Chapter One

Victor

Three Years Later

At the sound of the door opening behind me, I glanced back to ask Nese, the other shop assistant who worked with me, what had taken her so long. She'd been gone at least five minutes and the queue out of the shop had grown. Clearly the townsfolk were in a rush to buy what was left of Leeson's chocolate Easter bunnies before we closed for a long weekend off. In the States, the Easter holidays weren't a thing, but Garrett had lived in Europe for a while where they celebrated this holiday, so he traditionally gave us those days off. This meant Friday and the following Monday, the shop would be closed.

I stared at Leeson, frowning in confusion at his appearance. "Is Nese okay?"

Leeson's cheeky grin appeared as he sauntered over to me, clutching a large tray of bunnies. They were super cute in white, dark, milk and a blend of all three chocolates. I reminded myself to put one aside for myself as an Easter treat before they were all gone.

Leeson and his soon to be husband, Garrett, were chocolatiers. Garret was from Sweet Haven and from what Victor knew, he'd left to train in Paris, where he'd met his previous husband. After they'd split, Garrett had returned home and opened a chocolate shop in town and named it after the town. In need of a new assistant, Leeson had applied, and the rest was history—sort of.

"Denton's here," Leeson said by way of an explanation as he placed the tray down, smiling at the customers, "and I needed a quick word before I lost my nerve."

My already leaping pulse at the mere mention of Denton's name skidded to a halt. "Lost your nerve?" I croaked out, trying to think if I'd missed something and I was in trouble. Jumping to conclusions was a habit I'd mostly broken, but sometimes…

"I can see by your expression you think it's bad, it's not," he murmured close enough to my ear that the customers standing in front of us, who were showing interest in the conversation, couldn't hear.

It was easier to focus on the woman, a regular, remembering she'd been waiting for Nese to return with the chocolate bunnies. What Leeson wanted… that could wait, even with his reassurance it wasn't bad. "Which one would you like, Cassandra? Milk, white, dark chocolate or a mixed one?"

Cassandra giggled like a schoolchild. "I've no will power against your chocolate and though I'm here to buy for my grandchildren, I'll need to buy one for me, too. Oh, and my daughter or she'll never forgive me. So it'll be two white, one milk for my daughter and I'll have a mixed one."

Leeson winked at her. "Who wants willpower?"

She laughed, digging in her purse. "My diet."

As I filled her request, Leeson, who could charm honey from the bees, chatted away, serving the next customer.

Before I could stop myself, my gaze went to the door leading into the kitchen. There was no sign of Nese coming back. She'd mentioned earlier in the week that she felt something was off with Denton, but wasn't sure if it was something to do with her or his work. Denton and Nese had a casual thing going on for the last few years, as far as I could tell from listening to Nese. Denton never talked about his relationship with her to me, even though we were friends.

Why was that?

I shook off the odd feelings that came with the lack of an answer. They weren't living together and it could be weeks between dates, but I suspected she wanted more. I know I would, if he was dating me.

What Denton wanted, I couldn't say. Not that I'd given it much thought.

Liar. Liar, liar, pants on damn fire.

I'm not interested, I argued back at myself, hating that I was indeed interested, more than I should be when I classed Nese as a friend, too. There were also the circumstances under which I'd first met Denton, making sure that nothing could happen between us—if he were interested. I was gay and though he dated Nese, I'd heard on the gossip vine of Sweet Haven he was possibly bisexual. But as with all gossip, it was unfounded as I'd seen no sign that Denton was interested in men as much as I might want him to be.

The only time I let my thoughts veer longingly in his direction was usually when I was feeling lonely and could bypass the disastrous reasons behind how we met when I arrived in Sweet Haven. Years on, I still recoiled at what he'd witnessed. What he'd done to help when I was at the lowest point of my life. Broken both physically and mentally.

Since then, he was always super sweet to me and never mentioned the awfulness of what came after I'd collapsed or the court case that followed Davey's arrest and imprisonment for his abuse of me and other men, including Leeson.

"You okay?" Leeson questioned, his voice laced with concern, bringing my attention to the fact I was holding the bag I'd carefully packed for Cassandra, who was holding out her hand to me, wearing a look of alarm at my lack of response.

"Sorry, I was thinking I'm gonna need to save a bunny for me before they all disappear," I stated with forced joviality, handing over the bag and hoping that no one else noticed my vacant episode. The gossips in town had enough to talk about when it came to me.

When laughter filled the shop from the queue still waiting, I breathed a little easier.

"Don't customers come first?" someone shouted cheekily.

