No Matter What (The Billionaires of Sawgrass #4) - Delaney Cameron Page 0,34
action the plan he’d devised to convey that information to Robin.
When Aunt Leigh suggested the three of them go to the solarium to look at her herb garden, Reece decided to make his move. She accepted his explanation of having an errand to run with the same shrewd smile he remembered getting when he was a teenager. Some things never change. Before the day was over, he’d be explaining the real reason for his early departure.
The butterflies in his stomach grew restless during the trip to Truly Scrumptious. Tracking Robin down at her place of business wouldn’t have been necessary if Wade hadn’t acted like such an idiot last night. His untimely (and ridiculous) interruption prevented Reece from getting Robin’s contact info, something he needed to keep her in the loop regarding possible rental properties.
Wade’s apology didn’t include an explanation for his uncharacteristic outburst. Reece figured it had to be one of two things. Either Wade believed the rumors circulating about Reece, or the stress of the fundraiser had made him overly sensitive. Whatever the cause, Reece was glad it had been quickly resolved. It was bad enough he had to put up with that nonsense from strangers. He wasn’t going to allow it to spill over into his family.
Robin’s cake shop was situated between a children’s clothing boutique and a day spa. There were a few cars in the parking lot, but his suspicion that Truly Scrumptious was closed on Sundays was confirmed when he saw the sign on the door. Undeterred, he walked around to the back. It was possible Robin or Kait might be around. If they were like most entrepreneurs, they seldom took the weekends off. If all else failed, he’d come back tomorrow.
His conjecture was rewarded when he saw an older model Prius parked in front of the staff entrance. In answer to his second knock, the door swung open to reveal Robin. She was wearing a white t-shirt with the words “I like having my cake and eating it, too” printed across the front in neon pink letters. A ribbon of the same color confined her hair to a neat bun on top of her head. Her lack of makeup revealed a smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks.
As if to complete the dismantling of his equilibrium, there were two flour fingerprints on either side of her adorable mouth. Several enjoyable ways of removing them presented themselves before reality made a crash-landing in his fantasy world.
The lips he couldn’t stop staring at curved into a delightful smile.
“Reece! What brings you here? Don’t tell me you need a last minute birthday cake?”
For a second, he had no answer. He literally couldn’t remember why he’d come. That, in itself, was a new and disturbing experience. Before he was forced to make up something, his addled brain ground its way out of neutral into first gear.
“No. It’s not that. I talked to Sylvie’s brother this morning. I took a chance on finding you here. If you’ve got a few minutes, I’ll fill you in on what Harvey said.”
She waved him inside. “Step into my parlor said the baker to the pilot.”
He chuckled at her variation of the children’s poem. Robin closed the door behind him. This left them standing almost toe to toe in a narrow hallway. Her height put her eyes on level with his nose. For what seemed like a long time, but in actuality was probably only a few seconds, they stared into each other’s eyes. The mere inches separating them seemed to crackle with electricity, but that could have been Reece’s imagination. Or just wishful thinking.
Robin led the way to a brightly lit commercial kitchen. The surface of a large butcher-block table was covered with round loaves of brown bread.
“I didn’t realize you made bread, too,” he said.
She slid one of the loaves into a clear plastic bag and tied it with a piece of twine. “We do a little bit of everything. I can’t believe you already talked to Sylvie’s brother. When you say you’re going to do something, you do it.”
Reece wasn’t a procrastinator in the normal way. Taking charge of situations came naturally to him. In this case, there had been the extra motivation of knowing he was helping Robin. One of the things he’d learned about falling in love was how quickly it transformed one’s focus. Seemingly overnight, her happiness had moved to the top of his list of priorities.