“No, you’re right. You can’t risk it with Katy.” And now that she was dating Pierce, she also had an unlimited budget to wreak havoc if she wanted.
And she definitely wanted.
“She has access to every room key. They upgraded to the new swipe system and gave her control of the computers. Just go over and buy a muffin or something, but don’t let Imogen out of your sight. You don’t want her to become one of them.”
The image of Imogen wearing a bright pink apron and then sneaking off after her shift to cause destruction on the town horrified me. Pelican Bay had more shootouts than the Wild West. I wasn’t worried about Imogen carrying a gun, but I had nightmares she’d run off into the middle of a gun fight trying to save one of the wounded.
The bakery girls were a band of crazy women led by Pierce’s girlfriend. I couldn’t let Imogen look too interesting. Then they’d want to adopt her, but I didn’t see how that would be avoided if I took her to the bakery and waved her around like a bacon treat.
“Never,” I said, promising myself I’d hold on to her hand the entire time.
Drake shook his head solemnly, as if he knew my chances were slim. “Stay alert. They suck them in. There’s an entire network of them now. They’re everywhere in town.”
He wasn’t making me feel any better about the outcome of this excursion, but I also wouldn’t put it past Katy to break into our room if she didn’t get proof of life soon. They’d probably bring Pearl, and since Imogen tried to help everyone, she wouldn’t let me turn the old loon away.
“Fine. We’ll go over there and do a quick stop-in to make our faces known.” And when I said quick visit, I meant super quick. Step up to the counter, order something, step away from the counter. I wanted Imogen back in our bed within fifteen minutes. No, seven minutes. It wasn’t that long of a walk.
Who knew how long we’d have together before Ridge caught Bernard? We could spend an entire year just her and me in the small room, and it still would not be enough.
I walked back into our hotel room and slammed the door shut behind me.
Imogen propped herself up against the headboard, switching through channels on the TV. “Is everything okay?”
“Yes, but we have to go to the bakery,” I said, trying my best to make it sound as if it was no big thing, but I heard the terror in my voice.
Imogen must have missed it because she perked up immediately at the word bakery. “Oh. Do they have cupcakes?”
I paced quickly in front of the bed standing in front of the TV, uncaring about disrupting her view. This was more important. “Yes, Imogen. They have a little of everything. And sandwiches in the afternoon.” What they served for food wasn’t the important part. I found the mental patients who served the food more concerning.
“Why are you frowning over cupcakes? You never frown.”
Her cheerful expression fell slightly, and while I felt bad for taking the excitement from the cupcake she was clearly looking forward to, it was good to know she understood the severity of the situation. “Because I have to show you off to the town and I’m not ready.” It was the quickest explanation I came up with.
The minute we stepped into that bakery, we’d be phone tree fodder for the entire town. They’d probably take our picture and have it printed on posters introducing us to people. Once we walked past those doors, we’d belong to Pelican Bay.
“Getting a cupcake will show me off?” Imogen had to ask because she hadn’t been in Pelican Bay long enough. I kept her in an orgasm-induced contented state in our hotel room. But soon that would wear off.
I paced twice more as she tracked me in front of the television. “It’s a long story. There’s a phone tree and everything.” One more circle and then I had to get enough strength to go through with it. “Except now rumor is they have a Facebook group for faster reporting.”
Drake made valid points. Like an angry mob with pitchforks, they’d come for us eventually.
Everything about the situation was distressing. The problem was I couldn’t figure out a way to solve it. Normally, if things got this bad, I’d just throw money at it. Corbin and I didn’t like to toss around our cash too often, but at times it was necessary. And right now happened to be one of those times.
Except how would money fix it? Pierce planned on buying up the town as his own way of handling the problem. And now that he was dating Katy, I didn’t think she’d go away. What were we supposed to do?
Imogen leaned forward, staring at me as if I’d sprouted horns. “What are you talking about?”
I stopped mid-pace and turned toward her. “Nothing, but let’s go and get it over with.”
The walk to the bakery from the bed-and-breakfast didn’t take long on a normal day, but that afternoon it was exceptionally fast. In one breath, we were taking our first step off the porch steps and in the next, I was opening the door to the shop.
Thankfully, the place was mostly empty. We missed the morning rush and were too early for the afternoon one. But that didn’t mean the worst offenders weren’t taking up space in the den or horrors.
“Cyrus, how good of you to come and visit with us,” Katy said as she sat at the far back small round table directly across the cash register. “We’ve been waiting.”
Creepy.
A woman I didn’t know, but who had Vonnie embroidered into a bright pink apron, stood on the other side of the counter smiling at us with an expression that said if she were a wolf, we’d be her lunch.
