, never taking her gaze off Ryker. I can’t decide if I want to tell her to hold on so I can find out what he was about to ask me, or let her do whatever she wants so she can move on quicker.
