Blake

I'm staring at my future. For the first time, I'm glad Carly got sick. I might have been playing it off, but I was worried about her. Helping at her shop was the last thing I wanted to do, but she loved this place. I had no idea that her new employee would be my future wife. She's more beautiful than I could have imagined. Standing in the middle of my sister’s shop with her light winter coat on and her hair in a messy bun, she anxiously awaits what I have to say. She’d been so busy staring at me through the window that she didn’t realize her fate was sealed.

Her dad would be a problem, but only until she took my name. He loves her, and I know when it comes to moving to Houston, he may not be thrilled. There’s just one thing about it. I’m not leaving Palace without my princess.

"We'll wait outside for the cleaning crew. I don't want you to catch anything,” I admit. Thinking of her getting sick feels like a punch in the gut. She’s so much smaller than me and could be deadly ill if she got sick.

"I work with her every day except on Fridays when she volunteers at the hospital children's wing. I’m not going to get sick,” she contends.

That's where they think she caught it, but since she was here Saturday, I'm not taking any chances. I'm not afraid of getting it myself but getting a customer sick could be a serious business killer. I lead her to where my truck is parked. The crew shows up as soon as I open my door.

I close it again and walk towards the back of the shop. "I'm going to give them directions then we can go to the diner across the street and talk while they clean."

"Did you make sure there's no money out?" she questions like I’m just going to leave my sister’s money lying around.

I shake my head in incredulity. "Of course, princess. That's what I was doing when someone called the cops on me,” I toss out, partially smiling as I faux scowl.

"Sorry about that." She blushes, dipping her head apologetically. God, she’s so cute. I can’t tell if she’s normally this shy or I’m making her this way. She has a little feistiness to her, then suddenly it’s gone.

"No, you did the right thing,” I say, tipping her chin to look at me. Damn, she’s perfect. I want to kiss her, but I know it’s not the right time. I need her to do her job for my sister. If I cross that line and she quits, Carly will never speak to me again. More importantly, I’ll lose the woman I want to be my wife.

“Are you Mr. Reynolds?” A small woman in a parka asks.

“Yes, I need the entire place cleaned down and disinfected in the next three hours,” I tell her. I don’t care what her name is, but she hands over a business card that says it’s Denise Moreno. “Is that feasible?” I know it’s a last-minute job, but they claim to be one of the best

“Yes, sir.” I let them in and give them some instructions before taking Amelia by the hand and leading her across the street. We get to the curb when the sheriff’s car pulls up. I turn around and he hops out, eyeing me with deadly intent.

Amelia stills beside me, letting go of the hand I’d been holding. “Dad, what are you doing here? I thought you knew it was a mistake.”

“Sweetie, when he tells me that you’re going to marry him one day, I have to make sure you’re safe.”  She directs her eyes to me, giving me an eye-roll before turning back to her dad.

“I am,” she informs him with a bit of sass. Oh yeah, she’s not normally shy. I bring it out. I kind of like that. He grumbles something, then gives me another scathing look.

It seems to irritate him even more. “Doesn’t look like it. You should be inside working, not being led away by some man.”

I’m stepping in because even though I know he’s trying to protect her, he’s treating her like an imbecile and I don’t appreciate it. “Sheriff, I’m having the shop cleaned right now so there are no traces of the virus. Amelia and I are going to eat breakfast and discuss the shop until they’re done. You’re more than welcome to join us.”

“No, I have to go back.” He narrows his gaze, staring me down with intent, jabbing his finger into my chest. “But I’m warning you that she’s not to be played with.”

“Sir, I don’t play around. And one day you’ll see that,” I answer. I might not appreciate being jabbed in my chest, but this man loves his little girl and I think he’s grown accustomed to scaring boys away. The thing is, I’m a man.

“I better.” He gives her a hug before leaving. I watch the obvious affection between them and know that at least she’s been loved all her life. I’m going to continue that. Never has anyone made me feel this way. It’s more than just infatuation, but I’ll give it time to prove that to her.

“Wow, you can hold your own,” she mutters, staring at me in surprise.

I look down on the itty-bitty brunette with a smirk, dying to kiss her, but I hold back. “That I can, but it’s what I do for a living. I’m the negotiator in the family company.” I grab the door and hold it open for my princess.

“What is the family company?” she asks, walking into the restaurant.

