19. Chapter 19
Chapter 19
Nellie
“ S o what happened last night?” Ava asked, dropping her towel onto the prep counter and leaning against it. She crossed her arms over her chest, tilting her head to the side like she already knew the answer to her question. If only she really knew.
I shook my head, using my own rag to swipe at a spot that was already clean. I didn’t look up from the overly-shiny counter. “Nothing.”
“Nothing?” The disbelief in Ava’s voice was high-pitched and echoed off the mostly-steel kitchen. “The dishes were still in the sink this morning when I got here, and you never do that. And you’re blushing, and you only do that when—”
“Okay, stop.” I interrupted her, earning a wide grin when I put my hands up to stop her mid-assumption.
Ava pumped her fist in the air and squealed. “Something did happen! I knew it!”
“Ava, drop it.” I covered my face with my hands, pressing into my temples with the tips of my fingers. “It was nothing. Nothing. Happened.” I emphasized both words to convince her, but I felt my cheeks getting warmer.
Her eyes got wider, and she clapped her hands together. “Oh my God. You slept with him, didn’t you?”
“What?” I shrieked, taking a stumbling step back from the counter and frantically waving my arms in front of me. It was important to stop her excited train of thought before she convinced herself it was true. Nothing happened. “No! I did not sleep with him!”
My best friend tilted her head and rolled her eyes, scoffing overly dramatically. “You’re lying. I know you are. Something happened.” She slammed her hands into the counter, widening her eyes. “ Spill.”
“Okay, fine,” I sighed. I never could resist telling her everything. She was my best friend. I lowered my voice to a whisper to stop the empty bakery from overhearing. “We kissed.”
“Oh my God, I knew it!” Ava screamed. If anyone had been in the bakery, they heard the whole thing. “You kissed him! Tell me everything!”
Before I could figure out how to put into words the way Ronan’s kiss made the world around me disappear, or the way that same world came crashing back as soon as I remembered who he was, the bell above the front door rang. Relief flooded me, and I shrugged, as if to explain that I couldn’t possibly tell her the story because we had a customer. She grumbled behind me when I hurried to the front counter. I knew she was going to bring it back up later.
When I turned the corner, I recognized the man looking at the pink counters with a concerned stare. He looked more intimidating when he wasn’t snatching macarons from the table and skipping away. He looked scarier. A lot scarier. It was the reckless look in his dark eyes.
“Enzo?” I asked, trying to figure out why Ronan’s cousin was standing in my bakery. “What are you doing here?”
When he smiled, the dimples in his cheeks popped, but I felt instantly more nervous. “I came for some more of those cookies.” He chuckled, and the heaviness in the air around us lightened. I laughed, thinking about the number of macarons he’d eaten at the party. How was he not sick of them?
“I don’t actually sell those in the shop.” I shook my head apologetically, looking at the cupcake cases. “Just cupcakes. Those were only for the party.”
Enzo half-sighed and half-groaned, dropping his head back like a toddler about to throw a fit. Then, he zoned in on the case, putting his finger against the glass and leaving a smudge I’d have to clean off when he left. “Okay, fine. Give me two of these chocolate ones with the little pink sprinkles.” He paused, scanning the room. “Geez. What’s with all the pink?”
I pulled two cupcakes from the tray and put them in a box, packaging it up and entering the sale into the register. He looked at the bow on the box and scowled, sliding me a black credit card. “People like pink,” I said, following his stare and blushing. “Or at least, I do.”
When I gave him his card back, he nodded, as if accepting my explanation. Then, he took the box and carried it to one of the tables off to the side. I scrunched my nose when he sat down with a huff, tearing the bow from the box and pulling out one of the cupcakes.
“Who’s that?” Ava asked from behind me, causing me to jump. I placed my hand over my chest as my heart thumped harder.
“What?” I asked her before her question caught up to me. “Oh, that’s Ronan’s cousin.”
Ava shrugged. “He’s kinda cute,” she said while he took a big bite out of his cupcake, letting crumbs tumble down the front of his shirt and onto the table. “And messy. Maybe also a little scary.”
I nodded, agreeing that somehow, the man covered in chocolate crumbs with frosting on his lip was scary. When he looked up, I realized we were both staring at him, and when he lifted his brows, I knew he realized it too. My stomach sank, heavy with sudden embarrassment. Ava didn’t look away—she was rarely as embarrassed as I was. It had been a game for us once upon a time to see how easily she could make me blush and hide my face in the grocery store or at the bar.
“What’s he doing here?” she asked loudly. Enzo chuckled.
“I’m here to make sure you’re safe,” he said casually without getting up from the table. He grabbed the second cupcake, peeling the paper off and dropping it back into the box.
I sighed, and I heard Ronan’s voice in my head as if he were standing on the other side of the counter. I’m protecting you. “I don’t need a security detail,” I said. Enzo shrugged, not caring about my objection.
“I’m not a security detail.” He leaned back in his seat, and I bit back a chuckle at how ridiculous he looked. His clearly expensive suit was a major contrast to the baby pink chair he sprawled out in.
Ava didn’t hide her amusement. “Then what are you?”
“I’m just a guy eating a cupcake.” Enzo took another bite, dropping more crumbs onto the floor. He crossed his leg, making himself comfortable.
I sighed, and Ava laughed, throwing her head back. “He’s got you there, Nel.”
