Chapter 3

3

LEO

Last night Lily put through a rush order, which means after making sure she got to work safely, I hurried home, attempted to nap for an hour, and left for work to deliver whatever she desperately needs.

Not that I'm complaining. It's for Lily and I'd do anything for her because I love—no one. I love no one. As long as she's happy I'm happy, which means I need to get her rush order to her on time. The windscreen wipers scrape away the rain and I back into the alleyway to park the truck.

Her hair was loose this morning. Red waves blowing in the wind and brushing against her face. Her hair's probably knotted from the wind and in need of a good brush.

It would be weird if I offered to brush it. Still, if she handed me a brush, I'd do it.

The streetlights barely penetrate the dark. Her coworker hadn't shown up by the time I left, which set off a churning anxiety in my stomach knowing she was there alone. The girl should've arrived before I left, so she's either sick, late, or has the day off, and none of those options make me remotely happy.

So I'm here early to deliver Lily's package. She won't know that, technically, it's not due for another two hours. But I needed to make sure she was safe.

The truck door slams behind me and stinging droplets of rain blind my eyes. I blink rapidly and open the back of the truck to find her package. There are only two boxes, so I leave the pallet trolley behind, stack them on top of each other, and lift them. I grunt. Whatever she needs so desperately might kill me from the weight of it. With a longing glance at my trolley, I aim for the backdoor quickly and hope it's open. Although, if it's unlocked I'll be having words with Lily.

I fumble with the door, attempting to open it while holding the boxes and have a burst of satisfaction when I realise it's locked, quickly followed by terror when the boxes slip.

The door opens as I rebalance the boxes and pant for breath. No way am I breaking any of her stuff.

"Good catch." The delicate voice comes from the doorway and I blink through raindrops to see Lily's blurry face appear, looking at me with a smile.

"Well, I couldn't have your rush order ruined, could I?" I stand on the concrete steps in front of the door and stare at her. She's changed her hair to a knot at the top of her head with small pieces floating around her face that I'm desperate to tuck behind her ears and then capture on canvas. The warm lights behind her thread gold through her hair. The boxes dig into my arms and a droplet of water runs past my eyebrow. "Whatever it is will be ruined if it's in the rain all day."

She jumps in surprise as if only realising it's raining. "Oh, sorry. Come inside."

Lily ushers me inside her warm café and closes the door with a snick, sealing us in together. I've never come here so early before. Only ever seen the café busy with workers rushing around their stations, and attempted to stay out of their way.

"You're here early." Her smile brightens the room and sends relief through my chest seeing her safe. No one else is here, but she's all right. The door was locked and nothing happened while I wasn't watching.

Still, I refuse to stop watching in case something does happen.

"Thought you might want it earlier."

"Let me help." She reaches for a box, but I jerk away from her and ignore her confused look.

"It's heavy. Where do you want it?" There's no way I'm letting her carry a box. She might hurt her back. Or the box could scrape her arm. I'm sure she's used to carrying and moving boxes, but that doesn't mean she has to. Not when I'm here.

"Are you sure?"

I nod and hide my wince when my arms start throbbing. The boxes aren't getting any lighter.

Lily glances to the right where a table sits scattered with paper, clips, and keys, and points at a door on the opposite wall. "Down the stairs in the storeroom, please."

My arms are turning numb, and I shiver as droplets of water run from my hair down my back, but I follow her directions. I descend the stairs carefully so I don't drop everything, and when I reach the bottom, I find empty floor space to set the boxes down. A sigh escapes me and I rub feeling back into my arms.

Lily appears beside me and smiles. "Thank you."

I nod at her and manage to contain my grin to a small smile. There are shelves across the walls holding boxes of ingredients and packaging and other objects I don't understand. "So, this is where it all starts?"

"Yeah."

"And you turn it into sweet treats people come from miles to try."

Her cheeks flush. "People don't come from miles."

I shrug. So I exaggerated, but she blushed and looks pleased, which was my goal. It isn't much of a stretch. People know when they visit the beach to visit her café. A gasp distracts my scan of her rose blush and my eyes dart to hers.

"You're hurt."

"I am?" I usually hurt around her, but that's more the longing talking than physical hurt—oh, she means my arms.

Her eyes scan my arms. My short-sleeved T-shirt doesn't hide anything and there are deep indentations from the crease of my elbows to my wrists. They'll fade and don't hurt too much, but the way Lily's looking at me you'd think I was bleeding out. She creeps closer and locks eyes with me as she reaches for my arms. Her warm hand grasps my wrist and she runs her other lightly up and down my arm, brushing her fingers against the marks and massaging gently. Her touch sends heat through me, and I hide a shiver.

