The corner of his mouth lifts. “There was a time I did a lot of things I shouldn’t.”
Confessions are apparently a kink of mine. My curiosity swells as hot as my desire. “You can take me for lunch on Monday. I work every other day of the week.”
He lifts my chin higher with his knuckle. “I’ll come pick you up. We’ll go to La Taqueria for lunch. See you at eleven on Monday. And, Elodie?”
Our lips are millimeters apart. “Yeah?”
He drops his hand and takes a deliberate step back. “I might flirt a lot, but you’ll see that I’m very serious when it matters.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Elodie
I stuff all my tubs of cookie dough into the freezer. I have the options uploaded to my website. Checking the time, a full-body zing goes through me. I’m covered in flour dust and I’m in my frumpiest of sweats. I need to go from a chambermaid to a princess as quickly as Cinderella.
The back door dings open, and Clem wanders in, her hands full of envelopes. “Hey, El. I see you have your car back. That’s awesome. I came to help.”
I haven’t had a chance to drive it since Lane dropped it off this morning. Uncle Karl’s coming by tonight to get the loaner.
“Hey. Yes. The car is great.” I love seeing Clem, and I treasure the times she comes in to help me, but I haven’t told anyone about my... date.
My belly’s going wild, like I turned the standing mixer inside of it to high. I never meant to enter the dating world again. I had too bad of an experience, and I have way too much on my plate. Even more now, thanks to that previous experience. Damn him.
She stops and frowns, glancing around my sort of cleaned-up kitchen. She probably expected a mess. “I thought you’d be a whirlwind in here after how much dough we were moving.” She winks.
I ignore one of the many dough puns she’s made over the years. “I have something planned.” I shove a thumb over my shoulder. “I’ve gotta go get cleaned up.”
Tossing my mail on the table, she very much does not leave. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. I could use your help later though.”
She flips a few invoices over and slaps an envelope on top. “Why are you getting mail from Colorado Correctional Center?”
Cold washes through me, and I dig my fingernails into my palms. Damn him. First, his brother calls me and Cruz overhears me yelling. Now he’s writing? I thought Dwayne would give up when I never wrote back. “An old friend.”
She wiggles her finger at me. “What aren’t you telling me?”
So damn much, and I’m not going to start now. “Listen, I’ve got to get cleaned up. I’m going to lunch with a friend.”
“Campbell?”
“I have other friends.”
“Jamison.”
“God, Clem. Why are you so nosy?”
Unrepentant, she crosses her arms. “Since you cut me off for years. It didn’t do any good to give you space then.”
It did her a lot of good; she just doesn’t know it. Nor does she leave. “It’s Cruz,” I mumble and only to get her to drop the topic of Dwayne.
She cocks her head. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you. I thought you said it’s Cruz.” When I don’t correct her, her eyes fly wide. “He finally asked you out?”
“What do you mean finally?”
“That guy is into you.”
“He’s into every girl.” Just saying it feels wrong. I’m getting to know him and the falsity of the statement bothers me.
