“Are you even listening to me?” Sunny yelled.
I shook my head. No, I was too consumed with the crisis that was this skirt on her all-grown-up body to hear a word she’d said. Didn’t she know she wasn’t allowed to turn my world upside down with askirt? And that shirt. Holy fuck, that shirt. “What problem are we having today, Sunny?”
She held up a piece of paper. I didn’t look at it. “You tried to buy my building.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. It did nothing to slow the riot behind my ribs. The entire staff was watching, even Chef, who’d been known to fling spoon at anyone who gave him less than their complete attention.
That evil grin fixed on her inconveniently beautiful face, Sunny said, “Before you come back with another offer, you should know I’m not selling. I own the bait shop free and clear, and that’s not about to change.”
Sheownedthe building?
Little Sunny Du Jardin owned commercial real estate and she did it in a shirt that commanded me to get naked and a skirt that would hit the floor with one good pull. And there was something very wrong with me because I couldn’t understand how I had these thoughts about someone who, in my mind, was still in elementary school and screeched every time Lance and I so much as walked by her bedroom.
“Why can’t you be a normal, decent human person?” Sunny asked. “If your solution to everything you don’t like or can’t control is to buy it and make it go away, you have a lot more problems than I thought. You need to find a good therapist because none of this ismyproblem.”
She slapped the paper—the purchase offer, by the looks of it—against my chest.
“You tried to buy the bait shop?” Mel asked under her breath. “Really?”
“We need the space,” I said. Pathetically. “For outdoor seating.”
“The bait shop was vacant for at least a decade,” Sunny went on. “And now—today—you decide youmusthave it? That you need to expand your empire right this instant? Does that even make sense, Beckett? Because it sounds like you don’t want any other businesses down here and decided to throw some money around to get your way.”
“I made a strategic assessment since returning to Rhode Island,” I said, as detached as I could manage whileGET NAKEDburned behind my eyes. “That it coincides with the opening of your little outpost is irrelevant.”
She glared at me, her gaze viciously cold. God, this girlhatedme. Which was excellent, considering my immediate reaction to her was complete depravity.
“What did you think you were going to gain from this stunt of yours?” she asked. Her voice was low and soft in a way that tiptoed across the back of my neck and gave me the impression she’d take pleasure in strangling the life out of me. “What did you think was going to happen, Beckett?”
I gave a disinterested shrug and glanced at my phone. “As you’ve already stated, expand the so-called empire.” I paused to read a new text from that unknown number and cement my status as an ultra-premium asshole. “This has nothing to do with you. Business is never personal.”
“My business is really fucking personal and yours should be too.”
I didn’t hear half of what she said because I was staring at her lips, which were only slightly more inappropriate than her shirt. And that pull-off skirt. I slipped my hands into my pockets to steady myself. “We’ll agree to disagree on that. Now, unless there’s more thunder and lightning you wish to unleash on my kitchen, why don’t you run along. Certainly there are some flowerpots for you to rhapsodize over or some carrot water to sell.”
To my mind, it made perfect sense to give her all the reasons in the world to hate me. The more she hated me, the farther away she’d stay. Skirt out of sight, skirt out of mind.
But I didn’t expect to feel like fresh garbage when my words hit her like a slap across the face.
I didn’t expect to hate myself right along with her and I didn’t plan on wanting to snatch those words out of existence and promise I hadn’t meant any of it.
Thankfully, Sunny saved me from acting on those reactions.
She propped her fists on her hips and squared her shoulders, and part of me braced for impact while the other was so fucking proud of her for refusing to take my shit that I almost smiled.
“I’m a kind person,” she said. “Actually, I’m very kind. Most everyone agrees. I’m also really tolerant and accepting. I let people live their lives and respect that everyone is going through something I’ll never understand. But you’re being outrageous and unreasonable. I don’t know what your problem is with me but I’m not going to put up with it any longer. If you want a war, Beckett, I’ll give you a war. I just hope you know what you’re asking for.”
With that, Sunny turned from the kitchen and stormed out the door, her skirt billowing around as she walked, her sandals echoing off the hardwood floors.
No one made a sound until the entrance door rattled shut behind her. Only then did Mel murmur, “Holy shit.”
I collected all the scattered pieces of me in time to look like I had everything under control when I turned back to the staff. “I believe Chef was discussing the second of tonight’s entrée specials. Let’s not waste any more of his time.”
Beside me, Mel pressed a hand to her mouth to conceal a laugh. “She’s scary as fuck. I think I like it.”
Yeah. Join the club.
chapterseven
