With regret, I slip out of bed and hurry to get ready. When I’m dressed and ready to head out, I hesitate. She looks so right sleeping in my bed. As though she was meant to be there. She’s barely moved since I left the bed. I lean down and kiss her forehead, unable to resist, but hoping that I don’t wake her.
She stirs. Her eyes blink open. Sleepy Savannah is sexy. Let’s face it, I think her every mood is sexy, but she looks younger now. The stress that is usually there is gone, her eyes hazy, her smile sweet.
“Hey,” I say. “I’m heading in.”
“M’kay.”
Then her eyes slide shut again. A second later, she emits a little snore. I straighten up and see that McLovin has taken my place. Asshole.
“Hey,” I whisper. “Let her sleep.”
Disgust drips from his green gaze, then curls up against her to take a nap. I shake my head and look at the time. I have just enough time to get to the shop before they need me. I left my bike on the street, so I decide to take it to work.
I make it there just as Harry is getting out of his car. I pull off my helmet as he walks toward me.
“Are we ready for a week without Ed?” he asks.
I chuckle as I dismount my Harley and we walk side by side into the building. “Yeah, sure. We’ve handled the shop without him before.”
“Not for this long.”
“I wasn’t about to tell Allison they couldn’t spend seven days in Paris, and you know Ed can’t say no to her.”
“Don’t remind me.”
I snort as we unlock the doors to the shop. Francine, one of our bakers, is already there, but we’ve insisted that she keep the door locked when she’s by herself. She’s already sliding some donuts into the case. She’s made lots of cupcakes already, and they are sitting on the other side of the counter.
“Are we ready for the rush?” Harry asks.
She smiles. “Of course.”
Before the clock turns over to six-thirty, the front door opens with our first customers.
“Let’s get going,” Harry says.
I follow him to the back so we can wash our hands. As I do, I think about Savannah, all snuggled up in my bed. I wish I could have stayed there, teased her awake by burying my face between her legs. The memory of her sweet pussy filters through me and my dick twitches. I bite back a groan and force myself to think about very unsexy things that have nothing to do with the woman who is becoming an obsession.
I follow Harry out of the bathroom and our store is already filled with customers.
Over the next few hours, there is no time to think of Savannah. We’ve been too busy. There was a rush because we ended up being featured in the Sunday edition of the San Antonio Express—or rather Ed and Allison were. It was something I’d been working on for a few weeks, getting their love story featured. It was probably stupid to do that with Ed gone for ten days for his honeymoon, but it really has been good for business. We sold out of three different cupcake flavors—including the Allison of course. Francine made double of the strawberry lemonade ones, but we still ran out.
By the time I leave at two, I’m exhausted. I smell like frosting, and I still have to drive all the way back to the house to pick up McLovin. As I’m hurrying down the stairs, I ignore a group of giggling women on their way into the shop. I have Grannie Pam on the brain, and, well, Savannah. Yesterday had been one of those perfect spring days in Texas that are few and far between. We go from cold to hotter than hell in a few days, but yesterday had been perfect. I turn the corner and come to a stop. Sitting on top of the hood of her car is Savannah.
She’s sitting crossed legged, braced back on her hands, with her face taking in the sun. I watch her as I approach, enjoying the small smile curving her lips. I don’t ever think I have seen her enjoy herself like this. Just being still. The day I moved in; I remember her sitting out in the backyard. It’s been almost a month, and I know there had been no time for those relaxing moments since.
“Hey,” I say.
If she’s surprised by my approach, she doesn’t show it. She just lowers her chin so she can look at me. Or, at least, that’s what I think she’s doing. She’s wearing those damned aviator sunglasses, hiding behind them. They’re sexy as fuck but they hide her reactions.
“Hey, yourself.”
“Whatcha doing here, Savannah?”
“I knew you were going to go see your grandmother, and you always take McLovin. This way you don’t have to run back to the house.”
I hear a meow from her car. I glance around her and see the carrier in the backseat.
“I drove my motorcycle.”
“Oh, yeah, I didn’t even think,” she says, sliding off the hood of her car. The sweetest little blush colors her cheeks.
“No worries. Do you have anything to do?”
“I’m unemployed, so, of course I do.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. I planned on binging The Real Housewives of Atlanta. EJ’s Gran says that’s the best one.”
I chuckle. “Come on. You can go with me.”
“Okay.”
Once we are in the car, there’s a hiss from the backseat.
“McLovin, we’re going to see your person. Just calm down,” Savannah says.
“His person?”
She starts the car and shrugs. “Wasn’t sure what Grannie Pam is to him. Like does he think she’s his mom or his grandma?”
I shake my head, as she pulls out of the parking space and then out into traffic.
“You know how to get there?”
She nods. “Tito and my dad’s Uncle Salvatore was there for a while.”
I nod. I wish I could take care of Grannie Pam, but she won’t let me. Not sure I could handle it, but I would have wanted to try.
“Hey, don’t get all down about your grandmother living in that facility. It’s amazing. Sal went in after having a stroke. He didn’t want to be a burden, but he found a second life there.”
“Yeah?”
