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offer."
"Oh God." Benny tried to pull away from him but he held tight. "Dimitri, what the
hell am I going to do?"
He placed his hand along her cheek. The glimmer of tears in her pretty eyes made
his gut twist. He made a split-second decision. "I'm going to make Johnny an offer on his
half of the business."
She reeled back in surprise. "What? No! Dimitri, you can't."
He snorted softly. "I can do whatever I want, Benny. It's my money."
"But, Dimitri, if the business fails, you'll lose your money. Let's not kid ourselves,
okay? I'm one bad month away from having to close the doors." She put her hands on his
chest and shoved just hard enough to free herself from his embrace. "No."
He snatched her wrist and dragged her back. "You're not going to shut me out,
Benny."
"Dimitri, please& "
He tried to understand her reticence but couldn't. Trailing his fingers down her
cheek, he asked, "What is so wrong with me helping you?"
Her eyes closed for the briefest of moments. When they opened, they were filled
with such fear. "Because it changes things, Dimitri."
"Sometimes change is good." He brushed his mouth against hers. "Last night was
very, very good, yes?"
"Yes." She ran her hands up his arms. "Last night was amazing, but if we put money
between us, it's going to get complicated very fast and then what?"
Finally, he understood. "Benny, it wouldn't be complicated. We could make it
work."
"You say that now& "
Dimitri tipped her chin and teased his lips across hers. He eased into the kiss and
waited for her to press up against him, deepening the gentle mating of their mouths.
Tongues touching now, they clutched at one another. When Dimitri pulled back, he
peered down at her for a moment before speaking. "I want to be your partner, Benny."
She swallowed. "In business?"
He realized this was one of those moments where their relationship could surge
forward and grow or retreat and fester. "No, not just in business, Benny. I want you as "
"Benny, you already in the kitchen?" Adam announced his presence mere seconds
before stepping into the view. "There was a nasty wreck on the loop and& "
The older man's eyes widened as he caught sight of them embracing. Dimitri could
only imagine what Adam was thinking. Naked from the waist up and with his hair still
wet, Dimitri looked anything but innocent right now.
But Dimitri wasn't about to let go of Benny. He refused to let anyone make him feel
shame for comforting the woman he cared for so deeply. To his surprise, Benny didn't try
to jump away in embarrassment. She stepped into his embrace.
Finally, Adam laughed. "Hey, don't let me interrupt you two kids." He winked at
Dimitri as he headed for the employee's locker room. "I was young once. I know how this
game is played."
Benny rolled her eyes. "Adam!"
Still chuckling, Adam paused in the doorway and glanced back at them. "And about
damn time too!"
"God," she said with a groan. "The whole bakery will be talking about us before we
even have our first customer."
Chest constricting, he studied her face. "Does that bother you?"
She put her hand over his heart. "Not for the reason you're probably thinking,
Dimitri. I spend so much time here with my bakery family that nothing is ever private."
She bit her lower lip. "I wanted this to be something special, something just for me."
Feeling a bit playful, he lowered his head until his breath tickled her ear. "I've got
something just for you and I promise it's very, very special."
"Dimitri!" She hissed with mock outrage but she couldn't stop smiling. "Will you get
out of here?" Blushing, she glanced at the doorway leading to the locker room. "Adam
will hear you and then I'll really get it from Lupe and Celia!"
He kissed her cheek and reluctantly backed away from her. "I'm going to get that
breakfast I promised you."
She nodded and got back to work. They still had so much to discuss but it could
wait. After he got her breakfast squared away, he was going to dig up some information
on UpStreet Properties. If they chose to play dirty with Benny, he was ready to drag them
right into the mud. The kind of information he wanted wouldn't be easy to find but he
knew just where to go Yuri.
Chapter Five
"Benny, Lena is here."
I finished swirling bright white frosting on a chocolate cupcake and glanced up at
Celia. "Tell her I'll be right there."
She nodded and left but not before shooting a silly smile my way. I fought the urge
to roll my eyes. All morning, I'd been getting strange looks. Just as I'd predicted, Adam
had shared his gossipy discovery with Lupe who then told Celia who told everyone.
It annoyed the crap out of me that I couldn't even have one day to enjoy my secret
all by myself. I also couldn't shake the worry that things between us wouldn't work out
and then what? I'd have the entire bakery in my business when Dimitri dumped me? The
very thought made my stomach churn.
I finished frosting the tray of cupcakes and slid them down the line to be spattered
with sprinkles. After tossing my gloves, I untied my apron and hung it on an empty peg.
I caught Marco's attention with a little wave and let him know I was leaving the kitchen
for a short while.
Out in the bakery, I spotted Lena at one of the tables closest to the door. She looked
out of place in the laid-back atmosphere of the small café. With that bold, deep blue dress
and nude peep-toe pumps, Lena embodied the image of a career woman on her way to a
power lunch. She'd pulled her sleek black hair up and wore simple earrings. I sort of
envied her polished look and upwardly mobile career path.
I marveled at the way my friend had changed since we'd known each other in
college a few years back. Lena's drive to be successful, to make something of herself and
rise above her impoverished beginnings in one of Houston's harshest neighborhoods
hadn't lessened any. She'd blossomed with confidence and had proven herself more than
capable at her job.
That blog of hers that chronicled the highs and lows of the Houston social scene had
grown from a silly little pastime our freshman year to an internet hotspot that allowed
her to earn advertising revenue and build her own personal brand. A social media
maven, she'd recently branched into charging for tweets broadcast to her thousands of
followers. She was careful to highlight only places she actually endorsed or enjoyed to
maintain the authenticity of her nightlife stamp of approval.
But with that pretty face and knockout figure, Lena had to work twice as hard to get
people to take her seriously. Graduating with honors and a degree in only three short
years had been a good start. Snagging a job at the top Houston PR firm had been even
better.
"Hey!" Smiling, I slid into the seat across from her. "How are you today?"
"Great." Lena cocked her head and studied me. "Something's different about you.
Did you cut your hair?"
I shook my head and self-consciously touched the tip of the braid dangling over my
shoulder. "No."
"Hmm," Lena murmured and continued to stare at me. "You just& you look
different."
I swallowed nervously and shrugged. "Okay."
She narrowed her dark eyes. "You know I'm not going to let this go, right?"
With a little sigh, I glanced around to make sure no one would overhear us. Leaning
forward, I confessed, "I sort of spent the night with Dimitri."
"What?" Her hands flew to the table and she moved closer. With a scandalized
expression, she asked, "Why am I just hearing about this now? You should have texted me
this morning!"
"And said what?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe you could have spilled all the incredibly dirty details of
your sexy night with the blond Adonis?" A bit conspiratorial, she asked in a hushed
whisper, "How was it? Like so hot you almost set the bed on fire? How big is his you-
know-what?" She glanced down at her lap. "Huge, right?"
"Oh God." I couldn't stop laughing as I buried my red face in my hands. "I'm really
not going into specifics here." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]