Page 72 of Right With You
“Fine. What can I get you two?”
Kenny leaned an elbow on the glass case and stared down. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he’d pressed his whole cheeseball face into it like a sad puppy, but before I could say as much, he grinned. “Plain glazed for me and I’ll take another for m’lady.”
Valiantly, I didn’t roll my eyes, and instead took a waxed paper sack and retrieved the donuts.
“One of the specials. Maybe a glazed, too.” Stone squinted at the menu, then eyed the case. There were still five or six flavors left, but normally, she offered upwards of twelve options on weekdays and often more on weekends. I wondered whether we’d start seeing donuts at our afternoon teas soon.
I retrieved his donuts and passed them over, then rang them each up. Kenny chattered on about the absolute nothing happening at work now that most of the celebrities had left in the wake of the gala, and Stone observed in that quiet but alert way he had.
Foolishly, I thought maybe we’d make it out of the exchange without addressing the glaring situation, but no such luck. After eating his donut in three large bites, Kenny brushed off his fingers on a little napkin and tilted his head in a way that said I was in for it.
“So…”
I glanced at the doorway to the kitchen, then widened my eyes in warning. “So.”
Kenny’s Cheshire grin had my stomach tightening with dread. Would he draw attention to the fact that I’d called out of work in a rather uncharacteristic way and that I was clearly in deep with this woman while she stood not twenty feet away and could likely hear him?
Granted, I’d told her I cared about her and made it quite clear I wanted anything she’d give me for the time being, so maybe it wasn’t that bad?
But Kenny, like he sometimes did and didn’t get nearly enough credit for, took the high road. His smile softened into something still joyous but also deeply genuine. “You talked?”
The smile pulling at my own lips was unavoidable. I couldn’t pretend the way things had gone were anything less than better than I’d hoped. “We did.”
It wasn’t the happily ever after Kenny would want for us, sure, but it’d gone well. I’d seen the way her breath had hitched and how she’d frozen when I asked if she still didn’t want anything. I’d seen the signs. She didn’t want to tell me no, and so I’d adjusted on the fly. No more a suggestion of forever—a suggestion of real-while-it-lasts. She’d said she wanted more for now and that was… perfect. Exactly what I’d wanted, in a way.
The sliver of something sharp that jimmied its way between my ribs meant nothing.
Inconceivably, his smile grew to meme-like proportions. “Good.”
I nodded, praying that’d be the end of it. Because while Elise had said she wanted more, I didn’t want her feeling like I’d been gabbing to my friends about her or me or us… I just didn’t want any pressure on her.
Stone nodded, the closest thing to a smile on his face, too, and the familiar glow of their friendship warmed me.
“Thanks.” They knew I meant for their support and for not making it a big thing.
Kenny winked as Stone exited, then turned to me but spoke far too loudly and said, “Now go see if your new girlfriend needs help frosting her donuts, if that’s what the kids are calling it these days…” And with a childish little waggle of his brows, he left.
I turned to see Elise standing there wide-eyed, and then we both burst out laughing.
CHAPTERTHIRTY-FIVE
Elise
The last time I’d had fun at work like I had this morning was before I ever officially opened Glazed.
Before I’d allowed Callum to invest. Before I’d realized how hard I’d have to work to make ends meet in the off-season. Before I’d discovered how desperately I wanted to quit my day job and just run the shop and yet had to accept it wasn’t about to happen any time soon.
Today, with Luc, I’d felt… happy.
Honestly, truly, happy. And it wasn’t because he magically swooped in and solved all the problems. His showing up had been a godsend for sure, but he messed up ringing up Chief Whitacker and forgot how to void something… in short, he was human. And it was completely perfect.
Because instead of complaining or getting mad at me when he made a mistake, he asked for help. He apologized, but not so much that it made me feel bad for needing to correct him. He just… functioned like a human being who was learning something new. He admitted when he’d messed up and he did his best to fix it.
He stepped in when it felt like my whole day was melting down and proved my choice to admit I wanted more with him the night before had been right. Because a man like this? A man who’d show up for me and even call out of his own work, potentially at the risk of his bosses getting mad at him?
That was a good man. I’d known Luc was, but he kept proving it.
And sure, Bruce and Wilder were unlikely to be mad at him—from what I understood, Saint Security didn’t function that way. And yes, my bar had been programmed to be set at the lowest possible rung thanks to my past relationship.
