The Heartbreaker of Echo Pass - Maisey Yates Page 0,87

nothing more than the scent of his skin, the sound of his slow, steady breathing.

Tomorrow, her new life started.

CHAPTER TWENTY

IT WAS HER very first day open, and she was... Not nervous. She had everything ready to go. Most of her stock she’d been able to make ahead, and some of it she had prepared from dough that morning. Everything was set out, and looking beautiful. The display cases were full of cookies, all colors. Pinks, lavender, yellow, green, regular chocolate chip, chunky varieties that were filled with nuts and fruit. There was cake, pie. A rack filled with bread. It was a superhuman effort, and she was incredibly proud of it.

What had really surprised her was when Griffin had come downstairs, freshly showered, come into the kitchen, put on an apron and asked what he could do to help.

It was almost comical. He was a superior specimen of masculinity, an absolute god of testosterone, and the apron was... Well, that black apron over his broad chest, tied over his slim waist, was legitimately one of the sexiest things she’d ever seen. He hefted trays in and out of the oven, brought in new stock. She wasn’t incredibly hard-hit, it was a weekday, after all, and Gold Valley only had the usual foot traffic, as tourism wouldn’t really pick up for another couple of weeks. But there were people, and they were very excited to have a bakery back in town. Living above it would mean that Iris could devote time to simply being there. In her opinion, the previous bakery hadn’t lasted because their hours had been very uncertain and strange. She intended to provide stability, and to fling herself into it, and given the deal Griffin was giving her, her overhead was so low it was nearly unrealistic.

The enthusiasm of the place... That was what truly fueled her.

The looks on people’s faces when they saw the brightly colored goodies. She tied up several pink boxes and put little Cookie Jar stickers over the top of them, filling them to the brim with cookies, cupcakes and muffins. She had a lot of discussions with people about her refrigerator meals, and quite a few people ended up taking some home for that night.

The door opened, and Sammy entered first, Ryder holding it open for her. She had baby Astrid on her hip, and was grinning.

“Iris,” she said. “This is absolutely stunning.”

“Thank you,” Iris said.

“This is really something else,” Ryder said.

“I want one of everything,” Sammy said, waving her free hand.

“You literally get free treats from me all the time. And anyway, whatever people don’t buy, I’ll be boxing up and sending to you.”

“Not if I buy it first,” Sammy said.

Griffin chose that moment to come in from the back. Looking delicious and bearded, and very obviously who he was.

“Hi,” Ryder said, eyeing the other man. “You must be Griffin.”

“And you must be Ryder.” Griffin didn’t miss a beat. He reached out and shook Ryder’s hand, leaning over the counter to do so.

“Guilty as charged. So you’re...” Ryder lifted a brow. “Protecting your investments?”

“Assisting. With whatever she needs. Though, it’s not much. She’s pretty much got this locked down.”

“She’s brilliant,” Ryder said.

“I agree.”

Ryder sized Griffin up. Iris half expected the words what are your intentions toward my sister to come out of her brother’s mouth. But thankfully, they didn’t.

“How’s business been?”

“Great,” Iris said. “Honestly, considering it’s not the grand opening, and we just turned the sign, much better than I expected. I’m hoping that this Saturday is really amazing. I’m going to set up a table outside and give away free sugar cookies.”

“Well, we’ll all be there with bells on. Whatever you need.”

She wrinkled her nose. “For you not to wear bells?”

“No. Definitely coming in bells. Maybe only bells.”

“Please no.”

“All right. I’ll behave. Can’t promise anything for Sammy, though.”

“I never behave,” Sammy said. “Not if I can help it.”

“Hey,” Ryder said. “What time you closing up shop here?”

“Oh, probably about five.”

“Well, it just so happens that we were going to barbecue a rack of ribs over at the house. You should come.”

“Oh, well...”

“You should both come,” Ryder said, looking directly at Griffin.

“Both of us,” Iris said.

“Yeah. I think it would be nice if I got to know your boyfriend.”

“He’s...”

“Always up for ribs,” Griffin said. “Then we’ll see you tonight around six. Don’t bother to bring dessert. Sammy’s buying one of everything.”

She wrapped up the desserts for her brother and Sammy, and tried not to react to what had just happened. It was