Page 51 of Beaches, Bagels & Babes
“Alright. But if you over-order on peanut butter, you’re eating it.”
Candace let loose a groan and held her stomach. “Glaaaaaadly. I’m starving. Do youknowwhat kind of self-control it took for me to not eat the inventory earlier?”
“Your loss. I had a few while we were packing them up.”
“You didn’t tell me I could do that! Here I am, wasting away!”
Daisy laughed. Not at Candace, but with her, and it felt impossibly good.
Right.
Then, of course, she was reminded of how wrong it was.
“Well, you need to eat,” Daisy said with a mock-scoff. She paused to pick her words and to get over the sudden thickness of her tongue. “It’ll be dinner time once we wrap up this last round of bombs. If you’ve got nothing better to do, we can order takeout. Anything that isn’t bagel-related. There’s a decent Vietnamese place that opened up last year. It’ll be my treat, and—”
“I’m sorry,” Candace cut Daisy off. “I have a date.”
“A… date?”
Daisy’s mind whirled.
Candace.
Date.
Why was that such a wild concept? There were customers who ordered from Bagel Bombs! specifically for a chance to flirt with the woman. It was a wonder that Candace was not already locked down by the first person who caught her eye. But she had never mentioned a potential girlfriend or anyone she was interested in.
The protective, possessive surge that Daisy felt shocked her. Still, she forced an air of indifferent cool.
“I get it, no biggie. Have fun.”
Looking horrified, Candace blurted out, “Not a date-date! I swear, Bagel Bombs! comes before any romance in my life right now. It’s my uncle. He set the stupid thing up, and I’m only going because I still owe him for bailing me out when I first got to Wonderwood.”
Daisy sneered.
“The same uncle who objectifies you, keeps you down, and wants to destroy my business?Thatuncle?”
“You know I can’t say no.” Candace wilted. She broke from Daisy’s gaze, saying, “He wants a favor with the old police chief, and going on a date with the man’s son will get it.”
With air quotes, Daisy jibed, “And then you’ll be ‘paid off’?”
Candace shrugged.
“Maybe. When he asks for something, it’s best not to turn him down. If he finds out I’m working with you—”
“That vulture owns the pier across the goddamn boardwalk. Of course he’s going to find out you’re working at Bagel Bombs!. Or are you ashamed of it?”
“What? That’s not true at all! I don’t want him to retaliate before we’re ready for it. The longer I can make him think it’s business as usual, the better.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Daisy jibed. She could feel the caustic venom seeping into her words, but she could not stop it. “Wouldn’t want to piss off Uncle Moneybags, right? Gotta make sure to play both sides, even if you don’t bat for that team. I wonder how far this date will be expecting you to go?”
With none of her usual charm or cheer, Candace reiterated, “It’s dinner.Justdinner. And I don’t appreciate the implication otherwise. Let’s go. There’s nothing productive happening here, and we need to unload those groceries before we finish the rest of the bombs.”
In clipped, efficient movements, Candace started to fill her arms with grocery bags. Daisy all but yanked them back.
“I’ve got it from here.”
“Daisy, please… Don’t be like this.”
