Chapter Six
Nomi
“Nomi!” Clara beamed and walked around the counter to give me a hug. “I thought you were supposed to be off today? I was told by Felix, and I quote, ‘If you see her, kick her ass out the door’.” Her sneaky grin brought out mine. “He’s worried about you.”
Emotion was in my throat. “I know. I just came to steal some treats and annoy him.”
She nodded, her curly blonde hair tied neatly into a bun.
She was my all-time favorite college kid he’d hired to work part-time.
“In that case, he’s in the back. I look forward to all the growling and snarling.
” Her voice dropped, hand covering her mouth.
“Steal me one of the chocolate croissants. He wouldn’t let me touch them this morning. ”
I saluted her before wrapping her in another hug. “And if I die while trying to obtain this sacred sweet, scatter my ashes across the nearby creek, where the wildlife will embrace me as one of them.”
Her tinkling laughter was smothered into my boobs because Clara was tiny and her face never seemed to evade them. “Sure thing.”
I stole a glance over my shoulder to where Ghost was.
His white hair caught the sunlight and glowed. His hands were tucked away in his pockets, and he’d taken to the corner. The guy had a thing for corners and narrow spaces. But then again, it was a fitting vibe for him as he leaned against the wall and cast his penetrative gaze my way.
He'd been tracking every move I made. If I hadn’t known he was worried about some random demon or angel killing me, I might’ve been flattered.
But it was exactly as he said: he was invisible to everyone.
No one noticed the guy in the corner. I might’ve not believed it if there wasn’t a particularly feral pair of teens sitting only a table away from him.
No doubt they’d be sneaking glances and giggling if they’d caught sight of him.
But they were well into their conversation and apple fritters without one glance his direction.
The day before, I’d been plain old Nomi who was desperate to author her own book and enjoy the quiet happiness I’d been given thanks to Felix.
But today…
It seemed surreal that I’d strolled right into a new existence without even knowing it, exactly like the main characters I read about. I didn’t feel particularly heroic, but maybe I was meant for greater things if it was my soul that supposedly held the power to start or stop the apocalypse.
Hope this is a spicy story.
I stared at Ghost’s chest, remembering the feel of it under my hands. Would he randomly lose his shirt in a fight or come strolling out of the shower without one? That’d be a great way to get an eyeful of his six pack.
A girl needed something to live for.
Clara patted my back. “Uh, Nomi. I’m being smothered to death over here.”
I released her, forgetting that my boobs had a tendency to do that to the poor woman. “Sorry about that. I’ll just sneak into the back. What’s he in the middle of making?”
“I think cinnamon rolls,” she mused, tapping her mouth. A few customers wandered in, and she smiled to greet them before whispering under her breath, “Steal me one of those too, if he’s done.”
I gawked at her. “And lose my head as it surely sits on my shoulders, my dear woman? No, thanks.”
Her happy laughter followed me into the kitchen. I sensed Ghost hot on my heels, but Clara didn’t mention the strange guy trailing after me. She didn’t see the Horseman I’d unintentionally collected the other day.
Felix was covered in flour as he rushed from one end of the room to the other, checking on several of the ovens and his delicious creations.
For a second, I just watched him. The man was in his element while baking.
The treats he made were always such a delight for the mouth, and we were often sold out before noon.
He wouldn’t hire another baker. He refused. Said it was the family touch that made us special, so I was the only other baker.
When he twirled, holding a tray of cinnamon rolls, he nearly lost his hat and temper all at once. “Nomi, you damn ingrate. What are you doing here?!” His chiding tone followed him to the metal table as he carefully set down the batch to be frosted. “I can handle one day without you.”
I wandered over, a smile on my face. “Oh? The man covered in flour? That guy?”
His glare was lost on me. I found it way too adorable. “We sold out of our first few batches of the day a bit quicker than normal,” he complained.
Laughing, I grabbed the apron I always kept here.
Ghost had taken to leaning on a wall nearby, his expression stoic and calm, but there was a glint of interest in his eyes.
It was similar to the one I got whenever I saw something I wanted to know about.
I sent him a little grin and put on my white apron.
“I’m meant to steal one of these,” I whispered to Felix, who had the good sense to act scandalized.
“For whom?!”
“Clara.”
His anger faded and the little smile that swept his mouth was both brief and telling. “That little brat is going to eat us out of house and home.”
He adored Clara. She’d had it rough like me, and she didn’t have any family to call her own. She was putting herself through school and barely affording it. Her schedule was overwhelmed, and she rarely slept, so we both took very good care of her despite her not really knowing it.
Felix always kept a selection of his favorites for the day in a basket for her.
She didn’t know it was him. She thought it was me.
He’d insisted on it, saying that it was weird coming from an old man.
He didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable for taking anything or think it had hidden motives, so it’d become something of a secret between us.
My Old Man was genuinely too good for this world, and it was the exact reason I needed to live. I had a lot of years left to make him as happy as he made me.
After quickly slathering a few with frosting, the white-haired grump set aside four of the rolls into the usual basket, his withered hands gently working them in without scraping the frosting off.
“I think she likes yours better than mine,” he grumbled.
