Page 20 of Take A Number
My mom’s voice cuts in next. “Oh, I can’t keep up with Norah’s bakery. I don’t understand all this franchise business she’s doing. I thought one bakery would keep her busy enough. Who wants all that responsibility of multiple locations? It just seems like a lot of work to me. And so much travel.”
Nate’s dad nods. “I’m just grateful I have a son to take over my firm. It’s nice to keep things small and in the family.”
My brow furrows at that remark.
“Then again,” Dean chimes in, “if you have a creative vision, a great work ethic,andan entrepreneurial spirit like Norah here, you’re a triple threat, and the sky’s the limit.” He offers a cool smile to the group like he’s chatting about the weather. “I wouldn’t have invested half a million dollars if I didn’t believe in Norah. And I do a lot of investing for very wealthy clients. I’ve told every single one of them about Norah’s upcoming franchise opportunities. It has incredible investment potential.”
My jaw drops, and I look at Dean, and whisper, “Is that true?”
He frowns down at me. “Of course it’s true.”
Wow, I didn’t know. Max never said a word. I wonder if it was Max’s idea or Dean’s?
“Max isn’t the only one invested in your success,” Dean adds, clearly reading my thoughts.
“More business talk that goes right over my head.” My mother peals out a laugh before casually extracting herself from the group.
Nate quickly changes the subject and begins discussing the changes he’s making to his dad’s CPA firm.
Suddenly, my mom comes up behind me and grabs my arm to pull me aside. Her voice is barely a whisper when she says, “Norah, you should take Nathaniel inside to catch up.”
My lips part, and I glance over my shoulder to check on Dean, who’s politely listening to Nate drone on. I look at my mother’s wide, beady eyes. “Mom, that’d be really inappropriate. I’m here with Dean.”
She waves her hand with a scoff. “Oh Norah, please. Dean is obviously just some business partner. Leave him with us and go inside to visit with Nate.” She straightens a strap on my dress like she’s prepping me for my wedding night. “You two looksogreat together. Didn’t I tell you he’s much more handsome now? I can already picture little blond grandbabies!”
“Mom,” I hiss, my brows furrowing with annoyance. “This isn’t happening. Dean isn’t only a business partner…he’s my…” I pause as I try to figure out what to say to get her to back the hell off this Nate thing. “Dean’s myboyfriend.”
All good humor disappears from her face and hits me with a menacing glower. “Norah Renee Donahue, you brought that Dean person here to spite me. I know how you operate. This is like that time you told me you needed money for a prom dress, and I found out later you spent it on a baking class at the community college and borrowed a used dress from Abby Thompson. Now I want you to stop being rude and take Nathaniel inside. He might be your only chance at a real future.”
My entire body tenses with an anger I rarely,very, very rarely,tap into. In fact, the last time I remember my temper spiking this fast and this hard was when the appliance company shipped the wrong commercial oven to the Denver location and tried to stick me with a restocking fee.
There was bloodshed then.
And there will be bloodshed now.
I bite my lip hard because I know nothing I can say right now will make my mother see that a future isn’t just romance and marriage and babies. She won’t hear that. She doesn’t want to hear that. She wants her only daughter to make her a grandmother with Nathaniel Hawthorne, and she’s going to live her senior years out in disappointment because that’s never going to happen.
But instead of saying all of that. Instead of repeating myself for the hundredth time in the past week…I decide to do something wildly out of character.
I turn on my heel, grab Dean by the elbow, whirl him around to face me…and kiss the daylights out of him.
Holy fucking croinuts!Norah grabs my face and yanks my mouth down to meet hers. Her lips are hard against mine, and her entire body is ramrod straight as I grab onto her sides for support and attempt to recover from the sudden assault that I didnotsee coming.
Is Norah actually fucking kissing me right now?Holy shit!
This is a moment I’ve been fantasizing about for…well, probably years. Ever since I walked out of my rented co-working space and stumbled upon her bakery and decided to take a number and wait for the croinut of the day. After that, I went back nearly daily, claiming my appreciation for the croinuts, but secretly, I appreciated the sight of Norah artfully glazing her creations.
Normally, I’m the kind of man who sees what I want and takes it. I’ve never shied away from asking a woman out. But as I watched Norah in her bakery, I realized quickly that she was not the kind of woman I could date and discard. She’s the marrying type…which makes it really fucking ironic that I just now found out she’s not into the whole marriage and babies lifestyle.
And knowing that makes the fact that I’m finally tasting Norah’s lips even more fucking epic. She tastes sweet, like cake batter and vanilla, and I’m pretty sure her lips are soft, but they’re not currently moving, so it’s kind of hard to tell.
Well hell, if we’re doing this, we might as well really do this.
My hands steal around Norah’s waist and dip low on her back, maybe a little too low for this type of crowd, but fuck, Norah started it, and I’m damn well going to finish it. I pull her pelvis into mine in an attempt to soften her against me, and she reacts perfectly, her tits crushing into my chest as her body bows backward, allowing me to take complete control of this gift she’s giving me.
Norah melts beneath me, and I have to hold on tight to keep her upright as her lips soften and part, allowing my tongue to do a gentle sweep between her lips. She tastes like champagne, and she’s now soft and pliant, giving me a full embrace of that plump upper lip I’m slightly obsessed with.
Okay, majorly obsessed with.
