by Kerry Leigh
Still, I really needed the job. This bakery didn’t cover all my bills. This, along with my bar tending gig, while on the side I had to jump on any opportunity with this career. Six weeks ago, Erick gave a recommendation to an older cashier, Leighton. He became the latest to join Jean in the kitchen -my instincts told me that should have been me. But I had to wait my turn. It could still be me. I loved the idea of studying in Europe, but it was so far away, far away from my friends and family, I had no expectations but it actually happened. A promotion at Sharon’s wouldn’t be such a bad thing, it would give me one more option.
“I can stay here.” I said I can find someone who'll take my shift It won't’ be that hard to call around
“Atta girl, I’ll remember this.” He nodded, completely confident I would drop all the important things in my life just for his words alone.
He turned around and left for the front of the house and I put my jacket back on and ordered my sandwich. While I waited for it I called up Jenny, one of my bartender friends, always on the lookout for more shifts. I got great luck, as she had some free time and as expected was grateful to pick up my shift. My heart pattered as I thought about the hundred and fifty dollars I had let drift through my fingers. That money could go toward a good pair of hiking sneakers or going toward my dream holiday of Bora Bora.
I shook my head and looked back at the direction of the bakery. It was everything I wanted.
The afternoon sift was busy as always and so I worked. And at times, closed my eyes and visualized working in my own bakery. Seeing the smiling faces of my patrons in a beautiful little bakery in Manhattan or Greenwich village, or even return home to Hell’s kitchen. I had options and I would have fun exploring them all.
When six O’clock arrived, I could hear the hum of the music I selected. I could smell the scents of my own recipes and see the designs of the bakery in vivid colors. I felt tired. My muscles ached, but my mind was alert and on fire, I wanted to do us, I believed my decision to stay at Sharon's was the best.
Of course, James turned up late, and I stayed until fifteen past six.
And of course, Erik didn’t see it as of left work just after two o’clock. I calmed myself by remembering he would see the time logs when he checked and opened up first thing in the morning. I threw off my apron and put it in a hamper. Then, I walked away from the cash register, and rested on the counter for a moment, resting my eyes.
“So, miss, what’s your specialty? A masculine voice asked from in front.
Only a minute ago, I was working, with a passion, now I should have let a co-worker answer, but something about that voice that woke me up a bit. Odd, it seemed unusually similar, as if I could remember it from somewhere. I raised my head and opened my eyes, to meet eyes with no one else but Logan.
His blue eyes instantly had my body locked up. I didn’t know what to do, the guy in front of me was a person I would forget about, I was certain he had forgotten about me.
After a moment elapsed I the answer I gave wasn’t of the charming witty variety he had expected. “Our cinnamon rolls. They’re quite big, and they are delicious in my - your mouth…”
A flush crept up my face. Gosh, I wanted to slap myself in the face so badly, I sounded like a fool.
“Oh, so you handle them yourself?” Logan nodded a big cheesy grin on his face.
“You look like you could use a break.”
Heat flooded all over my body, and I thought I was going to begin sweating I tapped my fingers against my thighs
“You came at the right moment. I’m finishing up now.”
The spark in his eyes, made my heart patter against my ribcage, or was it lust. Definitely lust.
“Fantastic. I know a great place to go get a quiet drink.”
“I don’t know about -”
“It'll be one drink. Definitely no kissing at all. Let's just have a talk.”
I could feel the gaze of my co-workers, Nancy, and Charlotte. Eyeing up Logan. Their minds working overtime wondering why such a handsome man was treating me like I was the solution to his million dollar question. But I kept my gaze cool.
“Hmm, I’m not in the mood for a drink.”
“That's great, I could go for some coffee.”
“Hmm, I could use a jolt of caffeine.”
And I really wasn’t in the mood for drinking after having my plans ruined. I t probably wasn’t a good idea to drink a lot around him, I barely knew him but most importantly I couldn’t handle much more than a small amount of alcohol. And in front of a man like Logan I wanted to stay completely sober.
“Why not?” I said, my cheeks feeling all the more red.
He smiled and sat down at a table.
I grabbed hold of my wits and got moving. Walking into the staff locker room, I took my bag and my leather jacket and walked next to Logan w who was leaving on the wall.
“Are you ready?” He asked in that charming voice of his.
I moved my head about and nodded. He opened the door for me with his arm hook braced f to loop around my arm. He had all the charms of a gentleman but looked at acted like a complete playboy bachelor. I mean if he was going to clubs every other night and hooking up with a different girl, did he really have respect for woman?
“I know a fantastic place around here.” I said and motioned in the direction without looking at Logan’s face. His presence was electrifying, he stole my attention, in a weird magnetic force propelling me toward him. I couldn’t run away from him even if I wanted to.
