Patrick fumed. I could see he was ready to shove both of us aside, and I didn’t blame him. He didn’t want any of us dating his sister. We were all three interested in making a pass and perfectly content to leave it up to Petra to decide which one of us she wanted to pursue.
But Pat wanted all of us to keep it in our pants. I couldn’t blame him. If it was my little sister and a bevy of college teammates, I would probably have something to say about it too. But it wasn’t, and I didn’t. Instead, I was single-mindedly focused on how to get Petra alone.
I knew I was going to need some help. There were too many people in the kitchen and no opportunity to pull her aside. I was going to have to rely on Donovan’s charitable nature if I had any chance of thwarting Patrick and gaining access to the princess.
“Is there money in the budget for a new oven?” I asked.
Everyone turned to me.
“Why not?” Donovan asked.
“How is this going to work?” Petra hijacked the conversation, focused on her own desires. “I make a purchase and I ask you for reimbursement?”
“We can make an investment up front,” Donovan said casually, as if dropping loads of money was something he did all the time. “And you spend that down and let us know when you need more.”
“Where is the money going to be kept?” I asked studiously. I wanted to come up with a question that Donovan couldn’t readily answer. That way he would be forced to take some time to investigate—and hopefully take Pat with him.
“You can put it in the business account,” Chad offered, dollar signs lighting up in his eyes.
I could see that if he had his way, Petra would be moved to the side, and that’s not what any of us wanted. Donovan checked with me to make sure I was on the same page. A little farther away, Gavin perked up, his bullshit radar engaged.
“That’s not what we talked about,” Donovan reminded the owner.
“You can’t put it in her account,” Chad complained. “Who knows what she’ll do with it?”
“Why don’t I create a proposal?” Petra decided. “I can lay out all of the changes I want to make, and I’ll even give you a dollar figure for each of them.”
“That’s perfect,” Donovan said with a smile.
“I’ll get started right away.” Petra turned to me, the excitement on her face contagious.
I didn’t want to lose her to some dusty corner where she would sit down with a laptop. Drafting a proposal was all well and good, but we had plenty of time for that. I wanted a few moments alone with her first, just enough to tell her how I was feeling. It didn’t seem to be too much to ask, since she had captivated me since the moment I’d laid eyes on her. Just one minute was all I needed to make my case, maybe a few more to hear her response.
I made another pitch. “We can establish an escrow account.”
“That makes sense,” Donovan agreed.
“Why don’t you take Patrick with you to the bank?” I lowered my eyes, trying my best to communicate my intentions to Donovan without cluing the rest of the world in.
He picked up on the subtle message and smiled. With relief, I could tell that he got my drift and that he was going to play along. He put a hand on Patrick’s shoulder. “I could use your help, what do you think?”
Patrick looked pained. He didn’t want to leave me and Gavin alone with Petra, but he didn’t want to announce his objections either. If he drew a line in the sand, we would all have to acknowledge that there was something going on. For the moment, none of us had made a move. There was no indication we were planning to, either, aside from the devoted attention we were showing.
When Pat turned his back, I put my hands together in a prayer gesture. Donovan nodded but held up a single finger. I understood what he meant. I owed him one. He talked a good game about why he needed Patrick’s help to open the escrow account. Petra couldn’t do it; she was busy cooking. Chad couldn’t do it; we didn’t want him to have access to the money. Patrick was the only one available, and it was only going to take an hour or so.
“Petra’s virtue is safe,” Donovan teased.
“Stop,” Petra objected. “I don’t know what you guys are up to, but I have work to do.”
“All right,” Patrick agreed finally.
Donovan pulled his keys out of his pocket and led the way to the back door. He continued to talk as if nothing suspicious was happening. I flashed him a grateful smile as Patrick slid out the door, and one obstacle was removed. Two people were left: Gavin and Chad.
Petra continued chatting about all her ideas, to the dismay of her boss. He didn’t really care about the bakery, not like she did. All he wanted to do was continue withdrawing cash and using it to fund his own lethargic lifestyle. Petra had told me he came in around two in the afternoon if he deigned to show up at all. He ordered people around for about fifteen minutes and then disappeared into his office. He rarely stayed until closing, leaving all the heavy lifting to his staff. And the repairs that he promised never materialized.
He was just jealous that Petra was getting all the attention. It wasn’t that he had any better ideas about how to improve the business. He just wanted to be the one calling the shots. I’d had about all I could take of the pudgy little man, and I didn’t even have to work with him. I could just imagine how thin Petra’s patience was.
“I don’t see what any of this has to do with improving the lobby,” Chad complained.