Chapter 12
After Lonnie had left the night prior, Alexis tried to work quickly to get all the orders done, but she was tired. She didn’t get out of the shop until almost two in the morning, and then had to be back there at five to get started on more orders.
When Melissa walked in a few hours later, she stopped short and stared wide-eyed at Alexis. “What happened? Were we robbed?”
Alexis dragged the back of her forearm across her forehead and sighed, looking around at the mess before her. She hadn’t had time to clean up the extra mixing bowls and decided that was a problem for another time. But she was getting dangerously low on supplies.
“Nope. This is just me trying to hurry.”
Melissa walked to the kitchen and put her hands on her hips as she looked around. “Okay. Okay. No big deal. We’ve got this. Where are you with orders?”
Alexis tipped her head toward the daily order summary they always kept on hand. They made it a habit to always mark things off in stages so that if either of them walked into the kitchen in the middle of an order, they would know where the other was in the process.
Melissa looked it over and nodded. “Okay, you’re making great progress. Stop stressing. I’m going to load the dishwasher to take care of some of the mess, and then I’ll get on the next order.”
“Thank you.”
Melissa filled the dishwasher and got it running before filling up the display case and then moving to the next order. They didn’t talk as they worked, but Alexis barely noticed. She was stuck in her own head about the night before.
Lonnie kissed her. She hadn’t been kissed since Vic. And had never been kissed like that. Her face heated at the thought, and she pulled her lip between her teeth to fight the smile.
The bell above the door jingled, and Alexis looked up. She hadn’t even realized Melissa had unlocked the door for customers.
“I’ll get it,” Melissa said. She walked to the front counter and greeted the customer.
Alexis half expected it to be Lonnie since he was usually one of the first customers in for the day, but it wasn’t him.
All she could see was the same strange man who had been in the day before, and his eyes were zeroed in on her despite her being toward the back of the kitchen.
The hair on her arms immediately stood on end.
“Is this all you’d like?” Melissa asked.
Without taking his eyes off Alexis, he nodded and handed over the cash.
“Have a great day,” Melissa said.
The man turned and walked to the door, looking back at Alexis once more before disappearing out the door.
Alexis gasped for air as soon as he was out of sight.
She hadn’t realized she had been holding her breath, but something was seriously wrong with that guy.
She racked her brain to see if she recognized him, but came up empty.
As far as she knew, he didn’t work for Vic, but just because she didn’t recognize him didn’t mean he didn’t.
“That was weird,” Melissa said. “Did you see the way he was staring at you?”
Alexis could barely register what Melissa said as the bell above the door jingled again. Lonnie stepped inside and immediately frowned.
“Are you okay?”
Melissa shook her head. “This really weird guy was just in here. He gave me the creeps, and he just stared at Alexis the entire time. It was seriously the weirdest thing.”
Lonnie moved back to the door and opened it, looking up and down the sidewalk before coming back inside. “What did he look like?”
Melissa shrugged. “There wasn’t anything special about him. He was just some guy. Dark hair. Wearing all black.”
“Have you seen him before?”
“I don’t know. I don’t think so?”
“Yes,” Alexis said. “I have. He was here yesterday morning. Right after you left.”
“Was he acting weird then too?” Lonnie asked.
Alexis nodded. “Yeah. He stared at me then too. He was just really creepy.”
Lonnie frowned and looked out the window. “Let me know if you see him again.”
Melissa walked to the back, leaving Alexis to help Lonnie. Alexis pulled out a box she had prepared for him with the chocolate cupcakes she had made the night before. Lonnie’s eyes lit up when he saw them, but then he frowned at her.
“I’m so sorry I had to leave last night,” he said, his voice low so Melissa couldn’t overhear them. “It was seriously bad timing.”
Alexis tried to smile at him, but still felt off from the previous customer. “It’s okay. I knew it wasn’t avoidable.”
Lonnie tilted his head and studied her. “I’m going to come by in the morning as soon as you open and hang out for a bit, if you’re okay with that. You could put me to work as well.”
Without realizing how stressed she was over the stranger in her shop, immediate relief flooded through her. A genuine smile lifted her lips, and she sounded hopeful as she looked up at him. “Really?”
He smiled. “Really. I also want a do-over for last night.”
Alexis leaned against the counter with a smirk. “Are you sure you can handle that?”
He leaned in. “Oh, I can handle it.”
She stared into his eyes. If either of them leaned only a few more inches, their lips would connect. The bell overhead jingled, and she jumped away from him as if she was a teenager not wanting to get caught. Her face flamed.
Lonnie only smiled back. He slid cash across the counter and took his box of cupcakes. “I’ll see you tonight, beautiful.”
Then he disappeared through the door.