“Guess I’m a bit distracted today.” Distracted and counting down the minutes until I could go home for a nap. I seriously regretted not inviting Teddy in last night. A round of orgasms would have made it much easier to sleep.
Instead, every time I closed my eyes I replayed our interactions from the past week. Things had been heating up a bit more with every day we got closer to the end of the remodel. I realized that I’d been the one teasing him, testing his restraint. Brushing against him whenever I got the chance just to see how he’d react.
“Oh? Would this have anything to do with a certain handyman who’s not here for you to follow around like a puppy?” She disappeared into the walk-in before I could argue. Lacey wagged a finger at me as she came out of the cooler. “Don’t you look at me like that, Shiloh. You know I’m right. And I think it’s cute that you have a crush on him. You could certainly do worse.”
“It’s not a crush,” I protested. Because it wasn’t. It was so much worse than that.
If it was just a crush, I wouldn’t have tossed and turned last night, wishing I’d invited Teddy into my house so we could pick up where I’d cockblocked us the first time he came over for dinner.
“Interesting.” Lacey hummed as she sliced tomatoes for her catering order.
“What’s interesting?” After being called out for almost completely screwing up a recipe I made three days a week, I double checked every container before measuring and and pouring the dry ingredients into a bowl.
“You say it’s not a crush but you didn’t deny missing him being here during the day.”
Shit. She was right. Not that I’d tell her that. “Don’t be stupid.”
“If anyone’s being stupid here, it’s not me.” She paused long enough to send three loaves of bread through the slicer. “You give everything you have to keeping this place running. I haven’t seen you so much as look at a guy since we met. I was starting to worry you were asexual and didn’t know it.”
“What makes you say that?” I gaped at the back of her head. There were times I almost regretted having my first and best friend in Harmony Grove working as my right hand at the bakery. She knew way too much about my life.
“Seriously? Until Teddy, you didn’t flirt withanyone. You never talk about getting laid. You don’t date. So, either you’re a workaholic who planned on pushing his personal life to the side until he was too old to have fun or you’re ace and in denial because you think there’s something wrong with not experiencing attraction the same was as everyone else.”
“Do you know how weird it is that you sit around thinking about my sex life?” Knowing she’d given this level of thought to my sexual identity was only eclipsed by the face she thought nothing of making it the topic of conversation while we prepped for lunch.
“It’s better thinking about yours than feeling sorry about not having one of my own,” Lacey shot back with a smirk. “I’m just saying, seeing you all flustered and lovestruck is good. You need some excitement that doesn’t involve kneading dough or counting inventory.”
I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t help the slight smile that spread across my face. She always had a knack for saying the right thing, even when it was wrapped in teasing banter.
“Okay, so let’s say for the sake of argument that I do like Teddy,” I started, and Lacey’s eyes widened with anticipation. If she wanted to stick her nose where it didn’t need to be, I was going to have a bit of fun with her. “How would you suggest I proceed?”
Who knew, maybe she had some great advice I could use to finally take things to the next level.
My thoughts were interrupted when the back door opened and Teddy walked in, carrying his tool bag. My heart leaped and my entire mood brightened. There was no way Lacey would let this go now.
“Hey, Shiloh. Lacey,” Teddy greeted with a smile.
“Hey, Teddy! We were just talking about you,” Lacey responded. I managed a nod, my tongue suddenly feeling too big for my mouth.
“I just came by to let you know I fixed the back door hinge. I noticed it was loose yesterday afternoon. And, uh…” Teddy shifted on his feet. “I was wondering if you’re free tonight. I’d like to invite you over for dinner.”
My breath caught and my eyes widened. I was so taken aback that it was Lacey who saved me, nudging me with her elbow.
“Say yes, you idiot!” she hissed under her breath.
“Yes,” I blurted out. “I’d love to.”
Teddy grinned. “Great! Come by around five?”
“Five sounds good,” I managed to say without sounding like a complete dork. Not many people around here at dinner that early. Lacey usually picked on me for eating at an old man hour but it worked with my schedule. I liked that I didn’t have to explain that to Teddy.
Teddy waved goodbye and left the bakery. The moment the door closed behind him, Lacey was in front of me, a victorious grin on her face. She grabbed box off the stack she was opening and setting up and started fanning herself dramatically.
“See? I knew there was something between you two!”
I felt my cheeks flush, but this time I didn’t deny it. What was the point? “It’s too early to say if there’s something or not. But yeah, now that the remodel’s done we’ve talked about spending some time together.”
Lacey looked at me with soft eyes. “You deserve a personal life. You deserve to be happy. We both do. Life hasn’t always been easy, but that doesn’t mean we should stop looking for something good. We need to remember that and not let this place turn into a hidey hole where we can ignore what really matters in the long run.”
