He had changed his hair. It was shorter. It was hard to know why I was ever attracted to him in the first place. He pushed his expensive sunglasses onto his head and looked pointedly up at the sign. Then he swept a sneering gaze around my tiny kiosk. "It's hardly the bakery you always dreamed about."
"Yes, I had to change a lot of my dreams, thanks to you. But I'm doing just fine."
"Are you?" I realized I also hated the sound of his voice. Was his tone always that arrogant?
Harlan returned for his order.
"I've got work to do, Trevor. Nice seeing you. Now go away."
Harlan's eyes widened at my comment to a presumed customer. "My ex-fiancé," I muttered with just enough disgust to let him know the man had deserved my rudeness. Harlan seemed to understand and nodded. I filled his coffee order and tried hard to ignore the shadow looming over my cart. Apparently, my blunt, simple message telling him to go away was too hard to comprehend.
I finished with Harlan. He shot me a wink before walking away. Trevor decided he had the right to walk around to my side of the stand. I found myself jammed in the tight space with the one person who I hated more than anyone. Had he always worn that foul smelling aftershave or did it just smell bad now because the man wearing it was such a pig?
"I need you to get out of this kiosk now."
Trevor took hold of my hand, but I yanked it away.
"Macy, let's get together and talk about this. I've changed. I'm working out my problems, and I think you need me."
I laughed. "I don't need you. Oh my god, if there's one thing on this entire planet that I do not need it's you. I don't ever want to see you again. Now get out of this kiosk."
"She asked you to get out. I suggest you do that." Chase's deep, smooth voice was the perfect contrast to Trevor's grating, arrogant tone.
I looked at him. His green eyes were normally sparkling with humor, but this time they were dark with anger. The muscle in his jaw twitched, and somehow his shoulders, now tense with anger, managed to look even broader than normal.
Trevor looked at him and his brows twittered with annoyance. But there was also a glint of fear in his face, something I'd never seen before. "Sorry, dude, this is between us, so why don't you go back to wherever you came from."
"I'm not going anywhere." Chase cocked his head just slightly. He stood silently, his jaw clenched, waiting for Trevor to step out.
Trevor looked at me. "Are you sleeping with this jackass?"
"It's none of your damn business what I do. You have no part in my life. Now get out of here, so I can run my business."
Trevor's harsh laugh rocked my small stand. "Do you think I'd actually want you now that you're damaged goods? Whore."
From the corner of my eye, I saw Chase flinch, but I put up my hand to stop him from moving toward Trevor.
I scowled up at the jerk who had basically stolen four years of my life. "That's it, isn't it, you sick creep. You just had it in your head that you wanted a virgin bride. And while I stupidly waited for you, you helped yourself to every woman who would have you."
I pushed past him and walked around to stand in front of Chase. Chuck and George and every passerby had stopped to watch, but I didn't care. I was filled with so much rage at the thought of losing out on all those years, years I would never get back, all I could think of was getting back at Trevor.
"If finally finding out what it's like to kiss and be touched by a real man and not a slimy, spoiled narcissist like you makes me a whore, then I'm happy to be damaged goods." Since there was no room for me to stomp out of and no doors to slam shut for dramatic exit, I threw my arms around Chase and kissed him. The onlookers applauded, and Chuck shot out a loud whistle.
Spoiled asshole that he was, Trevor swung his fist at the coffee cups I had stacked on the counter. They shot in every direction. He stomped out of the kiosk.
Chase moved me behind him in a protective gesture that made my chest feel heavy with affection for the man.
Trevor lifted his chin and stood nearly toe to toe with Chase. "You can fucking have her."
"Sorry asshole, but I think she just made it pretty clear that she wasn't yours to give. Now I'm going to let you walk away from here with all those pearly whites still in your smug face, but if you ever come near Macy again, I will fucking hurt you."
Trevor stuck around for about two more seconds before marching off with that same petulant stomp I saw after I called off the wedding.
Chase turned to me. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, I mean for damaged goods and all." I tried to act nonchalant as if the entire incident was just one to be laughed at over tea with the girls, but my pulse was just beginning to drop low enough that I could no longer hear it in my ears.
