by Lucy Lennox
“I’ll handle it, West,” he said softly. “Leave it to me, okay?”
I felt something relax inside me then, knowing as always that I was lucky to have family who loved me and supported me like I did. Grandpa was looking over at Doc like he hung the fucking moon, and I thought for the millionth time in my life that if I could just find someone to look at me like that for one freaking second in my life, I could die even happier.
Chapter 9
Nico
As difficult as it was to be stuck in the house with Pippa, it turned out that leaving the house to go into town was ten times worse. The minute people saw me, they had noticeable, negative reactions to me. Those reactions varied from simply turning their backs and walking away to outright rudeness and snotty comments about the weirdo from the West Coast.
I heard that phrase so often now I was beginning to think it was a thing. Insult by alliteration. West Coast Weirdo… hmm… Wants Weston Wilde.
What? No. No I didn’t.
But of course I did. He was hot as fuck, muscled in the very best way, and disliked me. It was like a horndog’s delight. The trifecta of sex godliness. Oh Jesus, I needed to get laid.
As I found a space to park on Main Street, I spotted a police car lingering just behind me on the road. After I parked and stepped out of my car, I noticed Curtis Billingham pull away. I’d seen the fucker everywhere since I’d gotten to Hobie. He was like a bad penny, always turning up wherever I went.
I pushed the door into the bakery and greeted everyone, not remembering names for shit. I was pretty sure the woman who ran the place with Adriana was called Rox, but that was about all I remembered. As I walked in to say hello, I felt an odd sense I was forgetting something. I realized it was the lack of having the baby with me. This was the first time I’d left Pippa at home with someone else, and I had a different Dr. Wilde to thank for it.
I’d been just cleaning up after breakfast that morning when I had a visit from Dr. and Mr. Wilde who were apparently West’s grandparents. They’d just wanted to pop in and visit Pippa, but when Doc had headed back to the nursery to peek in on her, Mr. Wilde had pulled me aside to beg me to let Doc help out with the baby a few mornings a week.
“Goldie suggested it,” Mr. Wilde had said. “She and I have both been desperate to find Doc something to do in his retirement. He hates golf, our boat is in for repairs, he doesn’t have any interest in joining me in the garden, and the man needs baby time, you know? None of our damned grandkids seem to give a shit that we’re ready for another batch of babies in our family. Is there any way you might agree to give Doc a little baby time? Maybe it could be a win-win situation for the both of you?”
Just as I opened my mouth to give my usual “no” answer to any offer of help, Doc came around the corner with Pippa in his arms. The look on the man’s face as he beamed down at her was ridiculously sweet, and as a retired family doctor, he clearly knew what the hell he was doing with her.
“Um…,” I said, glancing longingly outside through the front windows of the house. “I did kind of need to take care of a few things…”
Doc perked right up then and blurted, “Can we take care of the baby while you’re gone? You’ll get everything done much quicker without having to worry about Pippa.”
“That’s true, but—”
“If you need references, we have a few people you could call,” Mr. Wilde said with a teasing voice.
I rolled my eyes and grinned at the two older men. “Okay fine. I’m going to take a shower first. If she’s still alive when I come out, I guess I’ll give you a trial run. I just have to go deposit some money at the bank, stop off and do payroll at the bakery, and grab groceries before coming back. Hope that’s enough baby time for you two softies.”
The two men were still baby talking at Pippa ten minutes later when I waved at them over my shoulder on the way out.
Sugar Britches was located in a quaint little storefront in the center of Hobie’s town square. When I’d first walked into the bakery, I’d been floored. The Adriana I’d known had been angry, spiteful, and terrible in school. It was hard to pair the adorable shop in front of me with the moody teen I’d grown up with.
Goldie had taken me by there for a few minutes one of the first days I was in town, but we hadn’t stayed long. I knew Rox from that brief meeting, and I was sure she’d be wondering where I’d disappeared to in the days since then. She hadn’t seemed all that thrilled to even meet me in the first place. I could hardly blame her. She was most likely worried about what I was planning on doing with the place.