She nods. “He got to spend time with people his own age and probably lived twice as long as he would have otherwise. It’s not like we didn’t see him. As big as our family is, he had someone dropping in on him almost every day.” She slows down to stop at a red light. “It isn’t horrible that you need help to care for her. It would be horrible if you ignored her. You guys saw her yesterday morning, yeah?”
I nod as she takes off again when the light turns green. “She loved it. She really wants to see the great grandkids though.”
“Did Liv say she was thinking of moving down here?”
I nod. “Yeah. Mom is kind of freaking out about it, but it’s not like Liv hasn’t handled things on her own before.”
It takes us another fifteen minutes to make it to the residential home. I grab the asshole out of the backseat and expect Savannah to follow me out of the car. She doesn’t.
I walk around to her side and she rolls the window down. “What?”
“What are you doing? Come on.”
She frowns. “I just thought I would wait here.”
“You thought wrong.”
“I don’t want to overwhelm her.”
I nod and I appreciate the thought, but I ignore her argument. Instead, I open the door and hit the button to wind the window up. “Come on. If she’s having a really bad day, the nurses will tell me before we go up to her apartment.”
She hesitates, then grabs her purse and keys. The carrier is between us, so I switch it to my other hand, then hold my free hand out to her. She looks down at it and then back up to me. “What?”
“You won’t die if you hold my hand in public, Savannah.” She still hesitates so I lean closer. “The fact that we’ve had our mouths on each other’s private parts should allow me to hold your hand in public.”
She sighs, but I feel as if I won some kind of medal when she finally slips her hand into mine. The nurses tell me my Grannie Pam is having one of her better days, so we head on up. When we reach her door, it open
s before Savannah can ring the doorbell.
“Fritzy. Who did you bring me today?”
“This is Savannah. Remember, I told you that I’m living with her. She took me in when the asshole got me kicked out of my apartment.”
“First, don’t talk about my baby like that. And secondly, come on in. No reason to air our laundry out here.”
I don’t point out that she was the one who started asking us questions in the hallway. She shuts the door and hurries after us. I open the carrier and let McLovin out. He hops up onto my grandmother’s lap and she laughs. “How are you doing, young man?”
“He’s fine if Fritz wasn’t a jerk to him all the time,” Savannah says.
“Hey,” I protest.
Grannie Pam ignores me and eyes Savannah with interest. “Your people from this area?”
She nods. Even though I know it is a painful subject for her right now, Savannah doesn’t show it. Not at all. Instead, she talks of her brothers and parents. My phone buzzes while they are talking, and I see a group text from EJ and Harry.
Harry: What the fuck is going on?
EJ: Yeah.
I blink.
Me: I could ask the same thing.
Harry: There was some woman complaining that you walked right past her, then you got in a car with a woman who had long dark hair.
EJ: J’Accuse!!!
I roll my eyes.
Me: Savannah brought McLovin to me, so I didn’t have to go back to the house. She’s here with me now.
EJ: Doesn’t she have to work today?
Ugh, this is the hard part. I know Savannah doesn’t want to tell them right now. But it is going to be damned difficult to keep it quiet, especially if she shows up in the middle of the day.
EJ: We’re waiting.
Me: Are you two standing next to each other texting me? Cuz, that’s weird.
It wouldn’t be the first time they did that.
Harry: No comment.
Jesus.
“I really like this song,” Grannie Pam says when a commercial comes on.
“That’s Lizzo,” Savannah comments, pulling out her phone. “I have all of her music. I heard it a couple years ago for the first time, and I fell in love with her. So female positive.”
My phone vibrates and I see the name pop up. Sylvia March. Hmm, I sort of remember her. She was the reporter I worked with for the story on Ed and Allison.
“This one is my favorite, and it is the first one I heard. One of the girls who worked in my kitchen knew her from school.”
“She’s a Texas girl?” Grannie Pam asks.
“Yeah, Houston, even though she was born in Detroit.”
“You are not going to have my Grannie Pam listen to Lizzo!”
Savannah blinks at me. She doesn’t fool me. She uses that innocent look to get what she wants. People think she’s brilliant, but there is another part of her that is kind of evil. She knows just how to pretend she’s confused about a situation when she knows exactly what’s going on.
“Why not?”
“It’s not appropriate.”
Grannie Pam and Savannah look at each other and start laughing.
“What?”
My phone finally stops vibrating…just to start up again. Dammit. Sylvia again.
“Your grandmother watched SuperBad, I think she’s okay with Lizzo.”
“How do you know that?”
“The name McLovin is from that movie. Even I know that.”
“I have to take this,” I say, and she nods, then waves me away.
I walk into Grannie Pam’s bedroom closing the door. I click on my phone.
“Sylvia, great to hear from you.”
“Fritz, so you do answer your phone,” she purrs into the phone.
“Sorry, I was busy,” I say, trying to keep the irritation out of my voice. No one calls anymore, do they? Even my Grannie Pam uses text. Sure, some of it makes no sense and she does all caps so she can read it, but she understands text is the thing to do. So, I’m already annoyed by this woman.
“I hear you were really busy today. Lots of readers are excited about the article.”
“Yeah, it was the topic of discussion in our shop today.”
