Waking Up to You Overexposed - By Leslie Kelly Page 0,82
the most quietly stubborn person Izzie had ever met...as anyone who’d ever tried to beat her in a game of Monopoly could attest.
“Why don’t you quit?”
Her cousin lifted her mug, leaning her head over it so that her long bangs fell over her pretty amber eyes. She looked as if she had something to hide. And if Izzie wasn’t mistaken, that was a blush rising in her cheeks.
A blush. Cripes, Izzie didn’t even know if she remembered how to blush. The last time her cheeks had been pinkened by anything other than makeup was when she’d burned herself while lying out too long on the deck of a cruise ship a year ago.
Trying to hide a smile, she murmured, “Who is he?”
Her cousin almost dropped the mug. “Huh?”
“Oh, come on, I know there’s a guy.”
“Um...well...”
“For heaven’s sake, you’re looking at a woman who used to schedule two dates a night, just come out with it.”
Chuckling, her cousin did. “There’s this new salesman.”
“A used-car salesman?” Izzie asked skeptically.
Frowning, Bridget asked, “Do you want to hear this or not?”
Izzie made a lips-zipped motion over her mouth.
“His name’s Dean,” Bridget continued. “Dean Willis. And Marty hired him about a month ago. He’s got cute, shaggy blond hair and big blue eyes—well, I assume they’re big. They could look bigger because of the thick glasses he wears.”
She watched Izzie, as if waiting for a comment. Izzie somehow managed to refrain from making one.
“He’s sold more cars than anyone else because he’s just so...quiet. Easy to talk to. Unassuming.” Sighing a little, Bridget added, “And he has the nicest smile.”
Izzie had never heard her cousin go on like this about a man. Must be serious. “So, have you gone out with him?”
Bridget shook her head and sighed again—only, much louder. “He’s never even noticed I’m alive.”
Bridget’s bottom lip came out in a tiny pout. “Fluffy teddy bears are adorable. I want to be...something else.”
Sexy. It was obviously what Bridget had in mind. Izzie eyed her cousin, considering making her over. Bridget had the basics—she just needed to bring them out a little. But she didn’t think Bridget needed much. She was so quietly pretty, so gentle and feminine...any guy would be an idiot to want to change her.
Then again, she’d known a ton of guys, few of whom were Einstein material. “So ask him out. Make him notice you.”
“I couldn’t.”
“Just for a cup of coffee.”
Her cousin snagged her lip between her teeth.
“What?”
“Well, he did ask me to go for coffee once, but I was so flustered and nervous, I told him I didn’t drink it.”
Raising a brow and staring pointedly at the industrial-size mug in front of her cousin’s face, Izzie grunted.
“But it wasn’t a date,” Bridget added. “At least, I don’t think so.” Sounding frustrated, she added, “Maybe I should get a collagen injection. I’ve heard men like big lips.”
Ridiculous. Bridget’s beauty was the natural kind that needed no false crap like the stuff Izzie had seen other dancers do to themselves. But before she could say that—or threaten to lob a handful of ricotta cheesecake filling at Bridget if she did something so dumb—she heard the bell over the front door.
Glancing at the clock, she bit back a curse. It was nearly five—an hour after closing time. She must have forgotten to lock the door after her part-time lunch workers had left for the day and some customer had wandered in for a snack.
She doubted there was much left to serve. Mornings were their busiest time, with regulars and passersby coming in for pastries and muffins. During the lunch hour, when Natale’s served light sandwiches and salads along with decadent deserts, they were busy, too. Since Izzie had come up with the idea to offer free wireless internet access to anyone with a laptop, some customers parked themselves at one of the small café tables and remained there until closing time. They drank a lot of coffee...and ate a lot of sweets. By 4:00 p.m., Natale’s display counter was generally wiped out, as this late customer would soon discover.
“Hello?” a voice called.
Grabbing a towel, Izzie wiped her hands on it and tossed it over her shoulder. “Be right back,” she told her cousin as she walked down the short hallway to the café. “Sorry, we’re closed for the...” The words died on her lips when she saw who stood on the other side of the glass display case, looking so hot she almost shielded her eyes