And I had no idea what to tell her.
“Well, hello there, gorgeous,” a young man’s voice said from somewhere off to my left as I entered the storefront. I glanced around but didn’t see anyone. “Down here,” came the voice again.
Through the glass front of the pastry display I spied a guy on his knees, stocking sweets on the shelves.
“Hi, I’m Nico, Adriana’s brother…,” I began.
The man stood up, and I realized he wasn’t quite as young as I’d originally thought, but was still definitely younger than I was. Maybe he was in his early twenties. The kid had gorgeous porcelain skin, red lips, and dark hair almost shaved off in a close buzz cut. I wondered if he had some Asian ancestors to give him the beautiful combination of dark hair and creamy-smooth skin.
“Nico Salerno,” the guy drawled. His voice rolled my name off his tongue like he was fellating it. I fought to keep inappropriate thoughts out of my mind.
“Yes, that’s me,” I said unnecessarily.
“Well, well. Aren’t you a hot piece of—”
Suddenly Rox stepped up and clamped a hand over the guy’s mouth to shut him up before he could continue.
She looked at me with an apologetic face. “Boss. He means a hot piece of boss. Don’t you, Stevie? Please excuse him.”
I snorted and held out my hand to the guy. “Nice to meet you, Stevie. Do you work here too?”
“Certainly do, hot stuff,” he said once the woman’s hand came away from his mouth. His grin was adorable, and I knew right away I could be friends with the flirty man. Finally someone in this shit town who might speak my language.
He was dressed in dark leggings, Doc Marten boots, and some kind of oversized tank top in leopard print. It wasn’t anything I’d be caught dead in, but it seemed to suit his funky personality just fine.
“Sorry it’s taken me so long to swing back by and touch base with you guys. I kind of have my hands full with the baby,” I began.
Rox winced. “How’s Pippa without her mama?”
I felt my teeth clack together to stave off the emotion of thinking about Adriana. “She’s doing fine. Doc and Mr. Wilde are looking after her for a bit today.”
Stevie smiled. “I love Doc and Grandpa. They always throw the best parties. Wait till you see the haunted house they set up in their barn at Halloween. Fuckin’ fabulous.”
I glanced at Rox and back at Stevie. “Oh, I’ll be gone by then. I’m just here temporarily. Are they your grandparents too?”
“Me? No. I wish,” he said. “But I’m friends with one of their granddaughters.”
“I remember the town being overrun with Wildes when I was growing up. How many are there? Seems like a lot.”
At that point, everyone in the shop started snickering. One of the customers, who’d been giving me the side-eye from a small table in the corner piped up. “Oh, honey. Like a million, I think. You’ve got Weston, Hudson, MJ, Hallie, Winnie, Saint… Who am I missing?”
Another woman chimed in. “Cal, Otto, King…”
My jaw dropped, and I looked at Rox, who just shrugged. “Nine siblings?”
Stevie mouthed the word Catholic before closing the cabinet he’d been filling earlier and putting his finger to his chin like he really had to think about it. “No, there are ten I think. Who are we forgetting?”
“Har, har,” a young woman said from a mouthful of cupcake at the coffee counter
next to the pastry case. She didn’t bother to look up from the magazine she was reading but lifted her arm up in the air and shot the guy the bird.
“Oh, right. That last one. Sassy, I believe they call her. Appropriate name,” Stevie said, shooting me a wink. “And that’s just the one set. Don’t even get us started on their cousins.”
The woman behind the magazine had a hard time not choking on her cupcake before pulling down the mag to greet me.
“Hi, Nico. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Sassy Wilde. West is my big brother. Ignore Stevie. He’s not very subtle when he flirts.”
Stevie huffed and lifted his nose in the air, twirling around and pretending to busy himself at the coffeepots.
I waved to her across the open space between us. “Nice to meet you, Sassy. Are you sweeter than your brother? He’s a bit rough around the edges.” What the hell? Why did I say something so rude to a stranger?