Chase lifted my chin with his fingers and brushed my lips with a light kiss. "He's an asshole. Seems to me, you dodged a big, ugly bullet when you called it off with that guy."
"I couldn't agree more. And thank you for that. I wasn't sure how to get rid of him, but you seemed to have found his weak spot—fear. I always had this inkling that he was the type of guy who would pull his wife in front of him as a shield if someone broke into the house." I still hadn't forgotten that Chase had immediately pushed me behind him for protection. That was when I realized I'd never felt that way with Trevor.
With the day's entertainment over, people returned to whatever it was they were up to. George and Chuck got back to work but I was sure I was going to get the third degree the moment they had some spare time. I had customers heading toward Sweet Spot as well, which Chase noted too.
I took hold of his hand before getting back to work. "I didn't get a chance to thank you for last night either. I'm afraid I was a very rude hostess last night when I fell fast asleep. I'm sorry, but your deluxe spa treatment had been so relaxing, and I was so tired—"
Chase leaned forward and kissed my forehead. "My pleasure, and I see you've got customers so I'll quickly ask you what I'd planned on asking you before I saw that clown standing in the kiosk. It's my weekend at the Plaything beach house, and I was hoping you'd go with me. We could leave Saturday after you close up and be back Sunday afternoon in time for you to get ready for Monday."
I dropped my head back. "That sounds amazing. Are you sure you want to waste your beach house weekend with me?"
"Yes, I won't even go if you say no."
"You know what, yes, I will go. I'm ready for a real day off. In fact—" I glanced in the direction that Trevor had lumbered off. He was gone, and gone for good, I hoped. "I'm ready," I repeated and gazed up at him, hoping he'd understand. He seemed to, but it was obvious he didn't want to jump to conclusions. "I'm starting to feel a little greedy about the whole thing."
Chase still hadn't responded, and I wondered if I'd just made a major ass of myself by assuming that he wanted to take me to bed. "Of course, if you're not interested . . ."
"Not interested?" His deep laugh caught me off guard. "Holy shit, not interested. Considering that I've been thinking of little else, I think I can safely say I'm interested. I'll call you later."
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chase
Macy shifted in the passenger seat and lifted a strand of her hair. "Do I smell like powdered sugar? I swear I can shower for an hour and still not get the smell of baked goods out of my hair." She laughed. "Guess it's a good thing I don't work at the fish market."
"And yet, I'd still find you adorable."
She turned to look at me and titled her head in disbelief. "Seriously, if I was sitting here right now with the odor of fish guts on me, you'd still think I was adorable?"
"Yep. I mean I'd probably have one of those old fashioned clothespins on my nose, but I could look past it." And I wasn't exaggerating. I was done second guessing myself when it came to Macy. The moment I saw that creep standing close to her, threatening her and throwing hurtful words at her, I wanted to tear the asshole apart. There had been other instances when I came to a woman's aid. I was never one to stand back when someone was getting physically or verbally abused, but I'd never felt such rage. It explained a lot. It explained why I couldn't stop thinking about Macy and why I'd been ignoring texts and calls and invitations from other women. I'd been like a monk for the past few weeks because I only wanted one woman. Even in my own head, it sounded completely foreign, as if someone else was thinking it. I never thought those words would cross my mind. I'd given Trey plenty of grief over his instant love for Georgie, but I'd never expected it to happen to me. I hadn't bothered to tell any of them and especially not Trey because I would never hear the end of it.
It was late on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, but the clouds on the horizon looked less than friendly as I drove along the coastal highway. "My phone says rain tomorrow, but I'm holding out hope the little rain cloud icon will turn to a sun before morning. You never know out here. A good onshore breeze can push the clouds inland before the first drop falls."
Macy pulled her gaze from the side window. "Of course, if it rains, we could always stay in all day. I'm sure we can figure out something to do."
"I like your way of thinking. You know, Macy, I'm enjoying the hell out of showing you the pleasures of an orgasm, but we don't have to jump ahead. I want you to be sure you're ready."