I assessed him, my eyes trailing his form until I stopped on the envelope in his hands. No. I could not deal with legal issues right now. Panic clawed at me. “Oh God. Are you suing me for some bullshit reason? Taylor, I can’t afford to be sued. I’m barely keeping things going as it is.”
“No, I’m not suing you. Why would I be suing you?”
Thank God. My relief was so palpable that I nearly wept. “Then why are you here?”
“Can we go inside? I’m fucking frozen.”
“You’re a hockey player. It’s thirty-five degrees out here. Don’t you have, like, superhuman powers of cold deflection?”
His chest got all puffed up as my comment landed. “While I love that you think I’m a superhero—”
“Villain.”
“I’m not dressed like a hockey player. I still get cold. Besides, if memory serves, you like a bad boy.”
He was so hard to resist. That was why not seeing him anymore had been my choice. I’d make stupid decisions if I spent time with Taylor.
“Let me in, lass. I need to ask you something.”
“Fine. I was about to take a coffee break anyway. Follow me.”
Taking him around the house, we walked past the former garage turned bakery, and he inhaled deep.
“How do you stand it?”
“Stand what?”
“Working in these conditions? I’d eat it all and never sell a single thing.”
I shrugged. “I like money.”
“Fair.”
Scarlett was hard at work decorating a cake, unaware of the two of us as we walked by.
“This is where you bake everything? And you sell out of that little truck?”
“For now, yeah. We’re leasing a space downtown, but our entire kitchen needs to be gutted and redone.”
“Sounds expensive.”
God, he didn’t know the half of it. “It is.” I leaned in through the doorway and called, “Scar! I’m taking a coffee break.”
Scarlett gave me a curious glance before offering a thumbs up.
“Come on. Coffee’s in the house.”
As soon as we were in the kitchen, he heaved a sigh. “Thank fuck. Heat.”
“You’re a wuss.”
“You’re clearly a yeti. You’re not even wearing a coat.”
Grabbing two mugs, I decided to let the yeti comment go. “Cream? Sugar?”
“Just a bit of cream.”
I motioned to the kitchen table, taking a seat as he followed suit across from me.