Chapter 8
Honey is the tastiest of all insect vomits we have tried so far.
— Milena’s secret thoughts
MILENA
An hour earlier
The moment I turned my phone off of silent, it started ringing.
I stared at it like it was about to attack me when I saw the name on the screen.
I didn’t want to answer, but I did anyway.
“ Hello ?” I answered cautiously.
“ I’m so sorry,” Hazel replied. “ I completely forgot we were supposed to run today.”
My shoulders slumped just a little bit farther, and some of the anger I’d been holding loosened from my shoulder.
But not all. Definitely not all.
The last thing I wanted to do was hold a grudge against my best friend, but I was beginning to wonder if she was someone that maybe didn’t need me as much as I needed her.
While I’d been running, I thought about all the effort that I had to put into my friendships.
Why was I always the one that had to reach out? Why did I always have to make the plans? Why did I have to go and sign up for the marathon, pay Hazel’s portion of the ticket, and then book the vacation rental?
“ It’s okay,” I lied.
“ It’s not okay,” she disagreed with me. “ I saw you running past us today and I just…” she paused, searching for the right words. “ I guess that I’m just so caught up with work and the new friends I’m making that I’m putting you on the back burner. And that’s not very nice of me.”
She sounded so genuine in that moment, but I didn’t let my guard down.
“ It’s okay,” I continued to lie.
She sighed. “ It’s really not. I know it’s not. You know it’s not. Can we meet up for the next long run in a week?”
I noticed she didn’t try to meet any earlier.
“ I can’t Saturday ,” I said, puffing up my chest.
All this time, I’d given her my Saturdays because it was easier for her to run then. However , for me, it was much, much harder.
In fact, Saturdays were one of my busiest days because it was hard to find help that wanted to work on the weekends.
“ Oh ,” she said. “ What about Friday then?”
I blinked, surprised that she’d offer to change the day for me.
“ I can do that,” I said. “ Early morning?”
“ Yes ,” she continued. “ Early morning.”
After a few more awkward moments of back and forth, she hung up, and I was left standing in my hallway, dripping with sweat, and wondering whether I should’ve just said “not next week.”
I was an overthinker.
Like , seriously, I could overthink anything.
The waitress setting the glass down too hard? Yeah , she did that because she doesn’t like me, and what if she spit in it because she didn’t like the way I looked at her?
Asher hadn’t called or tried to make contact in a few days. What if he was scheming, finding a way to make my life a literal hell? What if he was in the process of a plan that would make me lose my business?
Take my new carpenter, for instance. Today , he asked for a key, and I just gave it to him. What if he stole my car out of my driveway? What if he didn’t really need the key at all? What if he just wanted access to my key ring and wanted into my place so that he could get into Maven’s bakery and steal…
I hurried into the shower on the rest of that thought, quickly washing off the dirt and sweat from my run.
The moment that I was out, I dressed in leggings and a white t-shirt, shoved my feet into shoes, and then hurried to the car.
I was halfway there before another thought occurred to me.
Cutter was an honest guy.
I’d seen that in just the few times that we’d met.
I didn’t need to make him into a bad guy.
I went from seven miles over the speed limit to the speed limit.
There was one thing that I always made sure to do—if I could—and that was drive safely.
When I was a teen, my bodyguard had been driving me to school and had driven us into a light pole when he’d lost control trying to go around someone.
Thankfully , I’d been in the backseat and the brunt of the accident had taken place on the driver’s side front bumper.
Sadly , my bodyguard had sustained a head injury that had made him incompatible for security detail work anymore.
I’d been happy about it. Honestly , I had never really liked the guy, and Ernest Mosley , the guard, had always given me a really weird vibe.
Speaking of weird vibes, when I finally parked and got out of my car, I headed to my sister’s bakery instead of my shop.
I could see from where I was walking that the door was wide open, and there was plastic everywhere. In fact, that was all I could see as I glanced inside the shop on my way past.
Legs protesting the fast walking— I didn’t know why I didn’t want the man to see me— I opened the door to Maven’s bakery and went inside.
I spotted her in the doorway of the kitchen, a sheet of cupcakes precariously perched above her head, and my nephew jumping up and down yelling at her.
“ Redford !” I called.
Redford whipped his head around and screamed, “ Aunt Mina !”
When Redford was small, he couldn’t pronounce Milena fully, and my name had been shortened to Mina , since that was all that he could say.
I dreaded the day when he switched back to my full name.
He was growing so dang fast.
I bent down and opened my arms just as his surprisingly stocky body hit me full force.
I made a “whoosh” sound and fell backward onto my ass, my sore and tired legs protesting even a little bit of effort to stay aloft.
Laughing , I curled my arms around the sturdy little body and inhaled.
“ Have you been eating cookies without me, Redford ?” I teased, burying my face into his hair.
“ I’ve been eating scones,” he disagreed. “ I’d never eat cookies without you.”
I smoothed back his hair, which looked exactly like his daddy’s, and looked into his mama’s eyes.
“ What are you doing here today?” I asked curiously.
“ Mama said that I couldn’t stay at home with Lola and Brando because they have stomach bugs, and she didn’t want me to catch it,” Redford said. “ She says that I can’t make it to the toilet yet, and that if I throw up all over the floor again from the top bunk she’ll murder Daddy in his sleep.”
I snickered.
I actually remembered that particular incident because I’d been staying over at their house because Auden , Lola , Brando , and Maven had been either on the mend from the stomach bug, or still actively participating in life with it.
