Chapter Eight
Elena felt like a fucking idiot. Despite her better judgement, she’d been enjoying the little flirtation she had going with Tanner.
He was hot, polite, and had a job. Coming across a guy with all three of those things was like finding a needle in a haystack. It didn’t matter that she’d already told herself it was a bad idea to start something in the workplace. His trifecta of awesomeness had made her forget that little problem.
He was perfect—until that last buzz had come through.
That text had smacked some sense into her.
“What is it?” he asked, his brows furrowing in concern. “Did Taffy have a problem with the bakery?”
“Nope,” she answered, avoiding his eyes by staring at the road in front of them. If he wanted to know what was on his phone, he’d need to look for himself. This was already awkward enough without her adding to it. “It wasn’t Taffy.”
“Vinyl?” he guessed, turning into the bakery’s parking lot.
“No.”
The area was crowded with the normal morning rush, but Tanner managed to find a strip of spots out of the way to safely swing the tow truck in. Once they were parked, he unbuckled and turned towards her.
“What happened, sweetheart? One minute you’re smiling at me and the next you’re pulling away.”
Elena let out a little huff hearing the term of endearment and nudged the phone towards him.
He probably called everyone sweetheart.
“I didn’t read any of the actual text,” she told him as he reached for it. She’d been so caught off guard by the picture that had popped up, her brain hadn’t had time to process the words before she was dropping the phone like a hot potato. “But I couldn’t avoid the image. Sorry.”
“What image?” he asked, flipping the phone over to show the display. With a quick swipe of his fingers, the lock screen slid away to reveal a huge set of tits. “Holy shit.”
“Can we just forget this ever happened?” she asked, covering her eyes before her self-confidence took another nosedive. She’d already seen way too much of the perfect breasts as it was. Elena didn’t need another peek at those high-sitting titties to kick her while she was down.
How were they so symmetrical?
“I—”
She stopped him before he could go any further. “It’s none of my business. Seriously.”
“Goddammit,” he groaned, dropping his forehead down to rest on the steering wheel in front of him. When he lifted it up to look at her, his expression was torn. “I promise there’s a good explanation for what you just saw, but it’s going to have to wait a few minutes. If I sit here too long, I’m going to get a ticket.”
“I told you there’s no nee—”
“Yes, there is, and it’ll happen,” he promised as he slid out of the cab. “Just give me a few minutes and I promise I’ll fix things. Okay?”
Tanner didn’t wait for her to give him an answer before slamming the door and sprinting away.
As she watched him go, Elena couldn’t help but wonder why he was so insistent on explaining the topless picture. Despite the sting of hurt that had struck when she first saw it, it wasn’t that big of a deal. They’d literally met five seconds ago. He didn’t owe her any type of explanation; it was none of her business. Not only that but she assumed most guys had naked pics on their phone somewhere, whether it be from sexting or just plain porn. She wasn’t going to judge what he and his girlfriend got up to; she was just grateful she’d seen it before any more flirting had occurred. She’d never poached a man before and she wasn’t about to start now.
Now matter how tempting he was.
Five minutes later Tanner was walking back to the truck with an armful of big, white boxes that she opened her door to take.
“Do you think Taffy ordered enough?” she asked as they began to fill up the cab. Elena would be surprised if the garage had left anything in the cases after their order being filled. There was so much, she wasn’t sure how he’d managed to carry it all by himself.
“Knowing the guys at the garage, these will only last an hour or two.”
“Really?” That possibility boggled her mind. There had to be over a hundred donuts surrounding her and he didn’t think there’d be any leftovers? He had to be pulling her leg, there was no way.
“Some of our delivery guys might help, but yeah. You’ll want to grab a few for yourself before they disappear.” Tanner buckled up and started the truck. “Now about that picture—”
“I’ve already said it doesn’t matter,” she reminded him again. They only had a few minutes left in their trip and she wanted to talk about something else. “That’s your personal business.”
