Page 25 of My Knight Before Christmas
Eleven
Thelastfivedayswere absolute chaos. Meg had posted on the Frostings social media accounts that she made it to California forBaking Spirits Brightand the masses descended.
Drew and I worked from three in the morning until six at night. Each day we increased the amount of goods we baked and we still barely had enough. A constant headache became my companion on day three of our new vigorous schedule. On day four my feet continuously ached. And today? I was a straight up Zombie.
Which was so not the look I wanted Liam to see at our game night tonight. I wanted to show him what he would forever be missing out on by dressing to the nines. I hadn’t confronted him yet about the woman at his house because I hadn’t had the time or mental bandwidth to have that conversation while I dealt with work. We’d only texted or had brief phone calls since our date. But tonight was the night to have that awful talk and kick him out of my life for good.
The door to the kitchen banged as Drew came in from the front. “Someone’s asking for you,” he sang.
He shoved the door enthusiastically every time he came back here, and every time I jumped like a frightened mouse.
Drew, with his blond-hair, blue-eyes, and dimples was a flirt with a capital F. I shot him down when he first got hired and ever since he only showed me his snarky side. I enjoyed the banter and didn’t mind his attitude. It reminded me of my younger brother. “Let me guess.” I put my hands on my hips. “A customer is mad about something and you were too babyish to handle it?”
He rolled his eyes. “Please. I’m better at talking to customers than you are. I don’t need your interference.”
“Then who is it?” No one knew me. Meg often posted reels of her at the bakery, but never of me or Drew.
“If I knew, I would have statedhisname when I came back to get you,“ he retorted.
Him? My heart thumped hard in my chest. Liam? I narrowed my eyes. “Remind me why we keep you around?”
He smoldered.
Yeah, not doing anything for me.
I snapped my fingers. “I remember now. The garbage needs to be taken out and there’s a pile of dishes ready to be washed. Get to it.”
“You’re not the boss of me.”
I gave him a condescending look. “Oh, but I am. At least until Meg comes back.” With that, I sauntered out to the counter, dreading that it was Liam who came to see me. We needed to talk, but not at my work where there were so many people around. I paused at the door separating the two rooms and inhaled a deep breath.
The second I saw him my knees gave out. I lurched forward, catching myself on the stool we kept behind the counter. Drew ran into me from behind. Of course, he hadn’t done as I asked. Our temp, Lily, shot me a worried look. I waved her off, signaling that she keep helping the customers in line before my gaze found Liam’s.
His brown eyes were muddied, worry pinching the corners. “Are you okay?”
“Mmhmm.” I moved the stool to my side. “Totally fine,” I squeaked out through the pain throbbing in my thighs where they banged into the metal stool.
He pointed to the line of people waiting to be helped. “I came at a bad time.”
I stuffed my hands in my back pockets and stared at the linoleum floor. “Told you we’ve been super busy.”
The tips of his shoes entered my line of sight. “Avery.”
I looked up at him. “Yeah.”
“Are we okay? I know work’s been hard this week, but we haven’t talked much.”
Uh, yeah, a woman opened your door, and it freaked me out. I didn’t want to hear you’re seeing someone orsomeonesbehind my back, so I ran and hid like a chicken instead of facing my problem. Not an attractive trait of mine, but one that showed itself all too often when Liam was involved. I scratched my temple. “With Meg gone, I’m working all the time. I barely get to eat and sleep.”
“Do you want to postpone our game night tonight? I admit, I was really looking forward to it, but if you need to rest, I’ll understand.”
Amy and Anna already bought a ton of snacks, made bean and artichoke dip and asked that I provide brownies. Despite who Liam may or may not be seeing behind my back, I owed this group date to my roommates. I’d break up with Liam when the night was over. Tonight was for Anna, Spencer, Amy, and Lucas. “No. I’ll be okay.”
A customer swept by him and I automatically reached out to pull him closer to me. A huge mistake. We stood a mere foot apart. His sun-warmed laundry scent hit me. I loved that smell. Maybe even more than when the kitchen was filled with chocolate, sweet vanilla, and buttery bread baking. I took a step back.
“Okay, then.” He reached out, placing a hand on my elbow. “Anything I can bring?”
I blinked. “No.”
