“Ooh, what is that heavenly scent? Something on the sweet side this morning?”
On the Sweet Side.
I smiled huge and spun around to Jasper, who held the fruit spoon in the air, juice dripping down the wooden handle.
“On the Sweet Side!” We both screeched at the same time like tween girls having heard their favorite pop band perform live for the first time.
I got chills. “Oh, my God!” We both started laughing and dancing around. I held up my hand and he gave me a whopping high five.
“Thanks, Evie!” I came around and pulled her into a tight hug, shaking her from side to side. “You just helped us name our bakery.”
She jerked her head back, confused but still smiling. “I did?”
“You did, lady.” I went over to stand next to my bestie, hooked an arm around his shoulders and looked at him. We both turned our heads, stared into her baby blues and said the name again.
“On the Sweet Side!”
Eight
When Jasper and I arrived in Pueblo, Suda Kaye was already standing outside, talking to none other than Kyson Turner and another woman I assumed was her property manager. I pulled Serenity into a parking spot close to the store. Before I got out, Jasper grabbed my hand.
“Okay, no pressure. This may be the one, this may not be. We’ll know it when we see it,” he confirmed.
I inhaled fully and let it out. “Definitely. We’ll know it when we feel it.”
“Now, put on some gloss because hunk-a-licious is out there and I want my girl looking sexy, sassy and sweet enough to eat!”
I ground down on my back teeth and narrowed my gaze. “No. I’m turning him down.”
He had his fingers curled around the door handle with the door pushed open a few inches before he slapped it closed and turned to the side. “Excuse me? You’re what?” He cupped his hand in a circular motion around his ear. “I couldn’t possibly have heard you right. For a second there I thought my Izzy was turning down an insanely hot guy, one who has a good job...no, one who owns his own business, seems to be into you and again, is seriously freakin’ hot.”
“He made out with Suda Kaye,” I whined and slumped into the supple leather of my driver’s seat.
He jerked his head as though he was winding up for a serious lecture.
I put my palm up in front of us. “Don’t even...”
He grabbed my hand and held it in his. “Your concerns are bogus, and you know it. Suda Kaye gave you the okay. Actually, she wholeheartedly wants you to date this guy. She’s practically hooking you up with him. They’re just friends. Look at the way he’s talking to her—if he was into the bohemian goddess, he’d be getting into her space, making a point to touch her. He’s doing none of those things. Though damn, he sure looks good with that tool belt around his waist, a clipboard in his hand, that pencil behind his ear.” Jasper licked his lips. “Izzy, you have to go out with him. Single women everywhere would jump at the chance to go on a date with a man that looks like Kyson Turner.”
He was not wrong. I studied Kyson through the windshield. Long legs encased in a pair of black worn Levi’s. A white T-shirt that hugged his muscles like a second skin. I could even see the indentations of what must have been a ripped stomach. The man absolutely took care of his body, but I imagined that was pretty common in his industry. Hammering things. Nailing things. Lifting, squatting. My heart rate picked up as I dug through the random items in my console and grabbed my lip gloss. I flipped down the visor and applied a peachy shine.
“There’s my Izzy. Now, come on. I’m excited to see the space.” He pushed open the door and slammed it behind him.
“Dude, stop slamming my girl’s door!” I followed him out of the car, making a point to show him how easy it was to simply shut the door on my new car.
He held up his hands. “Okay, okay, I’ll try to remember. Sorry, pretty baby.” He patted the hood and I grinned.
The second we hit the sidewalk Suda Kaye jumped up and down and bum-rushed us. “I’m so excited! Are you guys fa-reak-ing out or what?” she squealed.
“Suda Kaye, what’s Kyson doing here?” I whispered as she hooked her arm in mine and the other in Jasper’s and led us toward the man who had his Ray-Ban sunglasses focused dead on me. I noticed his head tilted down just a smidge, but it was enough to know he was checking me out.
“Well, if you choose to renovate, he’d be the best to work with. Cam told you that last night. So I figured we should just have him here right out of the gate and give you a good, solid guesstimate of what renovations will cost. If it’s too far over your budget, then he’ll be the best one to tell you. He’s honest and won’t take you for a ride.”
“He won’t? Pity. I was kinda hoping he’d take her for a ride. Woman needs to get herself some. Been too damn long as it is.” Jasper blatantly vomited my personal business out there.
“Shush!” I growled as we approached.
“It’s true.”
I groaned under my breath and then plastered a smile on my lips as Kyson took off his sunglasses and clipped them into the collar of his tee. “Isa, looking as lovely as when I saw you last.”
“Kyson.” I lifted my chin to him and then held my hand out to the property manager and introduced myself.
“Pleasure to meet you,” she said, and spun on a spiked heel and headed to the door. She opened it and gestured for us to enter.
“I’m going to let you guys have your time. I’ll be over here. Come by when you’re done and tell me everything.” Suda Kaye pulled me into a super-fast side hug then did the same to Jasper. “Good luck!” She held up two fingers that were crossed over one another.
Kyson let us both enter before he pulled up behind me and whispered in my ear, “You haven’t responded to my text.”
“Because I haven’t decided if I’m going to go out with you or not,” I answered.
He grabbed my biceps and tugged me over to the side. I watched Jasper go deep into the space and I turned around, my sass already at the surface. I was certain Jasper wanted Kyson and me to have a minute alone, the brat.
“Hey, we’re here for business. This is important to me,” I griped.
“I know. That’s why I’m here. However, that doesn’t change the fact that our date is very important to me, and I was hoping you’d give me an answer.”
I put a hand to my hip. “I will, when I’m good and ready. No sooner.”
His gaze slid to the hand on my hip and then his lips quirked in a half smile. “Hard to get? I see I’ve got the sassy Isa on my hands.”