Chapter 9
FREYA
wery Took Gia exactly a second to sprint away from my side the moment 1 held the door open.
“Hey!” Avery rounded the shelf before crouching down for Gia to jump into her arms. “I was waiting for you”
She smothered her with kisses and Gia giggled, enjoying every second of it. They always acted like they had gone a year without seeing each other.
Avery was in her mid fifties, an extremely cheerful and outgoing woman. She had been working for me since the very beginning. Meringue hadn’t found its rhythm back then. She had as much credit in getting this up and running as me. Avery had seen me pass through some of the most difficult times and she was the one person I knew was always in my corner other than Reyna.
Gia was almost like her grandchild and I was glad that my daughter felt the essence of what a grandparent’s love is coz my parents could never.
“Did you make the tars?” She asked, looking up expectantly at Avery. Every other day she would place new demands and this sweet old lady could never not deliver. In fact she loved making sweet treats for her.
“I did! In the kitchen, waiting for you. That’s all the invitation she needed to run off to the kitchen. Gia loved the tarts Avery made. Not gonna lie, she was in fact a little too good at that. The lemon tarts were a best–seller at Meringue.
Avery spared me a glance before walking back to the counter. “I know that look. You think I’m spoiling her
I smiled and joined her behind the counter where she was arranging the pastries. “Well, there’s not much I can say either. Afterall you’re the closest she has to a grandparent”
She put the tray that was in her hand down and pointed one short dark finger at me. The gesture was supposed to look intimidating and it would have but I had known her for way too long. Behind that shell she was a softy at heart.
“Oh no.
don’t! Don’t do that.”
“Okay. I won’t tell you that I’m grateful to you for giving Gia what I couldn’t provide her, I pressed my lips together at the end to check a laugh. She hated whenever I had tried to acknowledge her importance and now it has become a way of annoying her. It was fun messing with Avery.
She rested her hands against her waist and glared at me. “Great! Now you made me emotional” I swear I could see her eyes dampening. Jesus! This lady could cry!
“Oh! That’s no big deal. You’re always emotional I lifted my shoulder in a shrug. It was true. The slightest of things could get her teary–eyed. She narrowed her eyes and playfully glared at me “Don’t make fun of me, young lady!”
“Okay.” Chuckling. I made a gesture of backing off. The bakery was way less crowded. Obviously had something to do with it being the first working day of the week. I was taking out the empty tray of brownies from the shelf when the door opened. I straightened up to greet the new customer, not even in my wild thoughts expecting to see him here.
Aiden walked in, his steps sharp and an air of command around him, almost as if he owned the place. It felt like someone had played a pause button on everything except for him. Crisp white shirt, buttons undone on the gray suit jacket. If he looked handsome with a light stubble, he was devastating in a clean shaved look
But before I could drool some more over him, the reverie broke
I had been so busy checking him out that something far more concerting had left my mind. Aiden and Gia were in the same place
Aiden and Gia were under the same roof, less than twenty feet away. It he looked hard enough, he would recognize that she looked so much like him.
“Fuck.” I muttered realizing the depth of the predicament I was in
“Yeah, I was thinking the same. I turned my head to the side to find her staring at Aiden.
“Avery!” I hissed. She shrugged so nonchalantly like she wasn’t just ogling a man young enough to be her son. But before she could get on with her speech about admiring beauty and shit. Aiden had already closed that distance.
He was standing right in front of me, looking straight into my eyes, I need to say something. Say something damn it!
1/2
“Mr. Knight.” Yeah, great job
“Freya, what a pleasant surprise.” He could not have been more insincere about it. His tone was flat, no trace of surprise found.
1159 AM c
Chapter 9
I raised a brow in suspicion. “Surprise?”
Yes I came here to grab a quick bite on my way to the office. Didn’t think 111 fnd you here.”
That was some real bullshit. If I hadn’t had my facts straight, the humor in his eyes would have been proof enough.
“On the way to the office? You mean that you coincidentally came here to grab a bite on your way to the office which is about forty minutes drive from here and not to mention your house is in a completely different direction?”
Jesus! It was easy to get me talking, wasn’t it? I ended up acknowledging that night. It wasn’t like pretending to forget it was fooling anyone. some things were better not spoken about.
“Yeah. I mean exactly that.” I detected the mirth in Aiden’s voice. He tilted his head to the side and assessed me. “Why? You don’t believe me?”
The corners of his lips tugged up in visible amusement and for some absurd reason I wasn’t as offended. But I knew better than to answer that question. Couldn’t drag this conversation any longer than it already was. With Gia in the adjacent room, the sooner he would leave, the better.
SEND GIFT
