Page 38 of Almost Love

“Clem,” the soft, husky voice greeted her, “how’s it going?”

She hummed in response, not needing to look up to see who it was. Only one person sounded that sexy all the time: Ginny Thomas. Clementine finished going through her checklist and then sighed as the bell above the door rang again. Rearranging her face into a smile, it wasn’t a creepy, fake one either, she straightened herself out.

There had been a time when she had been less than nice to Ginny, and looking back now, Clementine felt bad about it. When the gorgeous brunette had come into the bakery the first time, she hadn’t been sure about her. Besides looking like Brianna, the woman that changed her sexual experience, Ginny was blunt and sometimes brash. Then again, people said that Clementine was all those things too. Maybe that’s why she’d been hesitant to befriend her. Now they got along pretty well and she was glad for it.

Ginny introduced her to the couple, Clementine did her usual spiel of taking them through the cakes and ingredients and then stepped away so they could try the samples.

“I don’t think I’ve ever made so many red and pink cakes before,” Roscoe muttered as he stood beside her, peering out of the kitchen. “We should ban it.”

She glanced at his pink splattered coat and snorted. “Maybe start wearing aprons.”

“That defeats the purpose of these awesome coats,” he countered, crossing his arms over his chest and arched an eyebrow. “So, what happened to the scrawny tattooed dude?”

“Scrawny, really?”

“He’s small.”

She sighed, saving her notes before giving him her full attention. Roscoe wasn’t a bad guy and he definitely was easy onthe eyes, but he wasn’t her type. For one, hewasbig, much like the person she saw at the tattoo shop the other day. He had been one of her first few hires, along with Freya, and she’d built a solid relationship with him over the years. She had been attracted to him at the start, but mostly because it was quite something to watch someone of his size create the most dainty designs with frosting. Roscoe was so good at his job, she kept him on even though Mack liked reminding her of possible feelings.

“We’ve talked about this, Roscoe,” she said with a slight frown.

He rolled his eyes and grumbled, “Still seems like a dumb rule.”

She didn’t forbid her staff from dating each other—because Clementine knew that spending that much time together could lead to feelings—but she had a rule for herself that she would never date an employee. When things ended or went bad, everything fell apart at work. She’d witnessed it at a previous job and she would never let that happen.

The sound of Ginny calling for her snapped Clementine out of her frown, but she shot Roscoe another look before walking out of the kitchen. Smile back in place, she discussed options with the couple, got the tasters packed up and watched them walk out. In all her years of doing this, she’d never once had a client who disliked what she made. But the fear was always there. However, this couple liked every flavor, which was also quite rare. So she had her work cut out for her.

As she set her things down, Clementine heard another voice and smiled to herself. Daisy Heroux, owner of Daisy’s Patch, was another one of her friends outside of the bakery. Like Ginny, Clementine had met Daisy through Frankie. They seemed to all get along really well, even when she was the quietest person in the room.

That afternoon, however, she knew that Daisy was there for leftover cake, which she always made sure to keep on hand.

“You’ve been inside her kitchen?” Ginny gasped and Daisy cackled, making Clementine roll her eyes. She didn’t let anyone into her kitchen, but given how charming and pushy Daisy was, she’d somehow seduced her way through the doors. She was certain that Roscoe was the one that let her through that first time.

“Vultures,” she mumbled and then waved them over to the table as plates of cake were set out.

“I need to know how often this happens so I canaccidentallyshow up in the future.” Ginny shot Daisy a grin as the two of them got comfortable.

She glared at them. “You make it sound like I don’t feed you cake every time you’re here.”

Luna brought over a tray with cups and a coffee pot as well. Ginny surveyed the table and said, “This is such a treat. We should do this once a week.”

“No,” Clementine said with a heavy sigh. “I can maybe agree to once a month.”

Ginny and Daisy glanced at each other with victorious grins, then exchanged a high five. She chuckled and sat down with them, pouring out the coffee while the women split up the cake.

Once a month, in her opinion, was too much. Mack never showed up like these two did, but that was also because her best friend had other things going on and a kid to raise. Even though she was being difficult, she had to admit that having them visit every now and then was pretty special. She’d grown up in a town filled with white families and it was only when she went away to college and pastry school that Clementine met other people of color. While she was fairer than most Indians, she was very proud of her heritage.

So to connect with these two Indian women being bosses in their own careers was the best thing in the world. She hadn’t expected them, but Ginny and Daisy not only brought lightness into her day, they didn’t let her hide behind her dark clouds. For a moment, she considered confiding in them about Oakley and what she had done, but stopped herself. They’d been at the Christmas party when Oakley first appeared. Maybe they wouldn’t remember him. Or they’d encourage her to follow through. She was already so conflicted, she didn’t want to deal with more opinions. Not yet anyway.

Ginny and Daisy stayed until closing time, licking the plates clean of cake and drinking every last drop of coffee. Clementine made sure to send everyone else home, with the intention of cleaning and locking up on her own. Once she’d seen her friends out, she did exactly that. She wiped down the counters and mopped the floor, using the quiet time to plan out her week. Now that she had a taste for what a day off felt like, she agreed with herself another one wouldn’t hurt. Especially since it would allow her to unwind before diving into a week of wedding cake preparations.

Once she was done, she locked up and drove herself home. Walking into her quiet house, she let her shoulders drop. Clementine never had an issue with being alone. She liked knowing that when she finished dealing with people all day, she could hide out in her house and not see anybody for a few hours. Except, that evening, she felt the opposite.

Just fucking call him. Make it happen.

Ignoring her thoughts, even though they were right, Clementine got started on her dinner. With soft music filtering through her kitchen, she went through the familiar routine of making pizza from scratch. She left the dough to rise and went to wash off her day. When she pulled on her dress, Oakley drifted back into her mind. Sighing heavily, she gathered her hair into a damp bun on top of her head and returned to finish cooking. Clementine glanced at her phone, still pumping out music, then shook her head. Instead, she rolled out the dough and made her dinner. As the oven heated, she reached for her phone and sent three texts

Clementine

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