Her chin lifts. “No. I refused because I hate you.”
I exhale, steady, even. Then I reach up and undo my tie. Watch her eyes bug out as she realizes what I’m doing.
“NO CROISSANTS, NO PEACE!”
I twist off my dress shirt. It’s not lost on me that her gaze slides down my face to my collarbone, down my chest, down…
The chanting starts to trail off.
“Are we sure he needs to be protested?”
“He’s a liar and a thief!”
For a second, I wonder if Winnie knows about the dress. And the panties.
Her granny waves her knitting in my face.
“I think”—I raise my voice over the chanting—“that we might have had a little miscommunication.”
“There’s no miscommunication.” Winnie makes air quotes. “I reviewed the paperwork. You’re evicting me.”
“It was a suggestion, Creampuff. I’m open to negotiation.” I sprawl on the couch.
“Well, that sounds reasonable. Maybe we should hear him out,” one elderly woman says, lowering her voice.
I’m trying very hard to look only at Winnie.
Winnie is losing it. “You’re just pissy because I’m talking to other developers.”
“Damn right you are. Know your worth!” Her grandmother whoops.
“I agree,” I say smoothly. “And I love an independent baker.”
A blue-haired lady hands me yarn and needles. “He sounds like an ally.”
Crawford and his team burst through the front doors, stopping short when they see the banners.
What the fuck, Crawford mouths.
I shrug one shoulder, sending the elderly women tittering.
Crawford moves in closer, gets a view full. “You didn’t tell me they were ass-fucking naked,” he hisses to me.
“Have you come to join the knit-in as well?”
Crawford backs away. “Some marine you are.”
A couple ladies admire my needlework. “And now, that’s a very clean stitch. You should come to our knitting club.”
“Is Winnie in it?”
“No,” the baker snaps. “Winnie has a real job.”
“Wandering around all alone with a box of pastries isn’t a job, Creampuff. It’s a kink.”
“Oh, look at that cable stitch.” The ladies all crowd around, making noises of admiration.
“You all are terrible protesters. Hold the line!” Gran hollers.