“Printing and signage.” I follow behind her, taking in her sexy ass. Even in her coat, I can make out her curves. I ache to hold her.

“So, you make the deals?” she questions, looking at me over her shoulder.

“Yes, princess, and I’m going to make one with you. We enjoy breakfast and talk about Carly’s shop and you promise to celebrate Valentine’s Day with me.”

“What makes you think I don’t already have a boyfriend?” she argues, taking a seat in a booth with the bakery in full view. I climb in on the other side, so I have an excuse to stare at her the whole time. Although, I’d love for her to sit on my lap. The waitress hands us the menus and walks away with a laughing grin, which makes Amelia blush and focuses on her menu. I pull it down to the table, forcing her to look at me. “Princess, your father is a bulldog. From what I can see, it’s not likely. So…what about my deal?”

“That’s fine. It’s not like I’ll be doing anything anyway,” she says, shrugging her shoulders as if she’s unaffected by me. I let go of her menu, so she can hide behind it again. I already know what I want. I’m very hungry and they have a big plate with it all including a T-bone steak. Leaning back in my seat, I look around the room. We’ve caught the attention of several nosy looking older women. Giving them a wink, I reach for Amelia’s hand, intertwining her fingers with mine. Instead of pulling away, she leaves it for a minute until the waitress returns.

“I’ll have the Man Breakfast Platter,” I tell her, seeing her name tag and adding, “Thank you, Tracy.” The woman isn’t old, maybe in her early twenties and is smiling at me as if I said she was the most beautiful woman in the world. I’m in no way interested in her, but I feel my princess eyeing me. I reach over and give her my full attention because even though I’m just being polite, Amelia is showing some jealousy. 

Immediately, Amelia throws her order out, clearly annoyed by my civility to Tracy. “I’m going to have the over easy eggs and bacon with white toast.”

“Coming right up. I’ll bring you both some coffee,” Tracy says. “Goodness, you did good, girl,” she adds, patting Amelia’s shoulder. A smile creeps across her face for just a second, but as soon as Tracy walks away she directs her attitude to me.

“Now they think we’re a couple,” she complains as if she really minds. It didn’t feel like it when she held my hand. I get that this is a small town so by tonight everyone will know, but it shouldn’t be a problem.

“They should. I’m not settling for anything less.” She deserves my honesty, but I need to slow it down.

“I thought you promised to talk about Carly’s place, not us?” she protests.

“I never said, I wouldn’t talk about us. But as promised, I want to talk about the work, since we do have to open in a few hours and I’m not a baker.”

“Do you think it’ll be ventilated enough with the disinfectant?”

“It should be. They are wiping down things and mopping. I’m sure they’ll be careful. Their resume says they do commercial kitchens.”

She takes a sip of her water, then remarks, “Good, I’d hate to bake Pine-Sol flavored cookies.”

I hold back a laugh and shake my head. “Me too. So what kind of cookies and other sweets are you going to dish up?”

“I’ll do as much as I can, but we have sheets of brownies to make along with different cookies. Brownies are our biggest sellers. People love the perfect number of nuts to chocolate combo. Right now, there’s nothing ready to hit the shelves. Everything is baked fresh and never stays for more than forty-eight hours.”

“I’ll help all I can.”

They brought our food to the table quickly, but she and I manage to devise a game plan for today before they set it down.

"So, I'm going to keep the shop open until seven as scheduled, but you'll be leaving to go to class by four, right?" It kind of messed with the plans I had in my mind for her, but it was nice to know she’s trying to get an education.

"Yes, then tomorrow, I can be there at five to get an early start like your sister normally does."

"She needs to hire more employees. Aren't there any other girls in town looking for a job?" I see her eyes narrow at my suggestion of more women.

"Probably, but she likes to be hands on all the time."

"Yes, but for instances like this and the next two weeks when it's insanely busy for Valentine's Day, who's going to handle all the chaos? That's why she got sick easily. Running herself ragged."

"I agree on the latter, but this town isn't overwhelmingly large like Houston. It has a dozen streetlights."

"Still, if she had a backup, I wouldn't have to be here,” I say. It’s a terrible argument and I realize it immediately.

"No, you wouldn't,” she murmurs, taking a bite of her eggs.

"Then again, I wouldn't have met you either,” I add. She’s the best reason to be here.