"Oh, my. You're right," I said. "Which color do you think suits me?"
Taking her task very seriously, Zoey looked around the store. She grabbed my hand and led me over to one of the racks. "Purple!"
Of course my fated mate's daughter had excellent taste. "Hey, purple is my favorite color. How did you know that?"
Zoey blinked like she'd accidentally done magic. "Whoa. Really?"
"Yup. Now, which one do you prefer: lilac, lavender, or this deep purple?"
She enthusiastically lined up the hem of each dress against my skin, nodding and mumbling to herself. Finally she nodded and said, "Deep purple."
"I think so too." I picked up the dress off the rack. "Shall I try it on?"
Zoey bounced on the balls of her feet. "Yeah!"
Since I didn't want to leave Zoey alone to use the change room, I put the dress over top of my clothes. Thankfully I was only wearing a white tank-top and tight black jeans so it was easy to get the dress on.
When I was outfitted, I grinned and spun around. "Well? How do I look?"
Zoey clapped. "Sooo pretty!"
"Now we're both pretty. Though you're still the prettiest one here."
Zoey beamed, showing off a gap in her teeth. It made me happy to see her so joyful. Even though I wasn't related to her by blood, I wondered if one day she might call me her dad.
But that meant admitting the truth to Chris—that we were fated mates.
I shook the thoughts from my mind, vowing to deal with them another time. Right now I had a job to do and a purple dress to buy.
Chris
It wasmy first day on the job at Puff Patisserie and it was everything I ever dreamed of. I was doing what I loved in a clean, welcoming environment and making a great wage doing it.
The best part? I could actually relax and enjoy myself knowing my daughter was in trusted hands. Zoey and I didn't spend much time apart. Since I was her only parent, we were together 24-7. At my other short-lived jobs, I'd brought her to work with me since I couldn't afford a sitter and had no other option. This was the first time we'd truly been separated. And honestly, it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be, and it was all thanks to Roshan.
My heart did an embarrassing little flutter at the thought of him. When Forest told me about him, I never imagined he'd be so generous, kind or funny. Andhot.Did I mention hot? They had seriously downplayed that part. Maybe Roshan wasn't Forest's type. That would be a relief, since that meant I had a better chance with him.
Ugh, what am I thinking? He's my manny. Not a date option.
Right. I couldn't go out with Roshan because technically, I was his employer. I never wanted to be a creep who hired someone just to hit on them.
But at the same time, I felt so light and comfortable around him. Being with Roshan was wonderful. It was never this nice with Tripp. I couldn't be imagining these feelings, could I?
I vented my frustration by pounding a piece of dough. Stupid emotions.
"Working hard or hardly working, eh?"
I looked up from the dough massacre to see Forest strolling into the baking room. They pointed at my dough lump and grinned. "I think it's already dead, Chris."
I molded it back into shape. "Nah, look. I can still save it."
They chuckled. "There's no customers up front and I'm on break so I thought I'd check up on you. How's your first day been?"
"So far, so good. Despite what it looks like, I'm enjoying the job a lot." I added sheepishly, "I usually don't punch my dough, by the way."
Forest shrugged. "Hey, I'm no baker. If beating the crap out of it makes it taste better, you do you."
We shared a laugh. I liked working with Forest. They were easygoing and warm compared to some of my ex-coworkers.
