An unreasonable panic gripped her. Or maybe it was dread. Without thinking, she ducked the rest of the way into the bakery, pressed herself behind the door, and peeked out the window.
It was early, she told herself. Maybe they were just on a stroll. And Eric was a dentist. No way would he come into the bakery. Surely he was bound by some dental decree to not step into sugar-infested bakeries. Besides, her luck couldn’t be that bad.
He headed for the bakery.
Damn it. She hated that after all this time she could still feel the humiliation of what he’d done to her, but there it was. And damn, that pissed her off. He’d literally left her at the altar, for God’s sake. And the only thing worse than that was everyone in town knowing it.
She’d assumed it no longer mattered, that she would be ready to face him if that happened, but apparently not.
She was not ready.
But she couldn’t deny that there was also a little part of her that hoped he’d seen her and he’d felt…what? Did she want him to feel guilt? Regret?
Yeah. She kind of did.
She also wanted him to feel…yearning. And a desperation that he’d let her go. Yeah, desperation would work just fine.
Eric and Blondie stopped a few feet from the bakery door. They were laughing, having a great time, and Callie held her breath, hoping they’d go away. Far, far away.
Instead, Eric pulled the woman in close and kissed her. Gently. Sweetly. He held her face while he did it and when he pulled back, he smiled into the woman’s eyes like she was his entire universe.
He’d never once kissed Callie like that.
Fine. Whatever. The good news was that now they were walking again, and with relief, she turned away from the window.
The bakery line was long as usual and she got into it, reminding herself to breathe as she casually eyeballed the room.
Tanner was at “their” table. He was watching her, head cocked, like maybe she was a fascinating and ridiculous reality show.
Terrific.
She tried to look normal. Like nothing to see here…
“Callie. It is you.”
This came from right behind her, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. Whipping around, she came face to face with—oh, perfect—Eric and Blondie. How had that happened?
“Hey there,” Eric said with an easy smile. And not a single flicker of guilt or regret or yearning or desperation.
Damn him.
“It’s great to see you,” he said, standing very close to the woman next to him. “Tina, this is Callie. I’ve told you about her.”
“Lovely to meet you,” Tina said, smiling with freakishly straight, white teeth.
But her smile was genuine and Callie tried to act normal. “Nice to meet you too.”
“I didn’t know you were back in town,” Eric said.
“Just for a bit,” she heard herself say. “Checking in on my grandma.”
He gave a fond smile. “Lucille. As insane as usual, I’m guessing?”
“She has reasons for her ways,” she said in quick defense. Apparently Callie could be irritated by her grandmother, but no one else—especially an ex—was allowed.
And speaking of her ex, he had the nerve to look pretty damn fantastic.
He also had a hand on the small of Tina’s back. A casual, affectionate gesture that insinuated intimacy and ease. Except he’d never been into PDA before, and certainly not with Callie.
And suddenly she didn’t want a doughnut.
No. She wanted an entire baker’s dozen.
Tanner had watched with some amusement as Callie had bolted into the bakery, plastered herself to the wall, and stared out the window as if the hounds of hell had been on her heels.
When she’d relaxed and gotten in line, he’d still been watching. So he’d had eyes on her when the couple had gotten in line behind her.
Ah, he thought, watching as he drank his coffee. Stiff posture. Fake smile. Quick hand over the hair.
Either an archenemy or an ex, he guessed. And since this was real life and not a comic book, he crossed archenemy off the list. An ex then. The guy had his arm around the blond woman next to him and Tanner winced in sympathy for a pale-faced Callie. Her lips were curved but she wasn’t showing any teeth, and she also looked like she’d just swallowed something really sour.
That, or the ex was stinky.
Then the woman said something and the ex leaned in close to catch every word before tossing his head back and laughing.
Callie looked like she wished she had powers and could vanish.
Or maybe she was plotting the man’s murder.
She said something and started to leave the line without coffee or a doughnut, which told Tanner more than anything else how off axis she was, but it was her turn at the front of the line and Leah called out to her.