Page 14 of Almost Love

“How about being your food guide?”

“Most definitely.”

“Great.” She nodded, smoothing down her clothes as she backed away. “Come by the shop sometime next week and we’ll make a plan.”

He grinned, unable to contain his excitement at the thought of spending more time with his woman. “I can’t wait.”

She rolled her eyes and lifted a hand in a wave. “Enjoy the cupcakes, Oakley.”

“Thanks for coming by, Clementine.”

And then she was gone, leaving a trail of her edible scent and he closed his eyes, inhaling all of it. He heard the curtains in the other workstations slide open and when he glanced to the side, Fox and Carin were watching him with matching smiles.

“Ten bucks says he’s going to fall in love with her in a week,” Fox said.

Carin rolled their eyes. “Twenty says he’s going to marry her in a year.”

Oakley snorted at them. “You two are ridiculous.”

Because I might already be in love with her.

CHAPTER 5

Ishould have specified a day for him to come by.

Clementine glanced at the time on her phone, then out the large picture windows of the bakery with a heavy sigh. It had been four days since she’d visited the tattoo shop. Four days since she’d apologized and asked him to“Come by the shop sometime next week and we’ll make a plan”. Granted, it was a vague invitation and maybe she should have exchanged numbers with the man. Given his visits to the bakery, she thought they’d have the opportunity to talk about it more. Unfortunately, she’d been pretty busy with weddings and hadn’t been at the shop when he usually came by.

She had to keep reminding herself that this was nothing like what happened with Xander. Both men were attractive and fired up the part of her brain that crushed on people. But there were differences. For one, Oakley sought her out the first few times. He didn’t flirt with innuendo and touch her unnecessarily. And he shared things about his past. Xander never even told her his surname or where he worked, let alone his past. He liked squeezing her shoulder or tucking her hair back, even though those touches made her want to shake him off. But when she was crushing on someone, all the things she usually hated didn’tseem to matter. She wanted Xander to like her too, so she ignored everything else.

This is not a crush. They are not the same. We are just friends. If she repeated that to herself enough times maybe she’d start to believe it.

Dropping onto the bench at the large tasting table, she wondered if going by the tattoo shop would be a good idea. Her staff had gone home about an hour ago, so maybe A Fine Needle would also be done for the day. Chewing on her bottom lip as she weighed her options, Clementine scanned her bakery. The lights were off, except for the one above her, and the shutters were down. The front door was still unlocked, the last thing on her close-up list of things to do before she left.

It was pretty small for a place that had the kind of footfall they did. Large windows covered one side of the shop, looking onto Main Street. Daisy had helped her decorate them with planters filled with pretty flowers that provided a sense of privacy and added a little something to the display. Two small round tables were set against the windows. Opposite that was the display case, order and cash counter. That section was large with three portions with two shelves each and was always filled with every pastry they made. There was a bit dedicated to the flaky baked goods too. Behind the counter was a coffee station that Luna handled like a rockstar.

Then there was the wedding tasting section. Originally, the space where the large table now resided held four other two-seaters, inviting more people to sit and relax. When wedding cakes became her highest seller, Clementine needed room for the couples to sit and enjoy the cake she presented them.

Ten years ago, when she’d opened the bakery, it was exactly how she envisioned it. But now her vision was changing and in order to bring that to life, she needed more room. Which required her to have time to meet with a realtor and visitlocations, go through her finances and make sure that she could afford something bigger.

She startled when her phone buzzed on the table and she looked at the text preview—her brother was texting on the family group—before her eyes moved to the time. She was still considering going by the tattoo shop, because something could have happened or he was out of town or…the options are endless, don’t go down that road. Their last interaction had been good, comfortable even, but had she been reading too much into it? For all her people skills, there was still so much that Clementine got wrong. She wasn’t always good with body language and smiles could just besmiles, nothing else. But there was a part of her that believed he wasn’t being nice to her as sport. Xander had done that, unknowingly or not, flirting and teasing to get free desserts from her.

When she’d made Oakley the offer, she made sure to ask for something in return.

Fifteen minutes and then I’ll go, she told herself and picked up her phone. The Kinney family chat—aptly titled Next of Kin(ney)—was suddenly very active. Some days there were barely any messages, other days it was overflowing with silly forwards from her parents.

Callum

Sandra and I have some news.

Mama

Is it a baby?! It’s a baby, isn’t it?

Dad

Renu.

Sandra

---