“You know it! I have thirteen of these boxes.”
“I already made space. I’ll unload this cart while you get the next load. There’s another cart over there,” she said, pointing to a metal cart by the wall. “You have about twenty minutes before the buses arrive and the kids start streaming in.”
“I better move then,” I said, heading to the door. “I don’t want to be accosted by three-foot-tall cupcake thieves.”
The man who I had forgotten was still standing there laughed heartily. “You’ve got them pegged. How about if I help you with the other boxes, and we’ll make quick work of it?”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” I said instantly, grabbing the cart after swapping mine out with Mrs. Cramer. “You have work to do, I’m sure.”
He set his bag and coffee mug down just inside the door of the kitchen and shrugged. “I can’t do much until the kids arrive. Maybe if I help you bring the rest in, I’ll feel less guilty about almost ruining the cupcakes.”
I eyed him up and down then. He was ridiculously handsome standing there in his button-up dress shirt and tie. The pink pinstriped shirt was tucked into his dress slacks, and his feet were adorned in a pair of Hush Puppies. The look was trendy and hip, but that wasn’t what sucked me in. His face did that all by itself. His eyes were a luscious garnet green that drew you in and held you in his atmosphere whenever he spoke. Dammit. I was a sucker for green eyes. I could feel my resolve weakening about letting him help. He wore a beard tightly clipped to his skin, his hair slicked back and blended in to meet the beard, and a pair of lips that could kiss the heck out of you without breaking a sweat. Where the heck did that come from, Amber?
I realized I was staring at him, so I shrugged nonchalantly—so as not to look like I cared what he did—and started pushing the cart toward the van. “Suit yourself,” I said as he walked beside me.
“I haven’t seen you around before, Amber,” he said, making conversation as we loaded the cart up with boxes.
“Then you must be new here. I’ve lived in Lake Pendle my entire life, and I run the bakery on Main Street. You don’t have to look hard to find me.”
He rose to his full height of over six feet, and I whimpered a little at how he was good enough to eat. I loved a tall, handsome man with a pair of eyes to get lost in. He was all of that and then some, which meant he had to be taken. Also, I’d sworn off men after the last debacle I’d dealt with over the winter.
He brushed off his hands and smiled. If possible, his smile made him even more handsome, and his straight white teeth weren’t creepy when they peeked out from between his lips. Cripes. I desperately needed to get laid. I was ogling this guy like he was a fine cut of meat from Butcher Don’s shop.
“I’m new here and haven’t had time to investigate the bakery. You’re always closed when I’m done with work, and I’ve been so busy setting up house on the weekends I keep forgetting to take a break.”
“I see,” I said, just as a bolt of lightning lit up the sky and the thunder followed almost instantly. I screamed and jumped into the back of the van, huddled there until the last of the thunder rumbled overhead.
“Hey, Amber, it’s okay,” he said softly.
I glanced up to see him kneeling on the floor of the van with one knee, his hands out to me to keep me calm. “Just a spring storm. It’s not going to hurt you, but if we don’t get these boxes inside, the rain is going to ruin them.”
I was shaking, and my heart was pounding when I lowered my arms from over my head. I had to swallow around the lump in my throat before I could speak. “Sor—sorry. I overreacted. It took me by surprise.” I stiffened my shoulders and climbed out of the van, slamming the doors closed again and grabbing the handle of the cart. He was carrying the sheet cake while I pushed the cart, and we hurried toward the entrance of the school to get inside before the rain started in earnest. We dodged inside just as the skies opened and the rain poured down again.
“Wow, just made it,” he said, lowering the giant cake box to the counter before he grabbed his bag.
“Thanks for helping,” I said, closing the door against the rain. I would have to wait out the storm before I headed back to the bakery.
“Anytime,” he said, offering a wave before he disappeared through the door of the cafeteria.
That left me standing there staring after him, wishing I knew a whole hell of a lot more about Bishop Halla, but knowing that was never going to happen.
Girls like me don’t end up with guys like him.