I’d been there as backup for Maven so she could catch some sleep.
And I’d had to deal with Pukemageddon .
It was what sold me on never having kids.
Maybe .
I was sure if I met the right man, that sentiment might fly out the window.
I’d bet money that if Cutter offered to have babies with me, my legs would just fall open.
“ If you want to help me stock my cases really quick, I’d be forever grateful,” Maven called.
I pushed myself up to my feet, ignoring the way my calf seized, and limped my way to her.
We got the cases stocked.
However , I kept stealing glances through the window that we could pass food and coffee back and forth through to see if I spotted the man next door.
“ Why don’t you just go over there already and check out what he’s doing?” Maven elbowed me, misunderstanding my desire to catch a glimpse of Cutter .
I let her think that I was worried about the project.
“ I’ll do that,” I said. “ Let me know if you need help tonight.”
Maven grimaced. “ I sure hope not.”
I was exiting the bakery when my phone rang.
I smiled when I answered it.
“ Hey , Dima . Where are you at?” I teased.
I always asked, and he always answered the same.
“ Can’t tell you, dingbat,” he drawled. “ What’s up with you? How’s the training going?”
We talked about everything under the sun for the next twenty minutes outside my open coffee shop door.
Dima was in the Air Force .
He was currently deployed to parts unknown and had done a lot of growing up in the nine years since he’d left.
Every time he came home to visit, it was like I was meeting a brand-new person.
I loved it and hated it at the same time.
“ When do you get to come home next?” I asked, knowing he probably wouldn’t have an answer for me.
“ Actually ,” he hesitated. “ I think that I’m getting out.”
I paused and screeched, “ What ?”
He laughed. “ Seriously . I think it’s time.”
“ But the last time I spoke with you, you were thinking about reupping,” I replied.
“ I was, but they want to take me off of the planes. It’s a young man’s job, and I just don’t fuckin’ want to not fly. I’d rather get out and fly, than stay in and ride a damn desk. I’d be suffocated,” he grumbled.
“ Well , I’ll support you in whatever way you need, baby brother. Just let me know what you want me to do,” I offered.
“ I’ll talk to Shasha , Maven , and Nastya , okay?” he said. “ Just not…yet.”
I smiled.
Dima and I had always been the closest since we were the middle children that were forgotten about the most.
We’d formed a bond that could never be broken.
“ All right,” I said. “ But don’t make me keep this secret for too long, okay?”
“ Okay ,” he sighed. “ Love you, Mil .”
“ Love you, too,” I replied and shoved my phone into the pocket on the side of my leggings.
A gust of wind had my semi-wet hair blowing into my face, and I turned just in time to see Cutter with his arms raised as he measured from the floor to the ceiling.
His belly was partially exposed, and I saw the ab definition along his side for a split second before he dropped his arms back down to his sides.
Stepping into the shop, I said to myself, “ Here goes nothin’.”
I must’ve blacked out, because ten minutes after entering my shop, I was leaving it.
To go on a ride on the back of Cutter’s bike.
My heart was pounding, and I couldn’t decide if it was going haywire because I was about to get on the back of his motorcycle, which I said I was never going to do, or because I was about to be on the back of Cutter’s motorcycle, once again wrapped up in the sexiest man I’d ever encountered.
Likely , it was more of the latter than the former, if I was being honest.
I was so nervous that I started chattering.
“ Hey ,” I said when he turned and caught me staring at him. “ You got a lot done.”
He jerked his chin back toward the shop and said, “ Your keys are on the table inside. I made a copy of the door key already. I’ll give it back to you once I’m done.”
He then proceeded to use his own key to lock my shop up.
I smiled, relief hitting me.
All of my earlier worries disappeared when I saw the amount of work he’d gotten done this morning.
“ You really have been busy,” I pointed out.
“ Yeah , but getting the plastic up is the easy part,” he agreed. “ Other than the running on a trail part, how did your body feel when you ran? Running that far is miserable, I’ll bet.”
Just the mention of my run again had my good mood disappearing.
I frowned and stared down at my feet. “ Okay , I guess. Not good. Not bad. Just blah.”
He studied me for a long second, then nodded. “ Good .”
He jerked his chin toward his truck, and I frowned. “ Uh …”
“ Gotta go get my bike, babe.” He grinned. “ I’m leaving the trailer, though. Already unhooked it.”
I hesitated to follow him to his truck, and I didn’t know why.
Maybe it was my mood.
I maybe should’ve stayed at home.
It would be my only free Saturday for a while.
I’d lied to Hazel when I’d told her that I was working next week.
In reality, I didn’t have to work because my shop wasn’t supposed to be ready to go for at least another month.
We’d closed the old location, and the employees were now busy helping me move from one place to another. They were also helping me with inventory, and other odds and ends to make sure they got their hours until the new location was open.
If I was lucky, it’d be done in three weeks, according to the man in front of me.
The man that was seeing a little too much.
I turned my back on him and looked out the window, studying the parking lot.
It was smaller than I thought was good for a coffee shop/bakery, but you got what you got in the great, lovely DFW area.
Space was limited, and you were lucky to have parking at all sometimes.
“ You want to give me some insight on what color cabinets you want?” he asked as he walked to his passenger side door and held the door open.
My heart literally melted.
Right there in a puddle in my parking lot.
I’d never had a man open the door for me, not even my brothers.
Sure , I’d witnessed them do it for their girlfriends, but never for me.
That had to be why I got into his truck.
At least, that was what I was telling myself.