Page 3 of Almost Love

“They loved them and Ididscore the job, so I’m going to say yes.”

“Congratulations! I’m sure you deserve the job, but Chef Kinney’s creations will always win you extra points. ”

He chuckled, glancing at the chef in question and found her frowning at him. Gone was the joyous laugh and bright eyes, wrinkles creased her forehead and her eyes were narrowed. He raised a hand in an awkward wave and her frown deepened.

He cleared his throat and turned to Luna. “I’ll take a dozen of whatever you’ve got.”

With a smile, Luna grabbed a brown box from behind the counter and filled it with donuts. From the corner of his eyes, he could see a lilac form moving towards him. He held his breath and forced himself to look at anything else, but he was so aware of her.

“I know you.”

Spinning to face her, he grinned despite the stern expression on Clementine’s face. “We met at Frankie’s party.”

“Their neighbor. With tattoos.”

Well, that’s one way to remember me.

He nodded and pushed up the sleeve of his Henley, smiling as he put his tattoos on display. She glanced at them briefly and nodded before focusing on his face.

“Brinkley?”

“Oakley,” he corrected, still smiling because this wasn’t the first time someone decided his name was something else. “Clementine, right?”Definitely play it cool, like you haven’t been wondering how to get her attention this whole time.

She nodded. “You’ve been here before?”

“Yup. Luna was kind enough to pack a box of donuts before I went in for a job interview.”

“Did you get the job?”

He nodded, puffing his chest out. “Apparently your baked goods have magical properties.”

Her forehead crinkled. “Or maybe you’re just good at what you do. Which is…what?”

“Jack of all trades, some would say,” he joked, smile widening at the knitting of her brows. Fucking hell, she was delightful. “These days I’m more of a tattoo artist.”

Pointing at his arm, she arched an eyebrow. “Did you do those yourself?”

“Nope. Got a friend to do it for me back home.”

“Where is home?”

He was tempted to ask her if she’d like to sit down and talk some more, but he could tell that she wasn’t looking to make this a thing. She was attempting to be polite, or at least it came across that way.

“California.”

“What are you doing all the way here?”

“A change of scenery?”

Truth was, Oakley had no good reason for settling down there. It didn’t even show up on most maps, but he’d beendriving around for weeks and when he passed through Wildes, he’d fallen in love. It was bigger than a town, but too small to be a city and the signboard claimed they had at least twenty thousand residents, which was perfect. Sure, he was someone who loved warm weather and walking around in board shorts, surfing every morning and drinking cold coffee as he got through his day, but there was just something about Wildes that called to him.

“Uh huh,” she mumbled, eyes narrowed like she was trying to figure him out.

He smiled and dropped his eyes to his booted feet. He didn’t have secrets, he was just a heartbroken and lonely man looking for somewhere to belong. Didn’t everyone have trauma and tragedy in their lives that they were trying to run from?

“Here you go,” Luna interrupted his silent non-conversation with the scowly chef.

He smiled as the box was passed over the counter and after a quick swipe of his card, he scooped it up and started backing away. “Thanks, Luna. It was great to see you again, Clementine.”

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