Baking Me Crazy (Donner Bakery, #1)(20)

"Where's Nero?" I asked, pulling my hands back once her legs were situated.

"Left him at home. Didn't want to scare off the new PT."

Grinning, I stood to grab a bottle of water out the fridge. "Need anything?"

"I'm good, thanks."

"How did it go? Was it a Denise 2.0, or did we actually manage an upgrade?"

Joss hated when I went to PT with her. Probably because with my degree, I was perfectly capable of helping her myself, but she wanted someone who wasn't so emotionally invested.

The irony of how little she knew of my emotional investment was not lost on me.

After draining half the water in two large swallows, I realized she hadn't answered me. When I turned, she was pulling herself up to sitting. I smiled at the absolute mess that was her hair. Half was still up in a bun while half fell around her face and shoulders.

"I like what you've got going on there," I said, lifting my chin at her head.

She patted her hair and groaned. As she went about fixing it, she sighed. "Yeah, figures that I look like absolute shit today."

"You don't look like shit," I said instantly. Joss raised an eyebrow at my tone but didn't comment. "Besides, since when do you care how you look at PT?"

Hair fixed and somewhat tamed, Joss looked me square in the eye, and blurted, "I'm having date feelings, and it's weird, and I don't know what to do about it."

I froze with the bottle halfway to my mouth. Where it was buried in my chest, protected by skin and muscles and bones, my heart turned over in an unhealthy, chugging motion. Biological impossibility aside, that was what it felt like.

Words sprang up on my tongue, and I breathed through them, taking my time to set down the water bottle before I joined her on the couch again.

Was this … was this it?

Her face didn't look dewy or glowy or suddenly transformed with I'm in love with my best friend feelings.

"Date feelings are good," I said carefully. Her eyes were watching my face so intently that I felt sweat break out on the back of my neck. "I've always enjoyed them."

The second she rolled her eyes, I knew I screwed up.

"That's not what I meant," I stammered.

Joss flopped back and stared up at the ceiling. "Of course you enjoy them. All you have to do is breathe, and every single woman under the age of eighty-two in Green Valley looks at you like you just cured cancer."

I breathed out a laugh, spearing a hand through my hair. The irony, the irony, the mind-bending irony of what she just said. Yeah, except for the one single woman who I wanted to look at me like that.

I felt like Joss just tossed me ass first into a minefield. Blindfolded.

One wrong move and kablooey.

In her lap, she was wringing her fingers together, one of her nervous tells. I sighed, leaning forward to lay my hand on hers. Finally, she dropped her chin and looked at me again. She looked miserable.

Okay. Time to be what she needs, I told myself. Not time to be what I want.

I got up from the couch and went to the cupboard next to the fridge. On the middle shelf, I always kept an emergency stash of her favorite snacks. She smiled when I tossed the bag of Twizzlers onto her lap.

Once I was back on the couch, my legs stretched out next to hers so that we were facing each other, I jerked my chin. "Talk to me."

I could do this. Joss pulled out a piece of licorice and chewed on the end, those beautiful eyes unfocused.

I could do this. For her.

"I've never had date feelings before," she said. "Until this week."

"Never?" I asked carefully.

She shook her head.

"And"—I swallowed—"and you are now?"

She nodded, her eyes pinched shut now. "It's complicated, though."

"H-how so?"

Joss opened her eyes, face scrunched up in misery. "It's my new PT."

"Oh shit," I whispered unthinkingly.

She dropped her face into her hands. "I know," she wailed. "It's awful."

Was

it

ever.

As much as I wanted to launch off the couch and pace the room to untangle my tangled, racing thoughts, she needed me more because she was so clearly uncomfortable.

"Sonic."

Her hands still covered her face. I smiled a little, reaching forward to pull them away. Her cheeks were flaming pink.

"Why is it awful?"

"I-I met him before today." My confusion must have been evident on my face because she exhaled heavily. "At the bakery. He came in twice before I had any idea he was my new PT."

"He was stalking you?" I roared.

Her mouth fell open at my reaction. "Whoa, psycho, dial it back about ten notches, okay? He didn't know who I was either."

My shoulders deflated a little bit, but man, my heart was one rough beat away from bursting out of my chest. "Sorry."

I didn't sound sorry. I sounded insane. With Herculean effort, I schooled my expression.

"Remember when you came in at the end of my shift today?" When I nodded, she scrunched up her nose. "Well, you were standing right behind him in line. That was him."

I hadn't paid much attention to who was in front of me. The only thing I could remember was that he was tall, about my height, and he'd left her money for a tip.