“Glad to see you’re in good spirits, Dom,” Brandon said and clapped him forcefully on the shoulder. “I found someone tohelp you at the bakery. This is Alecsandra,” his friend said and pointed to the beautiful Witch.
A tall, broad man stepped outside the bakery wearing nothing but black pajama pants. Immediately, Allie tried to Read him as she did Brandon, throwing her magic at him like a pointy arrow. She was met with an invisible wall of steel, making it impossible for her magic to reach him. Did he also not have magic? But still... She should have Read that.
The bothered man stared at her, his eyes falling and staying on her hair. Maybe he didn’t want to work with a Witch; not many people did, and Allie couldn’t blame him.
But she stared right back at his sleep-ruffled chestnut hair that swept his shoulders, his huge figure, his bare chest. Sharp jaw, handsome face. She bet his green eyes were breathtaking in daylight and hoped they were kinder when he wasn’t annoyed.
“She’s looking for a place to stay and a job,” Brandon described in her stead.
“And you thought bringing her here in the middle of the night was a good idea?” the man asked Brandon, who rolled his eyes in response.
“You’re looking for help, and she’s looking for work,” Brandon repeated and gestured through his words with open palms. They were quiet for a long moment, the tension building and growing like a creature between them. Allie tried to keep her eyes off the man’s naked chest, off his tense and well-defined muscles, off the tattoo around his left arm she couldn’t discern. She did a poor job of it, her eyes flicking back and forth between his skin and the doorframe.
Brandon groaned and sighed loudly before placing his hand on Allie’s arm. “This is Dominic Ranford, the owner of Dom’s Sweets. I promise he has manners,” he added, throwing a pointed look at the bakery owner as if daring him to prove him wrong.
“Hi, I’m Allie,” she rushed to say. “Allie Wells.” But judging by the way his mouth pursed and his brows furrowed into a sharp scowl…he was never going to call her Allie.
Dominic crossed his arms over his chest, the movement straining the muscles she strived not to stare at. He studied Allie as if he wanted to extract everything there was to know about her onto a piece of paper and read it rather than talk to her. His jaw clenched and his green eyes turned to slits.
“Do you have any experience baking?”
Allie knew there was only one answer she could give Dominic if she wanted to get this job. And she desperately wanted this job. At least for tonight, and for a couple of days, she had to work for him. If things didn’t work out, Sycamore Falls seemed big enough for her to find another place. Brandon had said there were mountains and forests around, which sounded like the perfect place for her to practice controlling her fire. Shehadto stay in Sycamore Falls.
“Yes,” Allie answered with fake confidence. “I used to bake with my mom.” Partially true, as Petra used to do all the baking, and Allie used to do all the eating. But Dominic didn’t need to know that.
“You would also be in charge of cleaning. Sometimes deliveries,” Dominic added, his scrutinizing look burning hot patches into her cold skin. His scowl remained intact, but he raised a challenging eyebrow. Did he expect her to refuse the additional tasks? Ha.
“That’s perfectly fine.” Cleaning and deliveries were part of her chores in the coven; cleaning was a daily duty, and she woulddeliver potions and other orders to the villagers two times per week. Granted, she knew Pearls Fields like the back of her hand, and Sycamore Falls was a few times bigger than her old village. But she would manage. She had to. She had to practice and master her fire, so she could go back to her coven and her life, and this was the perfect place.
“Why don’t you try to work together for a few days and see how it goes?” Brandon suggested, obviously out of patience. He took two steps back and saluted Dominic as the owner opened his mouth to argue. “Have a good night!”
And then he ran away from the bakery’s garden, leaving Allie alone with Dominic.
The mountainous man said nothing and continued to stare at her, as if she was an object of great confusion to him. Allie realized it was up to her to convince him to hire her through any means necessary. She wasn’t below begging, but she held a tiny flicker of hope that it wouldn’t get there.
“Look, Mr. Ranford,” she started and straightened her back, looking him in the eyes. “I’m a great worker, I never complain, and I will do my best to help you with anything you need.” All of these things were true. “Give me a chance, at least for a couple of days, and if you cannot make use of me, I will leave,” she promised.
Dominic didn’t bat an eye, didn’t even breathe for all she knew. And how was he standing half-naked in this cold without flinching, when Allie barely kept her teeth from chattering?
The fact that she couldn’t Read him didn’t give her peace. And with every second spent in his presence, Allie leaned toward him being a mean boss rather than a kind one. Nothing new under the sun—Lydia hadn’t exactly been the picture of kindness toward Allie in the months she’d spent with the Silverbarks. She could endure anything for the seven weeks before she went back to her coven and the familiar meanness of her Magistra.
“Please,” Allie added in her last attempt before resorting to begging on her knees. She held his scrutinizing look, although it chilled her more than the crisp night wind. After what felt like days with no end, Dominic exhaled and uncrossed his arms.
“The wage is one hundred per week, work starts at five every morning, and the bakery is open every day from half past eight to five in the afternoon with shorter weekend hours. Any questions?” Dominic asked as he turned his back on her, walking back into the dimly lit bakery.
“No!” Allie shrieked. Even if she didn’t know where she was going to stay, or what her early morning tasks were, or a bunch of other things. Instead, she squealed from the doorway, “Thank you, Mr. Ranford!”
Dominic stopped somewhere in the middle of the bakery and turned his head enough to grunt over his shoulder.
“Are you coming?”
Chapter 4
OUCH
Allie picked up her duffel bag and followed her boss into her new workplace, closing the door behind her. She stopped for a second to take in the cozy space, the light beige floors, and the ivory wallpaper patterned with wide flower petals. The front of the bakery and the right-side wall hosted five square wooden tables painted a creamy white, surrounded by velvet azure chairs. In the back of the bakery was a marble counter with a register and a shelved display case for the baked goods, and behind it, a smaller counter with a fancy coffee machine on top of it. Allie had used Sam’s coffee machine every day, but this one looked much more complicated than the one with two buttons. For the Silverbarks, she had ground the coffee beans freshly every morning using a mortar and pestle, then poured boiled water over the powder, wishing she had Sam’s coffee machine.
“This way.” Dominic’s thick voice hurried her steps. She followed him past the counters, down a narrow hallway with an open door on the right, revealing a huge kitchen space. A few steps farther, a wooden staircase curled to her right, a small door under it labeled “Storage Room,” opposite the last door on theleft. Dominic opened this door and turned the lights on. “This is your room.”