Sassy’s eyebrow rose as she looked at me, but she still kept a smile on her face. “Oh really? What has dear old Weston been up to?”
“Nothing, never mind. I shouldn’t have said anything. That was inappropriate.”
“No, no. Go on. Tell me what he’s said. I’ll tattle on him to Grandpa, and he’ll get the whooping he so clearly deserves,” she teased.
The thought of anyone but me whooping Weston Wilde’s muscular ass was unacceptable, and the idea of me spanking him was… well…
“Nico?” Sassy asked, breaking me out of my reverie. I wondered if she could tell what I’d been imagining in my head.
“What? Oh, no. He’s just… I think he just wants the best for Pippa, you know? And he knows I’m not good with babies,” I explained in a rush before trying to change the subject. I turned back to Rox. “Hey, so apparently there’s a rumor going around that you guys would like to get paid. I brought the checkbook, and Honovi said you all should have the time sheets here for me.”
What I didn’t mention was that, apparently, Adriana hadn’t been the best at managing her shop’s finances and there wasn’t even enough money in the accounts to make payroll. I’d had to deposit some of my own money on the way to the shop just to make ends meet. I’d spent several of Pippa’s nap times trying to make heads or tails of her convoluted system and finally realized it seemed like a sheer lack of basic bookkeeping knowledge was at fault. It didn’t come as a surprise, considering she hadn’t gone to college or anything. It was impressive she’d managed to accomplish as much as she had without a degree. I knew how hard it had been for me under the same circumstances.
Stevie handed me a mug of coffee and gestured to the pastry case with a quirked brow. “Like somethin’ sweet?” he drawled.
I smiled gratefully and pointed to a thick chocolate-chip cookie. They looked like the ones my mom used to make, and the first bite proved they were, indeed, my mom’s special recipe. I shouldn’t have allowed the groan of ecstasy to escape my lips, but it was out before I could stop myself. I thought I heard Stevie whimper.
Rox shoved the guy aside and told him to make himself useful washing some dishes. She poured herself a cup of coffee and gestured me to a small table against one of the big picture windows by the front door.
“So, Nico, we’ve gotten an order for one of Adriana’s hand-painted cakes,” she began.
“Okay?”
“And, well, I can’t do it. It requires artistic skills that I can’t fake even if you paid me in tattoos,” she said with a smile.
I smiled at her. “You know… I could pay you in tattoos. That’s not a bad idea,” I teased.
“Unfortunately, my bank doesn’t accept those at mortgage payment time. But if you had your shit here, I’d hire you to do one in a skinny minute. The closest ink to Hobie is practically all the way to Dallas.”
“Hm, food for thought. Tell me more about this cake.”
She pulled out her phone and began scrolling through photos while she spoke. “Adriana had killer drawing skills. Must run in the family. Anyway, she made these cakes that had hand-drawn images on them. She called them painted cakes.”
She showed me several photos of cakes with beautiful decorations. Most of them were floral designs, but some were of animals or cartoon characters for children.
“Wow, those are killer,” I agreed, scrolling through for more.
She let out a breath and smiled sympathetically. “Right. So do I tell the client Sugar Britches doesn’t do painted cakes anymore? People come from all over for them. And she was able to charge an arm and a leg for them too. It was great money.”
I thought about the state of the shop’s finances while I scrolled through the photos again.
“I’m assuming you can bake and prep the cake? All I would have to do is the painting part?” I asked. “I mean, don’t get excited. I probably can’t do as well as she did… But I can sure take a stab at it. When do they need to know by?”
Her face broke into a big grin. “The event is in about a week, and they’re buying the cake from us regardless. If we can’t do the specialty cake, they said they’ll just buy a plain one and decorate it with fresh flowers. But they’d really prefer the painted cake. Apparently, it’s for some guy who’s retiring from Clyde’s Garage. His wife is throwing a huge retirement party for him. She fell in love with a painted cake Adriana did for her bridge group luncheon.”
“What does she want painted on it?” I asked.
Rox’s eyes lit up. “Motorcycle shit.”
I felt my heart kick up a notch. “No way.”
