Sweet Heart (The Hearts of Sawyers Bend #2) - Ivy Layne Page 0,4

find. Royal and Tenn spoke quietly amongst themselves. When I glanced up, I found Royal's eyes fixed on me despite his squirming captive.

I looked away, focusing on my task, surrounded by the disaster of my latest bright idea, the pain in my swelling cheek a tight throb. I wished I could disappear. I wished I’d never come here. If I were playing that game, I wished I’d done a lot of things differently.

I finally found my phone. I chickened out and sent Grams a quick text instead of calling.

Still at The Inn. Can you open without me?

She answered almost immediately.

On it, baby girl. See you when we see you.

Grams thought I was working too hard. If only she knew. Grams still lived in the house where I'd grown up. A few blocks from Main Street, it was walking distance to the bakery. I, on the other hand, lived in a small apartment above the bakery which made it easy to hide the long hours I'd been putting in.

Then again, I might be fooling myself. It was never easy to put one over on Eleanor Hutchins. She might be my grandmother, but she was still sharp as a tack. The second she saw my cheek, there’d be hell to pay. But that was a problem for later.

First, I worked on reassembling the cookies and brownies in the basket. With so many broken cookies it would never look as nice as it had when I’d packed it, but it would do. I'd take the broken cookies back to the bakery and put them to use in something else.

Rising slowly, my muscles aching in protest and my cheek throbbing, I walked back to where Royal and Tenn waited with our captive.

Royal’s eyes were still locked on me, his charming grin nowhere in sight. Tenn only had eyes for the basket on my arm.

“That looks fantastic. You were going to leave that in our offices so the first thing we saw was that basket of treats?”

I swallowed hard and nodded. At the time, it had seemed like a good idea. Now I was wondering if it was just foolish.

“Pass over one of those broken cookies. I can't wait until I get into the office.”

Mutely, I did as ordered, some of my embarrassment fading as Tenn's eyes rolled in pleasure at the first taste of one of my chocolate chip cookies.

“Why don't you go up to the offices with Royal and you two can talk about your proposal while you wait for West to take your statement? You need to get some ice on that cheek.”

“You ready to take this asshole?” Royal asked, his grip tightening on sweatshirt guy's wrists, wrenching them up and driving the man's face into the grass.

“Let's go,” Tenn agreed, and seamlessly, they switched places. Sweatshirt guy tried to roll as Royal stood, but he wasn't fast enough.

Once Tenn had him secure, Royal turned to me and held out a hand. “Let's get some ice on that cheek. Breakfast? Coffee?”

A little dizzy from the quick shift, I slid my hand in his and with the other gave him his phone. He had it at his ear a moment later. “Two Blue Ridge breakfasts in my office and a bag of ice.” A raised eyebrow at me. “Eggs scrambled? Fried? Regular coffee, or do you want a cappuccino or latte?”

Dazed, I clutched my basket. “Scrambled and cappuccino, please.”

Royal relayed my order.

“I could have waited with Tenn,” I said. “You don't have to—”

“You need ice on that cheek. Considering you got beat up while trying to save The Inn from a cockroach infestation that would have been a monumental pain in the ass, the least I owe you is breakfast.”

I couldn't argue with that. I kept an immaculate kitchen, but every time the health inspector stopped by my stomach was still in knots. So many details, so many things that were easy to forget. No one wanted a bad sanitation score hanging in their window.

I could have stayed with Tenn and sweatshirt guy to wait for West. I probably should have, but Royal’s fingers were warm around mine. Strong. I let him lead me through the terrace doors and the lobby to the elevator, noting that he held each door, careful to make room for my somewhat rumpled basket of treats.

The executive offices were on the third floor, quiet and dark. It looked like Royal and Tenn’s assistant wasn’t in yet. Royal flipped on lights as we passed through the outer office, everything