Page 11 of Inked Heart
I don’t answer.Because the truth is ...he’s right.I want to step in.I want to tell her she deserves someone who doesn’t criticize her for baking cupcakes or hanging out with friends.Someone who actually appreciates the way she lights up a room.Someone who sees her.
But I won’t.Because Quinn Thomas isn’t mine.And no matter how much I might want that to change someday, I’m not the kind of man who steals another guy’s girl.Even if that guy is Emette Black.Even if part of me still wants to punch him in the face for every locker room humiliation he ever handed out.
Laine pushes off the desk.“Well,” he says, clapping a hand on my shoulder.“At least you’ve got cupcakes.”
I snort.“Silver lining.”
He heads toward the door but just before he leaves, he pauses.“Careful, kid.”
I look up.“With what?”
He gives me a knowing smile.“Feelings have a way of sneaking up on you when you least expect them.”
Then he disappears back into the shop, leaving me alone in the quiet office with a head full of numbers.And one very inconvenient thought.
Quinn Thomas deserves better than the man she’s dating.And sooner or later someone’s going to tell her that.
The real question is, will it be me?
Chapter Four
The Grocery Store
Quinn
There’s something oddly peaceful about grocery stores early in the evening.
The fluorescent lights hum softly overhead, carts rattle along tile floors, and somewhere near the produce section someone is always arguing about the price of tomatoes.It’s ordinary.Predictable.Comforting.
I push my cart down the baking aisle, scanning the shelves for brown sugar while mentally running through the list on my phone.
Flour.Eggs.Butter.Vanilla extract.More chocolate chips because apparently the entire town of Franklinton has developed a sudden addiction to my cupcakes.Which ...honestly?I’m not complaining.
Baking is one of the few things in life that always makes sense to me.You follow the recipe, measure the ingredients, and something good comes out of it every single time.
People?Not so simple.
