Page 36 of Sweets and Sycamores
The jerk made her feel uncomfortable.
“Take this and go to the back.” Dom shoved the plate to her. Alecsandra flinched as if she just noticed him standing there, and her big brown eyes watched Dom with an intensity he couldn’t understand. But she took the plate and left for the kitchen without another word.
The moron looked after her like she was something he wanted, and that rubbed Dominic the wrong fucking way.
“What do you want?”
“Just getting to know the newest resident of our small town here,” Jared said with a sleazy smile that made Dom want to knock his teeth out. He didn’t need to Read him to know whatwas going on in that sick mind of his. He’d been the same ever since they were kids.
“Don’t even think about it,” Dominic growled. Hot anger traveled through him, pushing his breaths in and out faster. He gripped the edge of the counter and hoped to not break a piece off it.
“Are you gonna have at it?” The smirk on Jared’s face grew bigger. Dom locked his jaw, teeth clenched so hard his head hurt.
“Get out.”
“I thought you wanted to keep the appearances up,friend,” he pressed on the word.
Everything he wanted to do was keeping Jared-fucking-Finn out of his place.
“Out,” he snarled and wasted no time rounding the counter.
Jared took a few steps back, putting distance between himself and Dominic. He raised his arms in a fake peaceful gesture and left without another word.
Dom didn’t know what to do with all this pent-up anger. He felt like punching a hole in the wall, but he’d regret it later when he had to fix it. His nostrils flared, and his breathing was still loud when Alecsandra returned from the kitchen, a glass of water at her mouth.
She looked around the bakery and her features relaxed into her casual smile when she didn’t find the man that had made her shy away. For Jared’s sake, Dom hoped she had only felt uncomfortable and nothing else. When her eyes met Dom’s, her smile grew and turned genuine and warm, a smile she didn’t share with many people.
“I don’t want to upset you, Mr. Ranford, but I don’t want to lie to you either.” That had Dom’s heart standing at attention, his brain going through wild scenarios about what that fuckercould have said to her. Or worse, done to her. If he laid a hand anywhere near her, or hell, looked at her the wrong way…
At least Alecsandra wasn’t willing to lie to him about it.
“What is it?” he asked, trying to keep the rage from his voice and not quite succeeding at it.
“That thing in the kitchen… I don’t know what it is, but it’s really,reallysweet,” she said and chugged the rest of the water.
Dom felt the anger evaporate from his body.
Chapter 15
CALL ME DOMINIC
Allie was buzzing with excitement on the first morning of the weekend. She had found everything she wanted at the market the night before for her lunch with Dominic today. After hours of deliberation, she’d settled on a spinach salad with smoked duck, figs, cherries, and red onion, and a cream of mushroom soup with shallots and fresh portobellos. She had prepared all the ingredients last night and agreed with Dominic that she needed about half an hour today for the food to be ready.
Three hours into the day, Allie felt like time was mocking her. She could have sworn at least five hours had passed since she had woken up, yet they were still not open for customers. Dominic was busy baking the weekend special, salted caramel apple pie, and had shooed her away from the kitchen twice after she finished helping him set up. He said all his weekend specials were secret recipes, which only made her more curious. Allie hovered by the kitchen entrance and tried to peek until she caught one of her boss’s glares that pierced through her soul. She bolted to the front and decided to make a second coffee to calm her nerves.
Tea might have done the trick better.
She picked up the hot coffee cup and started for the door, hoping the morning chill would help her get a grip on her agitation. It was just lunch. Food, and nothing more.
With her handsome, protective boss, who was also a powerful Mage.
She decided to channel all her thoughts on the “boss” part to avoid her mind slipping in other directions. Which happened more and more often. Midway to the door, Allie felt the cup in her hand grow hotter, so much so that the skin on her palms was burning.
Allie dropped the cup on the closest table and looked at her hands when the pain did not subside. The skin was red and swollen, but not blistering.
“What…” A glimmering thread of light lined one wrist through her fingers. Another one appeared on her other palm, and then more and more threads came to life, lighting her skin up. The fire web brightened until the pain became impossible to bear, the throbbing climbing up her arms to her elbows.
The fire was out of control, and it burned her alive.