“Fine.” I rolled my eyes. “But unless you buy more, once that cupcake is gone, you need to go.” Enzo nodded in a way that told me he heard me, but he wasn’t going to listen. I groaned.
When the door opened and the bell rang again, I swallowed the annoyance, replacing it with the customer service smile I had spent years mastering. Stu walked in, and I noticed Enzo stiffened when I did. I swallowed, sucking in a deep breath. “Hey, Stu!” I sounded overly excited, and he pursed his lips.
“Nellie.” He nodded, scanning the bakery with a look of disappointment etched in his shallow wrinkles. “I think you know why I’m here.”
I nodded. “I do, and I have good news.” My voice lifted, and Stu cringed. “I have the downpayment! I had a big catering job, and I have the money now. I can pay you!”
He looked down, and his shoulders sank, along with my excitement. “It’s too late,” he said with a single shake of his head. “That’s what I came here to tell you. The building has been sold. I was able to get you an extra thirty days to move out.”
“Wait, what?” The room started to spin around me, and I planted my hands against the counter to keep my balance. “You told me if I got the money…”
Stu looked the same kind of apologetic he did when he told me the building was up for lease. “I’m sorry, Nellie.” He wasn’t sorry.
“So I only have thirty days?” I looked around the pink bakery, trying to stabilize the ground beneath my feet. Ava put her arm around my shoulders, and the spinning room came to a sudden halt before it blurred behind a wall of tears.
He nodded. “You have thirty days.” He turned to leave, and when he got to the door, he pulled the yellow sign that had been taunting me out of the window. My heart pounded into my ribcage, and my pulse throbbed against my eardrums. “I’ll be in touch,” he said. When he left, the bell over the door rang. It felt so final.
“You okay?” Ava asked when the door slammed behind him. I shook my head, clamping my eyes shut.
“No,” I said. The lump in my throat started to suffocate me even before Enzo stood up from his seat. I put my hand up. “But I will be.”
She smiled sympathetically, tightening her hold on me and pulling me against her for a hug. “ We will be,” she said. “We’re going to find a new building. I promise.”
“I know we will.” I smiled at her even as tears painted a trail down my cheeks. I wiped them away, brushing my hands on my apron to dry them. Then, I straightened my back just as the door opened again. I looked in the direction of the bell.
“Welcome in,” Ava said, skipping her usual quirky greeting.
The man stared at me, and the intensity of his green eyes made my blood run cold. When Enzo sat forward on the edge of his seat and fixed his sleeves, he glared. I shivered. “What can we do for you?” I asked. My voice was warm and sweet despite the nerves that half-paralyzed me.
Something felt off about the man. His red hair was nicely styled, and his matching beard was perfectly groomed. The suit he wore was as nice as Enzo’s, and the fabric was free of all wrinkles. He tugged the sleeve, fixing the cuff on his wrist. Then he smirked, and I gulped, swallowing the anxious nausea that burned the back of my throat.
“I hear you’ve got pretty good cupcakes in here,” he said in a thick accent before licking his lips.
I narrowed my eyes when Enzo clenched his hands into fists. Did he have a gun like Ronan’s? I imagined one hidden behind his waistband, realizing when he opened and closed his fist again that he was probably more likely to use his hands. I glared at him, shaking my head as if to tell him to behave. Like he’d even listen to me.
“We definitely do,” I said. “Some of the best.”
The man lifted a single brow, and his crooked smile made my stomach flip. “Good,” he said, approaching the counter. He lowered his voice. “I’ve been looking for a good place to feed my sweet tooth.”
“Well, unfortunately, we’re closing in two weeks.” I shrugged, like my heart didn’t break with the words, as if I hadn’t just dried the tears from my cheeks. “The building owner sold the place.”
When the man leaned against the counter, I caught a whiff of his strong cologne. He smelled musky, like wet grass with a hint of spice. “That’s too bad,” he said, lowering his voice until it got slightly husky. “Where will you move?”
Enzo stood up, causing the pink chair he was seated in to scrape against the floor. The sound interrupted us, drawing our eyes in his direction. He sat back down, but his glare carved itself deeper into his face.
“I—I’m not sure yet,” I stuttered, forcing my stare away from Enzo.
The man reached back into his pocket, and Enzo stood back up, reaching for his hip. He did have a gun. “Well, when you start to look, let me know.” He handed me a card, and I read it quickly, scanning over his name. Brian O’Malley.
“You need to go now,” Enzo said. I hadn’t seen him cross the bakery, but he was suddenly standing directly behind the man. Be careful you who you take help from.
Brian lifted his hands, but the smirk on his face didn’t match the innocent gesture. Did they know each other? “I’m just buying some cupcakes.”
“No, you’re not,” Enzo said harshly. “You’re leaving.”
I cleared my throat. “You don’t get to tell my customers to leave.” I stomped my foot, smacking my hand against the counter and glaring at him. Who did he think he was? I lifted my finger, pointing it at him like my mother used to when she scolded us. “This is my bakery, not yours.”
“I’m looking out for your best interests.” Enzo’s voice was low and controlled, but it dripped with an unspoken threat. “I’m protecting you.” He emphasized each word, and when Brian turned to argue, my frustration erupted.
“And I told you I don’t need your protection.” I set the empty box back on the table, pointing toward the door. “You both need to leave. Now.”