Page 31 of Basil

The first time Basil showed up at my shop was the day after he sent me thethese are not my friendsvideo. I didn’t even look up. The bell over the door chimed, and I knew it was him before he even said my name. I could smell him. Damn it!

“Summer.”

I kept pricing the new batch of lavender essential oil, my pen scratching against the label. “We don’t open for another hour.”

“I got you matcha tea.” He set a paper cup next to me. “And blueberry scones.”

I looked at the logo on the paper bag holding the scones. The Crumpet Shop. They were my favorite. I couldn’tpossiblyturn them down.

I looked him in the eye. “Is this a bribe?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation.

I rolled my eyes. I took a sip of the tea and then opened the bag, the smell of the pastry hitting me in my sweet spot.

“What do you want for the tea and the scone?”

“A date?”

“No.” I broke a piece of the scone and ate it.Heaven!

“A…conversation?”

I ate another piece, this one had blueberry in it, and it had been a long time since I had sex, but I was sure this was just as good.

“We can talk while I finish the scone.”

He grinned. “You’re so easy, Sunshine.”

“I don’t think that’s how you get into my good graces.” I had to work very hard not to smile. This was the Basil I loved. He was charming and funny and so fucking sweet. All that mixed with how handsome he was and knew how to use his hands and…other parts of his body—could you blame a girl for having a hot flash?

“My mother told me you went to see her. Thank you.”

“I like Ellen.” I drank the tea now, enjoying myself. Loving that he was here with me, making small talk. Did this make me weak and pathetic?Probably.

“She ripped me a new one for what I did to you.”

That surprised me. “How did she know? I just told her…we didn’t work out.”

“I told her.” He tilted his head and smiled. “I told hereverything. By that I mean I gave her a blow-by-blow of how I fucked up and lost the love of my life. However, I didn’t tell her how you like to ride me reverse cowboy with my finger in?—”

“Gee, look, the scone is all gone. Your time’s up for today.”And I’m all hot and bothered.

“Thanks for your time, Sunshine.” He winked at me and left.

He did thateveryday. I didn’t know how he managed to show up at tenevery day,Wednesday through Sunday, with tea and scones, but he did. On Monday and Tuesday, he showed up at The Breathing Room with a berry smoothie from Ocean’s shop that I liked to drinkafterI finished class.

“Don’t you have a job?” I asked him. Today, he’d gotten me one of The Crumpet Shop’s exquisite cupcakes—this one was vanilla with passionfruit filling.

“I do. But I take a break for an hour to get you breakfast.”

I licked the icing and moaned.

His breath hitched. Well, that was fun. So, I did it again.

“Cut it out, Summer,” he growled.

I looked at him all wide-eyed innocence. “What? It’s really nice.” I took some icing on a finger and held it up to him. “Would you like to taste?”

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