Page 25 of Blood Money
Me: I’ll tell you what…
Kendall: Yes?
Me: Meet me again tomorrow and let me take you out
Dots pulsed, then disappeared. That repeated a few more times before she finally hit Send on her message. It made me wonder what she was typing all the other times that she deleted.
Kendall: Like, um, a date?
Me: Yeah
It took her a while to answer, and I was afraid I’d scared her off. Right when I was about to send her another message, the dots appeared again, and I held my breath.
Kendall: I get off at 3 tomorrow
Me: Is that a yes?
Kendall: Yes
My heart flipped and fluttered from how giddy her single-word answer made me. Now I had to figure out where to take her. Dinner and a movie was cliché, and with a girl like Kendall, I wanted something special.
Then it hit me, and I grinned.
Me: See you then. Wear comfortable shoes
Kendal: LOL. Okay. Well, I gotta get up at the ass-crack of dawn so I’m going to bed now
The thought of her and a bed sent really inappropriate thoughts spinning through my head. I told myself I was being an idiot. She was only sixteen, and if her family had an issue with her going out with me, I was a legal adult. What that meant was I had to be on my best behavior.
I could do that.
I could be good—even if I knew at my core that I was the furthest thing from that.
“StopandStare”—OneRepublic
Present Day….
Konstantin Woodsman, my rescuer from yesterday, stood at the counter. He’d come by as I’d asked him to, though I truly hadn’t expected to see him again.
“Are you sure that’s all you want?” I stared disbelievingly at the single cupcake sitting in the small box. He’d chosen one that was made to look like an ice cream sundae.
“That and maybe a chance to see you again?” he replied, shocking the shit out of me.
“Me?” I squeaked splaying my hand over my chest.
His chuckle was deep and warm. I couldn’t be certain, but I thought his cheeks flushed a bit. He gave a slightly nervous laugh and ran a hand through his hair as he looked away. Then he locked his gaze on mine again. “Yes, you.”
“Oh, well, I, uh, don’t actually live here. I’m just helping out while my grandmother is recuperating,” I stammered as my face heated. I’d never been good at accepting attention from men. Always self-conscious of my unruly red hair, my pasty white skin, and the bloom of freckles that dusted my cheeks, I didn’t think guys really found me attractive. Well, there was one guy I had believed, and look where that got me.
He smirked. “It’s okay. I’ll be back.”
With a wink, he gathered the small box and walked out the door. I’d been a little flattered by his flirting, as he was quite good-looking.
After he left, there wasn’t time to think of a lot. It was busy, and we had a ton of orders. Mom and Dad’s plane got delayed due to some nasty weather in New York, so they wouldn’t be here until late tonight now. They decided to get a hotel near the hospital so they could walk over until Nonna got discharged.
Mom asked if I minded sticking around for a few days. It left me torn, because yes, I wanted to be here for my family. Yet, it frustrated me because I had to cancel one of my orders in Grand Rapids and refund the customer’s money. Their order was supposed to be picked up today. Thankfully, they were understanding, but I gave them a discount on their next order to maintain a good relationship. Okay, and to ensure they came back to me.
Since I was stuck in Chicago another day or two, I was working in the bakery to help Tillie and Paulie get the special orders out for the day. Paulie was making the basic orders, like bread, donuts, and undecorated cookies. Tillie and I were doing the cakes and decorated cookies. It was organized chaos in the kitchen, but I was in my element. This was my happy place.