Chapter 12
12
Q uinn left his house with a lighter step than he had yesterday. They had a nice date last night. And he wanted to ask her out again. Boy, it was great sitting and having adult company and looking into those blue eyes of hers. That was no hardship at all.
Deciding to stop at the bakery and buy his crew cinnamon rolls would do two things for him. It would make him a well-loved boss today, feeding his workers something sweet, and he'd get to see Hanna.
He turned his truck into the parking lot and hopped out with a step so light he could have skipped. As he entered the bakery, the warmth and the aromas of those cinnamon rolls and freshly baked bread and...was that pumpkin bread he smelled? Oh, he had a weakness for pumpkin bread.
He looked at the bakery-filled case and felt relief. There were people standing in line ahead of him, but there should be enough left for his needs.
Hanna came out from the kitchen with a bag in her hand. She hadn't seen him yet. He was standing behind an old fella he recognized from the hardware store.
She smiled brightly and breezed. "There you go, Mrs. Howell. I added a couple extra little goodies in there for you. You all have a nice women's meeting this morning."
Mrs. Howell nodded and said sweetly, "Oh, we always have a nice meeting, Hanna. And these goodies here will help make it extra sweet. Thank you."
Mrs. Howell paid for her order and walked past the people in line and out the door. The next person in line asked for a dozen cookies and a cinnamon roll.
Hanna breezed over to the case and deftly opened a bag. "Do you know which cookies you want?"
The young man at the counter said, "Yes, I want six of the chocolate ones and six of those sugar cookies."
"You got it." Hanna quickly filled the bag, added his cinnamon roll, wrapped in a separate little sheet of bakery paper on the top, rolled the top of the bag closed, and checked him out.
When she looked up at the man in front of him, she finally noticed him. Her smile was bright, and genuine, and sexy.
He grinned and nodded, and she faltered a little bit. She stumbled on her words, "Hi, Mr. ...Trask. How can I help you today?"
Quinn put his head down and looked at his shoes. A grin spread on his face. She kind of affected him that way too, and wasn't that nice?
Mr. Trask placed his order. She deftly fulfilled it, rang him up, and then it was finally his turn.
"How are you today?" He asked her.
She smiled, "I'm doing well. How are you? "
"I'm eager to repeat what we did last night. I'd love to have dinner with you again."
She smiled, "I'd like that too."
She glanced around to make sure that no one was listening. There were people sitting at tables, and no one was standing in line behind him, but she lowered her voice. "I still have this mess going on with my ex. I just feel a little conflicted about getting involved when I've got all this going on."
He leaned in so he could lower his voice as well. "Well, I don't know if having a couple dinners is getting involved, but I'd still like to have dinner with you. And I thought we agreed not to dwell on our ex's messes, remember?"
She chuckled, "You're right. We did say that."
"What's it going to hurt? Let's go to the Sandbar. We'll sit on the beach tonight. We'll have something light to eat, maybe a drink or two, and just talk."
Her eyes met his. "Well, yes, that sounds nice, actually. Thank you."
"I'll pick you up at home."
She cleared her throat, and he watched her cheeks turn pink. "How about here? I normally work until the evening, anyway, getting ready for the next day. And I'll be honest with you. My place is a mess. I've been remodeling and I just... it's not fit for company."
His hand flew over his heart. "Ouch! You're remodeling and you didn't have me look at it?"
She laughed. "Well, I didn't have anybody look at it. I'm actually doing it myself."
He shook his head. "You're remodeling yourself. So you bake these wonderful cinnamon rolls and you can remodel a house?"
"Well, I don't know how good I am at it, but I'm trying. Again, money, my ex, and all that. So I just found it necessary to have to do some things on my own."
Quinn nodded. "It's all right. I can see that it's maybe too soon for that conversation. So how about this? I'll pick you up here. Will six-thirty work?"
Her cheeks turned an adorable pink. He saw a color tint under her chin and in the "V" of her blue t-shirt.
"Yes, six-thirty will be fine. Thank you for understanding."
He nodded. "You know, I've been in situations similar to what you're in, where money was tight and things just had to be done on a shoestring. I'm still open to helping you, but I'm not going to push."
She smiled. "Thank you. I do appreciate it. It won't be forever. And I'm actually getting a lot of satisfaction out of doing things on my own. I'm learning that I'm pretty darn capable."
He chuckled. "I have no doubt, Hanna Valentine. I have no doubt."
"Okay," she half giggled. "What can I get for you this morning?"
He smiled, "I'd like a dozen of your cinnamon rolls, and I need six coffees to go, please. I'm treating the crew."
Her smile grew wide, and he thought she was the loveliest woman he'd seen in, well, forever. She was adorable with those dimples. She was beautiful inside and out.
"You're going to be popular at work today," she replied cheerfully, as she deftly pulled the cinnamon rolls out of the case and lined them up in a box.
She closed the box with nimble fingers, grabbed a tray for the coffees, and slowly filled the six cups, pushing them into the little slots in the tray to hold them in place .
She tapped lids on top. When she looked at him, she asked, "Do you need cream and sugar?"
He shrugged. "You know, I guess this is bad of me, but I don't know. So let's just say yes, just in case."
She chuckled, "No worries. I'll add enough for everyone, just in case."
She bagged things up for him, putting the cream and sugar in a separate little bag with some stir sticks, and then she rang up his order.
He paid quickly with his credit card and then he winked at her. "I'll see you at six-thirty, Hanna Valentine."
She nodded and those cute pink cheeks brightened. "I'll see you at six-thirty, Quinn Kurtz."