I threw an arm around his shoulders, the years of hard work and time weighing them down a little more every day, and hugged him close. I kissed his cheek, lips coming back all flour.
His glare didn’t have any heat to it. “What’s got you all touchy-feely today, Nomi?” His expression softened to concern. “Did you hear back from the agent?”
“No, nothing like that. Just missed you, I guess.”
Felix scoffed. “You saw me yesterday, you silly child.”
I laid my head on top of his, closing my eyes. “I know. It never feels like enough anymore.”
He was quiet for a second before I heard the genuine worry filter into his voice. “What’s wrong, baby girl? Did something happen?”
Felix only called me baby girl when I was upset.
It was the gentle approach he took when he first saw the bruises, when he realized my father was hurting me, when he knew I was hiding.
He always knew when I was upset, and I couldn’t hide it from him.
I never wanted to. And this was no different.
I wanted to tell him everything, no matter how crazy it all sounded, but I couldn’t.
“Did you get lucky with Maude yesterday?” I asked in a quick pivot.
His snarl made me laugh. “You’ve been reading too many of them whachyamacallits.”
“Smut novels?”
He made a throaty noise of embarrassment, and I giggled. “I’m still angry you got Mary addicted to them. That woman wouldn’t stop talking about it. Always yammering on and on about trying this and that.”
“Oh, you sly fox. You learned some new tricks? Go, Mary.”
Another humiliated sound fled him, and he struggled to say anything for nearly a minute. I laughed the entire time.
“I didn’t say that!”
“Sure you didn’t,” I teased.
The thought of Mary always made me want to both smile and cry. She’d been the mother I never had, and I missed her every day. Felix did, too. I was worried he’d never open his heart again, so the fact that he had was a dream.
If I died, at least he’d have Maude.
My throat was tight, and I had to blink away tears after turning my head just enough so he couldn’t call me out on them. In my periphery, Ghost watched. He was still silent, his face impassive, but his head had tipped slightly.
I wiped at my eyes and got to work frosting Felix’s batch of cinnamon rolls. I was much faster than Felix, and I’d have the entire batch ready before he did. I worked faster than I ever had, hoping to be of use to him in the ways I knew how.
His gaze would slip over to me every now and again, sensing something off, knowing I was hiding things, but he didn’t pry. Felix never did.
After the last batch of cookies came out, it was nearly three in the afternoon and I’d all but forgotten about Ghost. I searched the room, worried when I didn’t see him. Ignis bounced on top of the oven. Glacies was on our fridge, apparently knowing where they’d do the least amount of damage.
Ghost appeared next to me, his head canted to one side, staring down at the chocolate chip cookies I’d removed from the oven to cool. Felix had gone to the front to help Clara put some of the baked goods we’d made together in the display, and it was just the two of us.
I leaned in. “Want one? Or do you pull a full ghost and it looks like a cookie is levitating and being consumed by air?”
His lips twitched, but otherwise his expression stayed in place. “I don’t need to eat.”
A smile crept across my mouth as I lifted one. “But you can?”
His eyes went to mine before he leaned in to take a bite. My pulse reacted with a little too much enthusiasm. I expected him to take it, not eat it directly from my hand. And he didn’t take a small bite. It was a good half of the cookie that went into his mouth.
I stared a bit too closely as his tongue swept the chocolate from his lips, his expression still not giving his inner thoughts away, but the way he bent in for the rest told me enough.
A shocked breath left me as his mouth closed around my fingers and his tongue licked the rest of the cookie from them.
My skin prickled with sensation and a jolt raced my spine.
I didn’t breathe the entire time his tongue lapped gently at my fingers.
When he pulled away, my face was on fire and I didn’t have any hope of hiding it.
Holy shit. That was hot.
“It’s good,” was all he said as if he hadn’t licked my damn fingers of every bit of chocolate. Who knew eating a cookie could be so fucking erotic?
Thanks for the new fantasy, Ghost.
“Uh,” I murmured, at a loss. “Want another one?”
I was shameless, but in my defense, it wasn’t every day a girl had a sexy Horseman licking cookie off her fingers.
In my humble opinion, it was a damn shame that I hadn’t experienced it until this point.
Seemed like such a waste when I’d been baking for years and a gorgeous guy hadn’t come to clean my fingers with his tongue.
I stared at his mouth, but Ghost’s eyes went to the door. I went rigid when I heard someone come inside and pause.
“Nomi? Who are you talking to?” I heard Felix ask.
I twirled around, hiding my hand behind my back like it’d give me away. “No one. Myself. You know, rambling as I do. I was just thinking about this scene I read last night. Super hot.”
My Old Man’s face twisted, and the garbled noise that got stuck in his throat made me laugh. “I keep telling you to keep those blasted novels and their fanatical love stories out of my ears.”
“Why? Don’t you want some new moves to try on Maude?”
The heat in my face was all but forgotten when Felix’s became redder than mine was. I looked around for Ghost, but he’d taken to the corner again. It appeared I was the only one who’d been twisted around by that little moment between us. But of course. I was just the soul he was meant to protect.
I reminded myself that over and over as I helped Felix put the rest of the food into the display.