Baking Me Crazy (Donner Bakery, #1)(14)

Levi's eyes focused on the menu, then he glanced meaningfully down at his watch.

I gave him a level look, unable to glare without drawing attention to the fact that I knew him. And no way was I introducing Levi into this moment. Thankfully, he'd known me long enough that he needed no more from me. He held up his hands and stepped back. Yes, my shift was technically over, but his impatient ass could wait.

"No dill pickle today," I said to Andy. "But the Holy Cannoli cupcake is pretty amazing. So are the almond croissants."

He smiled, digging his wallet out of his back pocket. "The cupcake sounds perfect."

Moving carefully, so I didn't repeat the pen debacle with the baked goods, I pulled one cupcake off the tray and placed it in the container. Once the lid was closed I slid it toward him.

"Two fifty, please."

"Keep the change," Andy told me, handing me a crisp five-dollar bill.

"Thanks. Enjoy the cupcake." I dumped his change into the tip jar. He smiled before he left, nodding at Levi as he walked out.

I swear, I tried not to check out his ass, but it was an actual physical impossibility.

Andy/Brad/Chris had a phenomenal ass. He had a phenomenal everything, actually. He stood roughly around Levi's height, so I knew he was taller than six feet.

"Ahem," Levi said, and I tore my eyes away from Andy's retreating figure. "I'd like four dozen cupcakes, please."

"Too bad," I mumbled.

"Ouch. So much for your stellar customer service skills." Then he smiled. "But hey, look how friendly you were with that guy. You didn't even look like you were in pain when you smiled so politely."

I laughed. I couldn't help it. After that, I had another first. My mouth opened to tell him, to explain why that was, but then I closed it again when the words didn't want to come out comfortably, when they didn't slide out naturally. As I stared at Levi over the counter, I realized I didn't want to confide in him about this.

It felt like … like I was doing something wrong, to tell him that a man I didn't know made my stomach do somersaults. Or that I managed to flirt without any embarrassing incident, pens aside.

Lightly, I shrugged one shoulder. "What can I say?" I told him, "I'm a pro."

"For real, though, can I get one of those pecan rolls? They look amazing."

I sniffed haughtily. "That's because I made them."

"Nice work, Sonic." I boxed it up and accepted the bills he handed me. Immediately, he opened the box and took a greedy inhale. "I hope you don't expect me to share."

Shaking my head, I backed up and turned toward the kitchen. "I'd never expect that. Hang on, let me get someone up here, I'll punch out and meet you in the front."

He nodded, mouth full of pecan roll.

"You are worse than an animal. You can't even wait to use a utensil?"

Levi grinned around the pastry, and I couldn't help but smile back. What an idiot.

By the time I met him out front, he was tossing the pink box into a trash can, then he turned and let Nero lick the remaining caramel off his fingers.

My boys, I thought. What would I do without them?

"Want to go play some basketball?" he asked when Nero had finished.

"Sure." He opened the door for me, and I hopped easily from my chair into the passenger seat. He picked up my chair and tossed it into the back of his truck "You just need to have me back home by two thirty. My PT appointment in Maryville is at four."

"See if they're hiring, by the way. Green Valley has a terrible hatred of any jobs for a guy with my impressive educational pedigree," he said as he got behind the wheel. "You sure you don't want me to come?"

I nodded. "Yeah, let me scope the guy out before I sic you on him. It's the least I can do."

Levi smiled proudly. "Everyone is scared of Nero, but really, they should fear me."

He puffed out his chest and I dissolved into helpless laughter. "You're ridiculous."

"Maybe I am," he agreed easily. He cut me a look as we drove away. "Work was good?"

I thought about Joy and Jennifer. Then I thought about Andy. "Yeah," I said slowly. "It was really good."

His smile was so happy, and I fought against my instinct that maybe it was strange that I didn't feel like I could tell him about Andy.

It was just new. And nothing would happen with it anyway. Or at least, that was what I told myself as we drove to the park. How very, very wrong I was.





Chapter 5





Jocelyn





Maryville Physical Therapy, a quick thirty-minute drive northwest of Green Valley, was a fairly nondescript office smack in the middle of a strip mall. It had been a couple of months since my last appointment, which was my own fault. I used the excuse of finishing up the school year and taking exams and writing papers, but the truth was that my progress was slower and harder than I wanted, which did nothing for my motivation lately.

I could still kick ass on the basketball court, and with Levi's help in the gym, my upper body strength was as good as it'd ever been. But the process of gaining enough strength to walk was frustrating. My steps weren't smooth or graceful. My legs swung out in an ungainly fashion, and I still had to hold one arm out in the air to maintain a sense of balance.