“How was your day?" he asked taking in the journey?
I felt my leg muscles tingling - I had to put my foot down and ask him exactly now. Before I lost my appetite for curiosity.
“How do you know I worked at Sharon’s? Did you get a private detective to dig up my life. Or did you get someone to stalk me and stake out at my work place to know when I was leaving? That’s pretty creepy behaviour.”
I turned to look at Logan while our arms were still locked tight. His mouth creased then broke into a little laugh.
“Normally I get my day was good, my boss is horrible have you ever spent a day looking after kids eating too much sugar.”
My eyes shot wide open. This guy, who unsure about, had just appeared in my work place. Out of thin air. He couldn’t have known I was at Bakery If he didn’t start telling the truth I was ready to put a beat down on any plans he had in the next ten minutes.
Finally, his smirk lifted and he sighed. "I saw your Facebook Logan said a s he looked out into the air “I saw your Facebook and-"
“Ah.” It took a few moments for all that to get in. “You didn't add me, did you?”
Ugh that was so stupid.
I had no idea why I even asked that, probably the first thing that came to mind when you think of Facebook. It’s usually about either adding people checking your feed at least for me.
“I rarely use Facebook, I've got too many responsibilities. But I was surprised when I find your profile. This morning I saw your post about the pecan pie muffins and even a link to Sharon's homepage."
“Ah I see.” My face was brightly pink by this point. I don’t think I’d ever felt like such an idiot in my entire life.
He nodded in patience. "Doesn't take a rocket scientist to put two and two together. The hardest part was figuring out which snack I would pick up. No detective work needed.”
"So, you're not a stalker. I'm sorry, I shouldn't throw accusations like that. But in my defense I'm really tired and my mind was racing a mile a minute." His infectious smile, made my skin tingle between my thighs.
“No, it’s fair enough really, it’s quite funny I learned a lot about you like I know you work for Geno’s bar, and I know you seem to be a member of a Facebook group for-”
“Yeah let’s not mention that.” I stopped him in his tracks, face burning, but fingers icy cold. I shook my head. I made sure the moment I returned home, I would put everything on private, and deleting anything that could be even remotely embarrass
ing.
“It’s actually cute, Really I mean that well.” He pointed toward a direction.
“Is this the place?”
We’d stood in front of the Coffee shop without my awareness. We went in. Thankfully, the shop was a quiet, laid back sort of place so we went to the cashier and ordered two coffees. He had a plan black and I had a caramel macchiato.
Logan dug out his wallet before I could say anything.
“This is fun right, you and me… together,” he suggested.
My heart bounced in my chest. Could Kaitlin and I have been wrong about him, or maybe I just wanted it so badly I saw him in a different light. Well one date didn’t mean he cared all that much for me playboys took girls out on dates for the smallest of reasons
And then once they have fun, they’ll never call back.
Taking our drinks in hand, we sat down in a corner of the room. We got lucky we got here at a good time. In under half an hour this place would be busy and finding a seat would be like as default as an elephant chasing a tiger.
“I like this place it’s so chill.” Logan said sipping his coffee.
I took a swig of my coffee, enjoying the sweet taste, after a long word day, but also cringing when it brunt my tongue. I think so as well, I ripped the cover off and blew air on the surface. Sometimes I come here if I’ve already made my lunch
“You pulled down a double shift huh.”
“Not all the time this was just an emergency most of the time.” I took another sip of my coffee. The delicious liquid was tasty, but above all dangerous, but it keeps my mind focused and made thing as a whole lot less awkward.
“And Geno’s is in…”
“It’s a place in Greenwich village. Actually, it’s closer to my home than the bakery, which is great, I just need to ride my bike unless I’m tired.” I shuddered just the mention of my apartment, made me think of my bed, and I felt so naked. Being around Logan left me feeling hot and haughty
"You’re a woman that knows what she wants." He said, with eyes that shone with what I took for admiration.
I raised my shoulders "Maybe. If you make a choice you give it your all."
"I’m sorry."
I blinked at him but you didn’t even hear what I wanted to say
Logan moved his hand over my left palm. Suddenly, it felt like all the heat transferred into my hand and then my body and we connected. "It seems I stole all the attention. I thought you wanted to tear me a new one for kissing you."
Knowing he thought about his actions and how affected me felt like I was talking to a good person. "I haven't been the girl that goes to clubs in a damn long time and it all felt so fast."
"I figured."
I lowered my head to the table for a moment and raised it. "Actually, I wanted to say it was rude of me to leave you so sudden after you got us a table and bought drinks. You may think I'm a crazy person, but the whole experience felt surreal."
Something inside me brightened, that was what I wanted to hear, I gave a light exhale and my muscles seemed to relax.