“That’s the thing,” he argued with a shake of his head, his eyes never leaving the road. He reached over and covered her hand with his much larger mitt. “I don’t have any personal business.”
She snorted as she slid her hand away. “That picture says differently.”
“That’s exactly why I’m trying to explain things.”
“Why do you need to explain anything?” The more he insisted, the less she wanted to listen. Even if that wasn’t his girlfriend and instead just a random woman he was sexting, it was still no business of hers. “I’ve already told you it doesn’t matter.”
He let out a small growl of annoyance as they stopped at a red light.
“Why’re you being so stubborn?”
“Why’re you?” she shot back. He was calling her stubborn?!
The audacity.
If anyone was being stubborn it was the man sitting beside her. She’d already told him a million times she didn’t want or need to hear any type of explanation. Why couldn’t he get it through his thick head that she didn’t want to talk about it?
“Because you’re looking at me different.” He glanced at her before turning his eyes back to the road. They were only a minute or two away from the garage. “I need you to listen to me because I want that smile back.”
“My smile?” Elena echoed before she rolled her eyes. She’d heard some cheesy pick-up lines, but she’d never heard that one before.
“Yeah,” he told her, his tone completely serious. “I’m already addicted to them.”
She snorted, trying to ignore the way her heart fluttered in her chest at his words.
“Fine,” she grumbled, but only half-heartedly. If he wanted to explain, she’d let him explain. She wasn’t sure if she was reading more into it than she should have but there was no avoiding the little spark of hopefulness that zinged through her at the possibility of continuing with the flirtation they’d started earlier. There wasn’t any time for them to go into it now since they were pulling into the garage’s parking lot, but she’d hear him out later. “I still think it’s none of my business, but if you want to talk, I’ll listen.”
Tanner opened his mouth.
“Later,” she stopped him with a shake of her head. “Right now, I need to deal with my hot mess of a morning. After work?”
“After work,” he repeated with a sigh of relief. “Can I give you a ride home?”
“Sure,” she answered, opening her passenger door when some of the guys in the garage began walking towards them. Some of them were familiar faces from their visits to Medina’s. “Ya’ll here to help with the donuts?”
“Fuck yeah,” the man closest to her grunted. His long legs covered the distance between him and the boxes of pastries before she even had time to blink.
Handing him the two large flats of donuts she’d had propped up on her lap, she gave him a smile.
“Enjoy,” she chirped, ignoring Tanner’s grumbling when the man winked at her.
“Next!” Tanner yelled, handing her more donuts to distribute. “Get the fuck outta here, Cade.”
“Be nice,” Elena hissed to him as some of the guys waiting laughed.
“I see how it is,” Cade rumbled quietly with a grin of his own. His eyes were on Tanner. “Lucky fucker.”
“Spread the word,” Tanner responded with a nod that his friend returned.
“Will do.”
“What was that about?” she asked, stacking another pile of boxes to hand to the next man in line. “How the hell did you manage to carry all of these earlier?”
“I’m good with my hands,” he told her with a grin as he passed a few of them through the window on his side where another group of workers had gathered. They were circling like vultures, waiting for a chance to grab a box for themselves.
Less than a minute later, the only thing remaining in the cab was the two of them.
“I should probably get inside,” she announced unnecessarily. “The fritters you wanted are here in this bag.”
“I appreciate it, honey.” Tanner picked up the white baker bag, revealing his cell phone still sitting where they’d left it earlier. He picked it up and held it out to her. “Put your number in for me. That way I can text you at the end of the day.”
“You really want me to handle your phone again?” she asked with a wry look.
Tanner let out a sad chuckle as he shook his head. “It can’t get any worse, right?”
She hesitated for a second before accepting the device. Crossing her fingers that she wasn’t making a bad decision she texted herself from his phone. “There. Now I have your number too.”
As she was handing his cellphone back, it buzzed in her hand, the screen lighting up with a new text message.
“You know what?” She shook her head, feeling like an even bigger dumbass than before. “Don’t worry about the ride. I’ll take the bus.”