“Sure thing.” She gives me the total and I pay. It’s a good thing tips were good over my last few days at the last job. “Can you stand right over there while they get your order together?”
“Absolutely.” Such a nice way to tell me to get out of the way so they can get the line down. I get why it’s packed. This is the best donut shop in town. Although it’s kind of funny there are two donut shops in a town this small. I don’t even know how the other one stays in business, but I don’t go to that side of town very often.
Within a few minutes my order is brought out and I struggle to get the door open. Maybe I’m doing too much, but I don’t care. At least everyone will start the day off with something to eat. I set the boxes and bag on top of my car, hoping the wind doesn’t knock them off, before unlocking and putting them in the passenger seat.
The flower shop is two streets over, and it doesn’t take me long to get there. Unsure of where to park, I pull into the same spot I had when I came in for my interview. I’m early and the lights are still off inside the shop, but I see Kai lingering by the front door.
Before I’m all the way out of the car, he cracks the door open. “Go down the alley and pull around back. We have parking there for employees.”
“You got it.” I watch him close and lock the door before turning away. I guess he was waiting for me. Though it would have been nice to know where I park from the beginning, I know now.
Now that I’m safely parked behind the shop, I notice there aren’t very many cars. There should be at least five, but aside from mine there are only three, plus the two delivery vans. I grab the boxes and bag before opening my door and stepping out.
Kai is at the door holding it open. “This will give you brownie points,” he points toward the boxes in my hand, “just please don’t say anything if you’re using it as a way to get into my sister’s pants. That’s more information than I want to have.”
He seems to be pretty chill about knowing Kate and I saw each other. It was just once, but I don’t think that typically matters when it comes to siblings. Though, I wouldn’t know since it’s just me. “Where is everyone?”
“The only one missing is my sister.” He leads me to a table in the middle of the room. I didn’t get to see this space the other day. It’s like a mini warehouse with shelves of vases, wire wreaths, and flowers. Each section properly labeled. “She started walking to work, like she usually does, but said it was too windy and went back for her car.”
“Why does she walk?” I know her apartment isn’t too far from here, but I still wouldn’t walk it every day.
“I don’t know. She said it helps her think and keeps her moving.” That makes sense.
“Well, hopefully everyone is hungry.” I set the boxes on the table. “I also brought orange juice. I wasn’t sure what everyone liked.”
“They usually live off of coffee.” Kai points to the coffee maker in the corner. “I honestly don’t see how any of them get actual sleep with the amounts of caffeine they take in every day, but to each their own. I’ll go let the ladies know there’s food.”
He walks toward the hallway and disappears into the office. I take a moment to study the room around me. Other than the van, it looks like this is where I’ll spend most of my time. I move toward the shelves, glancing over the labels and get a feel for where everything is. There’s another shelf that’s mostly empty with a label that says deliveries. It’s close to the door and where I assume I’ll be pulling orders.
I take a step to go down one of the aisles, but the door opens with a gust of wind and Kate walks in. Her hair is whipping in the wind behind her and she looks ethereal. Her eyes widen when she sees me and I don’t know if it’s because I’m actually here or if she’s surprised I showed up early.
Pointing toward the table in the middle of the room, I take a step toward her instead of further into the warehouse area. “I brought donuts.”
Why is that the first thing that pops out of my mouth. I’m a freaking idiot.
Chapter Seven
Kate
Xander in the middle of the warehouse isn’t what I expect to see as soon as I open the door. I’m fifteen minutes early, which is a miracle in itself. But that’s only because I usually walk to work. I am a little shocked to see that he was looking at the shelves. I don’t think even Kai knows where everything is, and he’s been working with us for a few months. Maybe we really can work together with no hard feelings.
I follow his finger as he points to the work table. There are in fact boxes of donuts sitting on the edge. We really need to do something about getting a break area. “Thank you.” I step further inside the warehouse and take off my jacket. The door slams shut behind me, and I jump. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“I know, but the other morning you ran out in a rush, and I have a feeling you don’t stop to eat breakfast most mornings.”
“So, you did it for me?” This will be more difficult than I thought. I can’t have him coming in here being all thoughtful and adorable doing nice things for me. It’ll make it that much harder to keep everything on a professional level. Even after our exchange after his interview earlier this week, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him. Hell, I haven’t even gone out, aside from last night when we had our girls’ night. All of the things I do on a normal basis have flown out the window.
He takes a step back. “N-no. It wasn’t just for you,” he looks around, “I brought it for everyone. I even grabbed some orange juice just in case, but Kai informed me when I got here that y’all drink coffee like its water.”
I feel slightly better at the admission. At least it wasn’t just for me. That would have been weird. We also live off of donuts here. At this point, I feel like we should have an order ready every morning.
“It’s fine.” My smile is tight. The need to give off neutral feelings is high. I have to go the extra mile to control my face expressions. Glancing around the warehouse, I don’t see anyone else. “Where is everyone?”
“Kai went to get them a few minutes ago, but they haven’t come out of the office yet.” Xander points at the shelves. “I was just looking over everything so I know where things are.”
“That’s actually pretty awesome.” I take a few steps into the room and throw my jacket on an empty chair. “Most of what you’ll need will be on this shelf over here. But when you aren’t making deliveries, it’s good to know where everything is.”
I walk along the line of shelves, closer to Xander. “Pretty much everything in this area stays the same. They are the basic flowers that most people want and we’ve learned how many to keep in stock on a daily basis.”