“Oh good,” she purrs again. Sure, some men find it sexy. And I probably would have found it attractive at one time, but I’ve become preoccupied with a slightly cranky, definitely sexy, out of work chef. “So, like I said, I would love to go out for drinks sometime.”
Yeah, she had mentioned that a few weeks ago when we met up for the article. Things have kind of changed since then, and I am definitely not interested. Even now, while I am trying to have this private conversation, I’m thinking about Savannah.
“Did you want to do a follow up?”
There’s a pause. “No, I thought we talked about going out to celebrate the article.”
I stifle a sigh. The truth is, before this weekend, I probably would have jumped at the chance to take her out. Maybe I should, but the moment I think it, it leaves a horrible taste in my mouth. I don’t want anyone right now other than Savannah. Maybe ever again.
Oh…fuck.
Panic hits me first. Why am I thinking that? Savannah and I haven’t really figured out how we fit together, and here I am thinking about forever.
“Sylvia, I’m sorry. I sort of met someone.”
“The woman in the video?”
“Video?”
“The one with you dancing the tango.”
Oh, fuck. What the hell is she talking about? “There’s a video?”
“Uh, yeah, someone tweeted it out in response to our newspaper article.”
“Oh.”
“So?”
I sigh. “Yeah, she’s the one.”
The moment I say it, I realize the true meaning. The panic I felt earlier fades as a rightness fills me. She’s the one. The one for me. Jesus Christ. We’ve only gone as far as oral sex…without a damned date even. But it doesn’t matter. I know she’s the woman for me. Disagreeable at times, sweet at other times, and well, just fucking amazing in so many ways.
“Fritz?”
“Hm?”
She laughs. “Call me if things don’t work, but if that video is anything to go by, I doubt I’ll hear from you.”
After hanging up, I walk out into the living room and come to a dead stop. Grannie Pam and Savannah are listening to Tempo by Lizzo and enjoying the hell out of it. Yes, my grandmother is listening to Lizzo sing about being a thick bitch and she’s humming along. My Grannie Pam kicks ass.
“Oh, Fritzy, there you are. I love this Lizzo. She plays the flute.”
She says it like it is some kind of important attribute.
“Yeah.”
“And she sings about women being strong. That’s what you need. A strong woman who won’t put up with all your shit.” She leans closer to Savannah. “Boy doesn’t know how to settle down. Can’t keep it in his pants.”
My face heats and I realize I am blushing. BLUSHING. I settle my hands on my waist. “Grannie Pam.”
She shrugs. “True.”
Yeah, she never hesitates to stick it to me. One of the many reasons I love her. Savannah is giggling. She’s enjoying this a little too much.
“You were in the wedding?” Grannie Pam asks.
I know from that tone that this is an interrogation. She’s about to go deep on Savannah. And while Savannah is smart, it takes a pro to know that you are being questioned by my Grannie Pam.
“Yes. I walked with Fritzy.” The smile she’s giving me tells me that she’s going to make sure everyone is calling me by that nickname by the end of the day. “Do you want to see pictures?”
My grandmother claps. “Yes. I wasn’t up to being in a room with that many people.”
“Same for me, but for some reason, Allison wanted me there,” she says with a laugh.
And just like that, Savannah melts my heart a little bit more. Grannie Pam had been a little overwhelmed with the idea of that man
y people and since last year, we’ve learned how to deal with this new issue. Crowds make her very uncomfortable, especially if it is a crowd filled with strangers. Normalizing Grannie Pam’s reaction is one of the nicest things Savannah could have done, and I don’t think she realizes what she has done. She just does it.
“I watched the ceremony, but they didn’t live stream the reception.”
“Oh, I have some pics from there. Fritz, do you have anything?”
I nod and take the seat next to my grandmother and go through the pictures. Savannah and I get Grannie Pam giggling as we talk about the reception, then Avery’s antics the next morning. Grannie Pam tells a few embarrassing childhood stories about me and my sisters. It’s another all around fantastic day. We spend a couple of hours there with her when they make a call for dinner.
“You two go on. Take McLovin with you. Thank you so much for coming to see me, Fritzy.” She pats my face.
“No problem, Grannie Pam.”
“And it was so nice to meet you, Savannah.”
“Thank you.”
“Can you give me a minute with my Fritzy?”
“Of course,” she says, grabbing McLovin’s carrier. “I’ll wait out in the car.”
I nod and watch her go. The moment the door shuts, my grandmother smacks my shoulder. “What is going on with you?”
“What are you talking about?”
She motions toward the door. “That woman. There’s something going on.”
“Believe me, there’s nothing going on.” Yet. Or, I guess, not much going on is the better description of our relationship.
She eyes me. “You don’t think I don’t know about you doing the tango with her. Avery sent me the link and told me you were infatuated with Savannah.”
“Is there something so wrong about that?”
“No. Actually, she’s…well, she’s fantastic. And McLovin loves her. Shows she has good character.”
I don’t want to mention that McLovin hates me.
“But she’s not one of the girls who you can just play with.”
Scrumptious: A Friends to Lovers Romantic Comedy (Camos and Cupcakes Book 3) Page 19