"Always," Leeson replied, an impish look appearing on his pretty face. "But we have to keep our staff sweet, too."

More raucous laughter followed and then a deep voice I recognized said, "Vic's already full of sweetness, he doesn't need your treats, Leeson."

It was hard to resist looking over my shoulder at the attractive man who I knew was standing behind me by the scent of Denton's familiar aftershave.

Leeson saved me from doing just that by making shooing noises and waving his hands in Denton's direction. "Go on with you. You know you aren't allowed behind my counter. You've already distracted my staff enough today."

Denton moved in front of the counter, dark tousled hair framed a face that was striking and brought attention to the forest green of his eyes. A dimple appeared in his left cheek as he leaned against the corner of the counter where the cash register sat.

Right by where I needed to be.

His jacket strained enough to draw attention to his biceps as he waved a hand in the air. "I offered to carry the tray for you. Didn't I?"

"Looking for a new job, Denny?" An elderly woman asked, her gray head coming from behind another customer. I wondered if it was her who'd made the earlier comment. I didn't know her name, but I had served her once before.

I took the cash from Cassandra, but it was hard to pay attention with him so close to the cash register. I made a concerted effort—something that was getting harder to manage with my growing infatuation—to not stare at him.

"Garrett has too many exacting standards. I'd not last an hour if he started barking at me, Nana." His chuckle was deep and sent tiny shivers down my spine.

Nana?

He appeared to be showing no signs of leaving, and I found my gaze moving to him, then down the queue to the woman he'd called ‘Nana'.

"Garrett's exacting standards are because there are so many rules around making chocolate and sweets," I said without heat, feeling I needed to defend my boss. One who'd paid all my bills in the beginning, until I'd gotten back on my feet and worked to pay it all back.

Denton's eyes were full of mirth as they met mine, and he winked. "Admit it, you've got bigger balls than me."

The laughter was deafening around us as Denton shrugged, despite the pink now gracing his cheeks as I spluttered, "I bet I don't."

He leaned over the counter, his lips brushing my ear, making the air in my lungs fire out of me in an excited rush when he whispered, "I'll need to be the judge of that for myself."

What the heck did he mean by that?

I couldn't say who I served over the next hour or what they ordered before the queue dwindled down enough for Leeson to tug me back into the kitchen, leaving a sullen-looking Nese to finish the last few minutes before closing. She'd had that same expression when she'd returned to the counter and Denton had left.

It took a moment to register Lesson's nervousness. My brows arched up at how Leeson was chewing the heck out of his lower lip. My earlier worries as to what he wanted to talk about came out in strangled words, "Something's up?"

"Haven't you asked him yet?" Garrett questioned from where he stood at the counter, scowling down at the bowl in front of him. As he often wore a scowl, I learned not to stress about it being connected to something I'd done. Nine times out of ten, it related to whatever he was making or Leeson doing something that created a mess. To say that Leeson was clumsy at times could be a little of an understatement. He could force the kitchen into utter chaos with no effort. "Asked me what?"

"To be one of my groomsmen at our wedding?" Leeson's smile was wide and pleading. "Please say yes!"

Lips flapping like a dog who'd poked its head out the car window when driving up the highway at sixty kilometers an hour, I stared speechless at Leeson.

"You know we are shutting the shop for the two weeks of the cruise, so it's not like you'll be working." His grin wasn't as bright as I continued to stare at him, remaining at a loss at how to respond to such a big gesture.

"You don't need to stress about the cost, we've booked several staterooms on the ship, so there's plenty of room for you, too." Leeson came forward and took hold of my icy hands. "Please say yes. It would mean the world to have you there with us."

I choked back a sob at the sincerity.

"To both of us." Between Garrett's expression and how grumpy he sounded, it was impossible to read if he was actually telling the truth.

"Really?" A feeling of warmth filled my chest at the generous offer. "Why would you want me gatecrashing your wedding plans?"

Leeson slung his arm around me, hugging me hard. Around the same height, it was easy to look him in the eye when he answered, "'Cause you're part of my family."

That did it. An ugly sob crawled out of me and there was nothing I could do about it when Garrett cursed and came over to hug both me and Leeson. "Just say yes and make it easier for both of us, okay?" There was a catch in his throat, showing he was just as affected by Leeson's confession as I was.

These men were my salvation—and family. It was the truth. They were so much more than my employers and there was nothing I wouldn't do to make them happy after all they'd done for me. I sniffed, blinking away the tears and nodded. "I'd love to come, if you want me there."