"Thank you but it’s not necessary," Logan took another gulp of his coffee and moved his hands to his pocket.
“Then I’ve really got to be worried I’m losing my style.” Logan began, taking a suspicious look around the cafe. “Anyway, apart from apologizing, I found you because I’ve got something very delicate I want to discuss with you.”
“Oh yeah?”
“I need to confess. I have gotten myself in a spot of trouble, and I keep thinking that you are the perfect woman for the job.”
My tired eyes opened wide and alert. “What?”
Logan let out a sigh. "I think it would be best to show you."
Logan twisted his mouth, and then looked down, at me with those perfect warm brown eyes and pulled his hands into his pocket. Revealing a small navy box. Inside was the biggest diamond ring I had ever seen. His neat, immaculate body descended until he was on one knee and looked up at me, beaming with a daring, roguish smile.
“Jess, would you do me the honor of marrying me?”
10
LOGAN
My stomach felt tight, as I took measure of Jess, taking in the knowledge in the palm of my hand. As if mesmerized, she almost squinted at the big diamond ring. Well, it’s not a bad thing, I guess. Finally, she gave me a bewildered expression.
“This is a joke, right? You've got a screw loose if you think I'm going to marry you.” She shot me a dry look.
She thinks this is a game.
“This is the second time we’ve met. I could understand if you tried to impress me with something impressive, but… who carries an engagement ring.”
“Someone that's in quick need of a fiancée. Don't think I missed that admission. You have been thinking about me.” I quirked my mouth.
Jess's cheeks brightened and she smiled grimly. Something about that smile told me she was waiting for a satisfactory explanation and if I couldn't deliver she would duck out of the cafe.
“No, this isn’t exactly, what you think. Shit. I’m not a con artist.” I rubbed my neck and gave her an exasperated look. Then put the ring back in the box and stuffed it into my pocket. “Ugh I knew this wouldn’t work. I'm totally, going to give Alex a piece of my mind.”
Her face grew ever dubious, but her body looked relaxed, curious even as she waited for my proposal.
“I'm guessing the reason you found me was because you wanted to roll me into whatever this is. So, save me some time and give me the highlights. I prefer to unwind after work, before I head to my second job."
What a little spitfire, I thought. In a bind, I tapped on the pavement with my foot and nodded my head. I know I was being difficult, but I couldn’t help it. This is my nightmare situation.
“Look, this whole thing is covert, extremely top secret.” I lowered my voice and took a gulp.
She rolled her eyes and gave a snort. “C’mon, what, you’re a top secret spy agent that needs to marry me or the fate of the free world will be at stake.”
“You came and found me at my work place. And probably gave a couple of my co-workers enough fantasy material to last them the night. If anything, you've brought exposure upon yourself.” She said in an admonishing tone, tinged with a ring of delight.
On any other day, if someone thrust his shortcomings into his face his eyes would narrow hard. And his face would darken. but in spite of Jess giving him well-earned shit I found it palpably cute. I loosened up and smiled brightly.
“Yeah I guess you’re right. But, seriously, I’m hurt. In a way I am trapped.”
“I'm a perfect stranger. What could make you so desperate you would need to track me down? What is this all about? “She folded her arms around her chest and once again, waited.
My stomach tightened, and I swear I could feel the oncoming of a migraine but that expression on Jess’s beautiful face was strong and hardy. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in a position to be need-to-know.
“Hmm, I’ll summarize the parts I need you to hone in on. I've done some things." I began, but when I noticed the sharp gaze on Jess's face I chose my words better.
"Stupid things. Drunk things. But this is more exciting, yet nerve-racking than everything else combined."
"Why doesn't that surprise me." Jess chuckled, eyes twinkling with amusement.
"Yes, well." I inhaled, puffing up my chest with air.
I couldn’t help myself. I loved that bright, almost slack jawed face women make when I invite them into seeing a peek of my worldly fortunes. But Jess, God bless her, she was calm in a beautiful way.
"I need a fiancée for next week, while my parents descend upon New York to wreak havoc on my life. And I believe you are the perfect fit, so…" I told her, throwing my cards down on the table.
“What I’m asking is if you’ll take my hand in marriage. For a week. Two tops.”
Jess folded her arms, and her cheeks grew a bright red but she didn’t kill my plan by brushing past me and heading back to the bakery
. She just looked up at the sky for a moment. “You want me to be your fiancée?”
"I didn't find you for your muffin recipes." I snorted. I had laid all my cards on the table and this was now a crossroads of destiny.
Jess giggled lightly, but her cheeks were still red and her eyes were clear and sharp. “Keep talking. Why would you want to present a fiancée to your parents? Guys like you just date your flavor of the week and move on. Your parents should be cool with your decisions.”
