Page 83 of Small Town Sizzle

Icouldn’t sleep all night. I tossed and turned, wrestled with guilt, anger, and fear like I was on a damn roller coaster. There’s not enough coffee in the world to keep me awake or calm about any of this.

“You okay, Aunt Maya?” Alex asks as I lean against the kitchen counter, staring at him.

How didn’t I see the resemblances before?

He has the same hair, that same jawline, they even have similar mannerisms, which is wild considering they’ve only just met.

“Yeah, sorry. I didn’t get much sleep last night, I guess I was zoning out.”

Alex looked back at me carefully, the worry evident in his face. I force a smile and put up a hand.

“I drank too much coffee yesterday, it definitely caught up with me,” I lie.

“You do like your espresso,” he teases with a shake of his head.

Crisis averted—he’s not ready to fly into super protector mode because he thinks Devon is back or something. I exhale slowly as I start ushering the kids out the door.

As soon as they’re out of the car, my phone starts blowing up with calls and people urgently needing me. The morning has been chaotic. Between rushing from one house call to another, dodging traffic, and trying to answer emails on the go, I feel like my brain is a scrambled mess by the time I step into the office.

“Shit,” I curse as I walk through the door, only just now realizing that I meant to stop by the coffee shop and zoned out when I drove past.

Leti is grinning like the Cheshire cat when I walk in. “Good morning, Maya.”

“You know the morning I’ve had,” I sigh as I shoot her an unamused look as I drop my bag on the front desk with a sigh, and pull my jacket off. “Okay, spill. What’s with the face?”

Leti raises an eyebrow, her grin widening. “This is just my face. You had a delivery earlier, and someone left you a little something on your desk.”

My brow furrows. “A delivery? What kind of delivery?”

Her eyes sparkle mischievously. “You’ll see. It’s waiting for you in your office.”

In my office? No one can get in there because it should be locked.

“What is it?” I ask again, suspicion creeping into my voice. “And why are you smiling like that?”

Before she can answer, the phone rings. She grabs it and waves me off, barely containing a laugh. “Go, go! I’ve got this.”

I roll my eyes, muttering, “You’re ridiculous,” under my breath as I head down the hall.

When I reach my office door, I freeze. My stomach twists into a knot so tight I feel like I can’t breathe.

Garrett is sitting in one of the chairs outside my office. He looks up at the sound of my heels clicking against the tile, and my heart does a somersault when his eyes meet mine. That damn smile of his—it’s slow, warm, and entirely too charming. It’s like it reaches right inside me and turns everything upside down.

Beside him, on one chair, is a to-go cup of coffee and a small takeout bag that smells suspiciously like breakfast. On the other chair sits a massive bouquet of flowers—bright, colorful, and entirely over the top.

My mouth goes dry, and my chest tightens. My knees almost give out right there, but at the same time, tears prick at the corners of my eyes. How does he always know what I need before I even know?

This is exactly why I’m a mess. How can I let myself feel this… whatever this is… when I know what I know? The secret I’m keeping, the truth I haven’t told him yet—it’s like a weight pressing down on my shoulders.

How can this man before me be the same man that Megs described? I haven’t seen him pick up a drink, I haven’t seen him high or…a mess like she said he was? Could it really be the same man? Is there another Garrett McAllister?

I almost roll my eyes at the ridiculousness of the thought. It’s the same man, and now that I know, there’s no denying that Alex is his child. Jeez, the similarities between Alex and Mason are glaringly obvious now, too.

My stomach tightens. I continue walking toward my office as if I don’t notice this gorgeous, sweet man sitting there waiting for me.

What if he hates me when he finds out? What if he hates Megs for never telling him? And Alex… what if Alex doesn’t want anything to do with him? Or worse, what if Garrett doesn’t want anything to do with Alex?

I’m in love with this man, and I can’t handle any of those scenarios.

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