Page 196 of Tormented Billionaire Romance Series

Suzie was almost cordial, though in a cool way that made quite clear we weren’t friends or even on friendly terms. We had another girl, Hailee, with us for a few short hours and then she went to a doctor’s appointment and then to home after that, leaving me on the register and Suzie with drinks. For the most part, anyway.

Halfway through the day, we hit a slow patch that was even slower than was typical. No one even walked past the shop for half an hour.

I took the opportunity to do some tidying, cleaning equipment ahead of time to make the closing easier.

Suzie came over to me. I automatically stepped aside to get out of her way and she followed. “Yes?” I asked, looking up.

Suzie had her phone out, which usually wasn’t permitted. I was suddenly nervous that, at any moment, June or a customer would walk in and think us to be slackers.

“My apron,” she prompted.

I checked the sidewalk in front of Effervesce. Still no one, thank goodness. “Can’t we talk about this later?”

“If you think I’m going to wait around in this place when I don’t have to, you’re crazy.” Suzie tossed her long blonde hair and curled her lip. “Let’s just do it now. I’ll take the blame if we get caught, scaredy-cat.”

I really can’t risk losing this job.

If Suzie liked her apron, she might tell others about me, or want me to make something else for her.

The temptation was more than I could resist. “Okay,” I agreed.

Suzie tilted her phone to me. “This is me wearing the apron as a kid.”

I took a peek. A chubby-cheeked, simply adorable little girl stood in front of a plastic kitchen set, spatula in one hand and a train conductor’s hat on her head, in lieu of a chef’s hat, I assumed. I had seen Suzie’s apron before and it was indeed an exact duplicate, layered ruffle-y flowers on a field of powder blue.

Suzie zoomed in on the image. “This part is important. See the strap?”

The ties on the back of the apron ended in little hearts—or butts, if you wanted to look at it like that.

I studied the image for a long minute.

“Well?” she demanded. “Can you do it?”

“I can,” I said, smiling. “Could you send me that picture?”

“Why?”

“So next time you make fun of me, I can look at this baby picture and remember how tiny and chunky you used to be.”

Suzie’s cheeks turned red. “I wouldn’t make fun of you if you weren’t such an easy target!”

“And so I can reference the apron,” I finished.

Suzie glared at me with her face still pink. “Fine. What’s your number?”

I told her. She tapped it into her phone and then finally pocketed it, which reminded me that we shouldn’t have been looking at it in the first place. I checked to make sure we were still alone, unwatched, and breathed a huge sigh of relief.

“When do I pay you?” Suzie asked.

I hesitated. “Just at the end. When you get it.”

“What were yougoingto say?”

She’s sharp.

Maybe there was more to this annoying girl than I had initially assumed.

“Well, sometimes you make half the payment up front as insurance. But that’s okay,” I said quickly.

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