my whole body tingled.
The music stopped and switched to something more upbeat. As though that was our cue, we both left the dance floor. When we reached the edge, hand-in-hand, Logan spun me around toward him once more and lifted our connected hands to his lips where he kissed my knuckles reverently. "Thanks for the dance. You weren't bad at all."
"I had a good partner," I said, smiling up at him, feeling almost giddy. Bryce who?
"I'll see you tomorrow for some of those muffins?" he asked, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth while he looked at me, the light winking off the metal plugs in his ears.
"I'll be sure to have some ready for you," I breathed, my voice coming out softer than I intended.
"Good night, Buttercup," Logan said before turning around and walking away.
"Yes, it's definitely a good night," I said once he was out of earshot.
I walked over to the dessert buffet and grabbed a few things on a plate. The sugary goodness calling to me like a siren song. When I turned back around I hadn't expected to see Logan kissing another woman's hand before leading her out to the dance floor where the two of them twirled together like weightless beings for whom movement was effortless. I watched dumbfounded.
Was he a player?
That wasn't the vibe I'd ever gotten from him before, but I wasn't exactly the sharpest when it came to guys—with Bryce being case in point. The two of them laughed and shared some steamy looks though, so I must have been wrong. He couldn't do that to two women in the same night and not be a fuckboy, could he?
3
Buttercup
My gut had churned something fierce the rest of the night and all the next day. Logan hadn't come in for his morning muffin like he said he would, but then he was probably still in bed with that other woman. Had I done something that turned him off? I wasn't sure, and I hated that I was questioning my actions because of some guy.
"Girl, you need to turn that frown upside down," Iris called as she walked in, the bell above the door that I'd just installed ringing merrily and startling both of us.
"Sorry," I said gesturing to the bell. "I needed a better way to tell when people are coming in and I am baking."
"Psh, don't apologize for that. You do need to tell me what's got you so grumpy though." Concern moved across Iris's face.
"Nothing, I'm fine. I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed I guess." I shrugged and gathered her order together.
"Not buying it, sista," she said, crossing her arms over her chest, which was quite a feat cause the girl was well endowed.
I sighed and said, "I'm getting mixed signals from Logan and just found out my most significant ex is getting married, oh, and one of my ovens is broken."
She looked at me for a moment, as though she couldn't decide what to do with me. "You need a girls' night out. Screw the men. You're a badass who runs her own bakery, and you have awesome friends, if I do say so myself, so forget them!"
"I'm not usually one to do the whole girls' night out thing," I said cautiously.
"Well, I'm not taking no for an answer. Here's what you're going to do. First, you're going to close up shop early and take the rest of the day to relax, maybe read that book I gave you, second, you're going to get all dolled up, wear something that makes you feel sexy AF, do your makeup all pretty, or not, whatever, so long as you feel fly as hell. Finally, I'm going to call you when I'm ready to pick you up, and you're going to come downstairs and we are going to go out and have an amazing night. And if I see that you haven't done these things well...then...You'll seriously hurt my feelings," Iris said with what was almost a harrumph.
I'd never seen her so intense about anything before, unless it was baked goods, at least when it came to me. Part of me wanted to object, to say there was no way I could afford to shut down for most of a day, but I knew I could if I wanted to with what the town had paid me for the dessert table for the hop. Taking a day off to lounge around sounded amazing and if Iris