“I swear. She said he’s retiring so he can finally take all the trips he’s been wanting to take on his bike. He’s in the club that meets up. There’s a bunch of guys who ride together, so they’ll all be at the party.”
“Cool. I’ll give it a try. Can you get a cake ready tonight and leave it for me in the fridge? I’ll come in early and try to work on it while Pippa takes her morning nap in the car seat. I can stash her in the office, right?”
Rox stood up and took our mugs around the counter to wash them. “Sure. Or you can come after lunch when it’s slower and I can watch her while you work. Morning is busy around here since we’re as close as it comes to a coffee shop.”
“Good point. Okay. Sounds like a plan. Let me get those time sheets and make out some checks before I have to bolt.”
Rox smiled at me and led me to a small room in the back off the commercial kitchen where it was obvious Adriana kept a desk and all her paperwork. She showed me where everything was, and I quickly got to work.
Just as I was finishing up and tidying Adriana’s files back the way I’d found them, Stevie wandered in.
“So, Nico,” he began with a grin. I could tell he was waving his flirt flag pretty high, and part of me perked up in response. I knew I was in dire need of some stress relief, and a blow job would have been just the thing.
“Yes, Stevie. What’s up?” I offered him a dish of hard candies sitting on the desk while I waited for him to speak. He took one and fiddled with it between slim fingers before slipping it between those candy-red lips.
“So listen. There’s this big bonfire party tomorrow night out at a place called Walnut Farm. It’s not really a farm anymore but more of a giant vacant plot of land where people congregate this time of year and put on a big bonfire. Tons of people our age will be there with burgers and beer and shit. I was hoping you might come join us. Have a little fun and get out of the house, you know?”
“Well, I have the baby… but maybe I could ask Doc if he could watch her again.” I smiled up at him, noticing a blush sweep across his cheeks.
“Yeah, that’d be cool. Can I pick you up?”
“No, I’m sure I’ll have to duck out early regardless, so let me give you my number and you can text me directions. I’ll just meet you there, if that’s okay.”
“Sure, sounds good,” he said, stepping forward and waiting for me to scribble my number on a scratch piece of paper. “Got it. Looking forward to it.”
“Thanks for incl
uding me, Stevie. I really appreciate it,” I told him. And I meant it. I’d had so many sideways looks and whisperings going on behind my back around town since I’d arrived, it felt nice to be included for once.
“Well, Sassy’s probably ready for a coffee refill, so I’d better go back out there. Thanks for this,” he said, deliberately rolling the candy around on his tongue where I could see it. Suggestive little shit. He shot me a wink before turning and waving over his shoulder. “See you tomorrow night.”
Thank fuck. After seeing that mouth and tongue, I decided tomorrow night couldn’t come soon enough.
By the time I passed out the paychecks and made my way to the grocery store down the street, part of me was itching to get back to Pippa. Maybe I was nervous about leaving her for so long with strangers. What if Grandpa Wilde and Doc weren’t who they said they were? What if they were older than I thought and had fallen asleep on the job?
I felt the need to get back to her like an itch under my skin.
After racing up and down the aisles of the little store, I grabbed the basics and checked out as quickly as I could. As I was loading up the car, I felt a presence behind me.
I turned to see who it was and noticed Curtis Billingham standing in my blind spot. He wasn’t in uniform this time but stood erect and arrogant, as if he were a cop assessing the riffraff. I wasn’t even sure there was such a thing as riffraff in Hobie, but if there was, I was it.
“Help you?” I asked as I set the final bag in the trunk of the rental car.
“Why are you still here in town?”
I looked around me at the small grocery parking lot. Several people were slowing down to stare at us even while they pretended not to. I assumed most people in town recognized Curt and they sure as hell had heard who the new purple-haired tattooed guy in town was.
“None of your business,” I responded with a laugh, wheeling the cart back to the row of carts in front of the store. Curt’s eyes tracked me as I made my way back to my car and got in the driver’s seat. I turned over the engine and waited for him to move out of my way so I didn’t back over him.
