“So no more cakes.”
“No, ma’am.”
“What if I pay for the cake?”
“There isn’t anyone to make the cake right now. The bakery’s completely shut down.”
“What if I wait for a bit?”
I paused. “Waiting won’t do you any good. There’s no one here to make your cake.”
“Well, can you call someone in?”
“To make your cake?”
“Yes. Aren’t you listening?”
Miss Blue Ice Cream Spoke up. “I need help. This is melting, and I need you to help me.”
I sighed. “Then go put it back so it won’t melt. I can be there in a second to help you track down some rocky road in a blue container.”
Mrs. Carrot spoke up. “Oh, a blue container? If you like non-dairy products, there’s a rocky road in a nice light blue container at the end of the aisle, on the left. It’s tucked beside the sherbets.”
Were these people fucking serious right now?
Thankfully, Bryan came over and busted up the convention. Which enabled me to check out the three customers that had gathered around my register. I checked them out, moving as quickly as I could while Bryan dealt with the crazy that had been dumped into my lap. He checked them out personally, thank fuck. Before disappearing into his back office to take ‘a breather.’
Like he’d put in some hard work for the day or some shit.
“And here I thought I’d find you smiling.”
The second I heard Clint’s voice, a massive smile did cross my face.
“Just like that one, actually.”
I giggled. “What the hell are you doing here?”
He leaned against my kiosk. “Maybe I came to see a gorgeous girl. Or maybe I came to pick up an apple.”
“Or maybe you came to distract yourself because your father’s back home.”
“Maybe you’re smarter than you look.”
I laughed as he leaned over, kissing me on the cheek. Thankfully, we were tanking into my last hour of work before the store had to close down. Which meant not many more people would come in. I leaned my hip against the register, gazing into Clint’s eyes. I enjoyed having him there. He’d already popp
ed in on me a couple of times to say ‘hello’ and grab something for Cecilia. But he hadn’t ever stuck around.
Until now.
I licked my lips. “I take it you have nowhere else to be?”
He winked. “You mean, other than home? Come on, don’t you remember? I reorganized my priorities. I’m a brand new man.”
I rolled my eyes. “Until your father leaves to go back out of town.”
He shrugged, and it made me shake my head. He was relentless in all the best ways. I reached out for his arm, patting it softly before his hand fell on top of mine. He brought my hand to his lips to kiss, sending goosebumps traveling up my arm.
And I watched his eyes follow their trail.