Page 20 of Defensive Hero

“Is that what he told you?”

My eyes shoot up, and I realize I have voiced my thoughts out loud. “Huh?”

“Wilson,” she says with a smile. “Did he tell you he doesn’t like sweets?”

“I…uh…”

“That boy and his brother have been coming to my shop since they were knee high.” Wait, how old is Annie? She doesn’t look a day over forty. “If he told you that he doesn’t like sweets, then it simply means he wants you to have them.”

Her words take me by surprise, but it’s the knowing smile she flashes me that makes me think she knows something about Wilson and me, but that can’t be true. No one knows about us.

I look away, afraid to meet her penetrative gaze and reveal something I am not supposed to.

“So, how are you liking your new job?” she asks, and I breathe out a sigh at the subject change.

“I like working there.”

“What about your boss?”

“He’s nice.”

Annie chuckles, the sound warm and airy, and I find myself subconsciously smiling as well. “You are the first person I’ve heard say that Wilson Hile is a nice man.” She passes me my coffee order and moves to box the buttercream cake I hadn’t ordered, but I don’t stop her. “I assume you’ve heard about the bet going around.”

My eyes widen to saucers at her words. “You know about that?”

“This is a very small town, Miss Beck.”

“I can’t believe everyone knows about the bet. That’s so embarrassing.”

“We don’t just know about it. Some of us are in on the bet as well.”

I gape at her. “You too?”

“Let’s just say Wilson Hile has a bit of a reputation as a hard man to work for.”

She bags everything up for me before passing it over. I hand her the card as I mull over her words. Does that meaneveryone in town is eagerly waiting for me to quit a job I started less than a week ago?

Does Wilson know about this?

Suddenly, I’m hit by a memory from the day before. He’d mentioned something about a bet to Ray at lunch, but I’d been too distracted at the time to give it any real thought. Shit. That means he knows. I barely hold back a groan of frustration.

“Here you go, Miss Beck,” Annie says, passing the card back to me. I thank her and turn to leave when something else occurs to me.

“How long have you bet on me?” I ask the woman who’s been selling me sweets every morning since I came into town. Despite her being so nice to me, is she also eager for me to leave?

Annie flashes me a toothy grin. “A lifetime.”

“W-what?”

“You are the first woman who has shown this level of care for Wilson. You come here every morning to get him breakfast. Everyone thinks the man is scary, but he just needs a good woman to help him drop his guard a little.”

I look around to make sure no one’s listening. “Annie, you can’t say that. He is my boss…”

“You don’t look like the kind of girl to let something like that stand in her way,” she says, her eyes crossing over my shoulder when the doorbell announcing a new customer rings.

I move away from the counter to allow the new customer to order, and her words stay with me for the short walk to the office. I drop everything at my desk and look at the door leading to Wilson’s office.

He and I are…boss and subordinate.