Allan tried to step on Ben’s foot to warn him to knock it off, but Ben shifted to the right, away from him.
“Oh, Libbie’s a real sweetheart. In fact, we buy all our pastries and stuff fresh from her every day.” The woman’s playful smile turned into a sunburst of a grin. “And I know for a fact that she’s single.”
Allan felt his face heat for a reason he couldn’t fathom. Before he could respond, Ben took their change and grumbled, “Thanks, but we’re gay.”
It’s a Sweet Life
39
The clerk slowly nodded, but the sly smile never left her face. She winked at Allan. “Uh-huh. If you say so, guys. I don’t question people, but I have a feeling you’ll be a good fit for Libbie.”
Allan wanted to say something else, but Ben grabbed one of the coffees and danishes, put them in Allan’s hand, and spun him around toward the door before grabbing his own stuff. “Thanks. We appreciate the lead.”
Outside, Allan quickened his pace to match Ben’s. “‘We appreciate the lead?’ Nice work, Columbo. Like that didn’t make you sound like a cop.”
40 Tymber
Dalton
Chapter Four
By noon, the apartment swap had begun. The excess furniture and boxes had been removed from upstairs and hauled over to Grover’s.
As the delicious smell of Grover’s portable barbecue outside the back door mixed with the aromas from the bakery, everyone’s stomachs started growling. Libbie went ahead and shut the bakery down two hours earlier than her normal Saturday closing time and posted a note on the door apologizing for the early closure. They all sat in the shade of the two-car carport behind the building, where the outside stairs ended and keeping the lower back door sheltered from weather.
Normally she parked her car there, but for today it was out of the way at the far edge of the asphalt behind the building.
As she ripped into the brisket Grover had cooked to perfection, she forgot her momentary guilt over closing early. “This is delicious,”
she said. “I’m telling you, you should sell this.”
He laughed. “Naw, that’d be too much like work. I have fun in the bakery with you. I’ve learned a lot about baking. This is going to stay for fun, too.”
When two men walked around the corner and headed their way, Libbie felt her heart race. The same height, a little over six feet tall, even from a distance she could see they both had gorgeous blue eyes.
One was blond under his baseball cap, the other had dark brown hair, neatly trimmed.
Down, girl, she told her libido.
When Grover stood to intercept the men, she sensed his sons tensing, waiting. In school, she’d never been overtly picked on, because the Johnson boys and girls treated her like a sister.
It’s a Sweet Life
41
And no one messed with one of their own.
But when the two strangers showed Grover the pink index card they’d apparently gotten from Mandaline, Grover relaxed. Everyone else took that as a cue they could stand down as well.
Except Libbie.
And as she shoveled a forkful of brisket into her mouth, Grover turned and pointed her out to the men.
Ben wasn’t in the mood to put up with his brother’s crap. “Shut up,” he told Allan. “This place sounds perfect on paper.” He didn’t want to admit that when the clerk’s hand touched his, he’d felt some sort of weird spark, like static electricity. And the woman’s gaze had widened slightly before a beaming smile split her face.
Not to mention he had the distinct feeling she’d suddenly known everything about him, and Allan. Including the fact that they weren’t gay.
That’s stupid. You’re just tired and jittery.
They walked up to the bakery, which, sure enough, was closed. As instructed by the clerk, they found their way to an alley and walked around back where it looked like a regular family party was going on.
Ben quickly scanned the group. No gangbangers from the looks of them, but among the nearly twenty people there, only one of them was white. A woman sitting on a step while balancing a plateful of barbecue on her lap.
A large, older black man Ben guessed was either a father or uncle of the group stood at their approach. The man’s gaze suspiciously narrowed as he studied them. “Can we help you, gentlemen?”
Before Ben could speak, Allan did. “Yeah, we just came from the coffeeshop across the square.” He snatched the card from Ben and held it up. “The clerk there gave us this. We’re looking to rent an apartment in town for at least six months.”
42 Tymber
Dalton
The man’s face cleared as he smiled. “Welcome.” He pointed to the woman sitting on the step, who was mid-bite. “That’s the lady you want to speak with right there.”
Ben slowed as Allan stepped ahead. The woman wore a nervous expression as she looked up at them. Her sweet, green eyes glanced from Ben back to Allan. A light dusting of freckles across her cheekbones looked gorgeous against her milky skin. She wore her long, auburn hair pulled back in a loose braid.
I’d love to wrap that around my hand while she—
He blinked. What the fuck? He uncomfortably shifted position and hoped his rapidly growing erection wasn’t visible.
“Ms. Addams?” Allan said, holding up the pink index card. “Sorry to interrupt your lunch. May we talk with you about the apartment?”
She nodded. Ben thought she looked like a frightened deer.
“We—”
“We’re gay,” Ben blurted out as he stepped forward. He glanced around, but now that they knew the two men weren’t a threat, the others had gone back to their meal and weren’t paying any further attention to them. “Wanted to say that up front in case it’s an issue for you. We’re cousins, not involved with each other. We needed to get away from our families and find some peace.”
She visibly relaxed, but Allan shot him a deadly glare Ben wasn’t expecting. Ben didn’t understand why Allan was upset, because that was the cover story they’d agreed upon.
They’d also agreed not to get involved with anyone while they were in hiding. It wouldn’t be fair to a woman to do that to her, knowing they had to stick to their lie. Plus it could put her, as well as them, at risk.
Allan picked up the thread again. “We’re really interested in looking at the apartment, if that’s okay?”
“Oh, sure.” She stood, carefully balancing her plate of food, and slowly led them up the stairs. “This way.”
The upstairs smelled like fresh furniture polish, which did little to It’s a Sweet Life 43
disguise the delicious mix of bakery and barbecue aromas wafting up from downstairs. She set her plate on a small bookshelf in the hallway and led them to an open door. “This is the apartment. I’m sorry about the mess, but we’ll be done in a few hours. I was using this one, but I moved into the other one because this one’s bigger. It’s basically ready to move into, once we get done switching the furniture around.
And if you don’t mind rearranging stuff. Or if you want to wait until tomorrow—”
“Today’s fine,” Ben said, giving her a smile. She was so cute, her black plaid baker’s pants and grey T-shirt not hiding the sweet curves of her figure. She wasn’t skinny, but she wasn’t fat, either. She wore her beautiful figure in the sweetly self-conscious way of a woman who didn’t realize how pretty she really was.