"Why didn't you tell me the boxes hurt?" Her eyebrows draw together and she blinks up at me, soft strokes on my arm distract me from her question. Her fingers pause on my hand where there are remnants of green and brown paint and I freeze, waiting for her questions, but she moves over the paint and back to the marks.

"They were heavy. I didn't want you to hurt yourself."

"But you didn't mind being hurt instead?" She huffs and drags me to a box and forces me to sit on it.

Baffled by her reaction, I watch her sit beside me and pull my other arm into her lap and begin massaging it. They're just marks from the boxes, they'll disappear. I don't understand why she's concerned. I drag boxes around all day, it's not unusual to have scrapes.

"No."

"I'm getting the first-aid kit. Stay here." Lily jumps up and strides to the stairs, leaving me in shock on the sagging box, hoping I'm not breaking anything.

Why is she worried? It doesn't make sense. Not that I'm complaining, but the marks hardly matter. What does she need a first-aid kit for?

A growl comes from the top of the stairs and she reappears, annoyed and lips pursed.

"Are you okay?" I ask. I haven't seen her like this before…angry with a tinge of frustration. She looks like an avenging Valkyrie.

It's doing things to me.

"The door's locked."

"What?"

"The door's locked. One of the new girls must have forgotten to replace the key we keep down here." Lily sighs heavily. "Gem will arrive soon and find us."

I blink at her. Is she saying we're locked in this room together? Until her other staff member decides to show up? Shouldn't she be stressed about baking or something? What if something burns? If her baking burns, there won't be anything to sell. All she's doing is sitting beside me calmly, looking more regretful than anything. Stress doesn't seem to be on her mind, and if it is, she's hiding it well.

"I'm sorry I can't help with the scrapes." She brushes a soft finger across a mark and I shiver. "And I'm sorry you're hurt because of me."

I frown. Can't have her thinking it's her fault. "I'm not hurt because of you. And it's barely sore anymore. I'm used to it. Comes with the job." I nudge her shoulder with mine and am rewarded with a small smile.

"I hope there aren't other deliveries you'll be late for?"

"Nothing that can't wait." I can't remember if I shut the back of the truck. Hopefully rain isn't ruining the rest of the deliveries I've got today. But it's a small price to pay to be here with her.

"Are you, um…" Lily trails off and her hand slips from my arm to fiddle with the hem of her T-shirt. She breathes in deeply, blows it out, shakes her head, and with a bright smile asks, "Are you dating anyone at the moment?"

I suck in a breath, and my eyes dart to hers. Why would she ask me that? Is it curiosity, politeness, or is she asking for herself? If she's asking for herself, it means I have a chance. A chance to be near her, to talk to her, to hold her. Walk to work beside her instead of trailing behind, hoping she won't turn around. And meet her cat.

She bites her lip and shuffles away from me. "What's her name?"

I waited too long to reply and now she thinks I have a girlfriend. Absolutely not. Won't have her thinking that, not if there's any chance she's interested in me.

"I'm not dating anyone," I rush to say.

"You're not?" Brown eyes brighten and scan my face.

I shake my head. She leans closer to me, and her eyes dart to my lips as she lets out a shaky breath. It brushes my face and my hand snags hers. The light is dimmer here and it creates shadows on her face. Contours that carve out her nose and slant across her cheekbones. Sound comes from above us, but I ignore it. She's here in front of me, and I can almost taste her.

We flinch apart when footsteps thud on the staircase.

"Lil? You stuck down here? I keep telling Lucy to remember the key, but does she listen to me? Clearly not." Gemma's eyes dart around the room and widen in surprise when they land on me sitting beside her boss. "Oh, hello." She raises an eyebrow at Lily and moves back up the stairs with a grin. "I'll put the key by the door."

Lily glances at me. "Sorry about that." Her hands move in a circle encompassing the stairs, but I can't tell if she's sorry for Gemma interrupting or that there was something to interrupt.

"I should get back anyway." I shoot her a tight smile and aim for the stairs. Disappointment floods through me. She's probably regretting whatever just happened and thanking Gemma for finally showing up.

As I reach the first step, she speaks. "Go out with me."

I turn to her in surprise. She's standing now and her face contorts in a grimace with red splashed across her cheeks. I want to lick it.

She tucks hair behind her ears and takes a long breath. "I mean, would you like to get a drink sometime?"

"We had one a few days ago." I'm still shocked at what she said, unable to comprehend what she apparently wants. Did she ask me out or am I imagining it? An attempted kiss is one thing, going out with someone is another.

"Oh, right. Okay." She crosses her arms and smiles, but it's not her usual smile. It's tight and drawn. "Guess I'll see you in a few days."

My eyes narrow. She's upset. What did I say to upset her? We did have a drink a few days ago. The tea thing she made. She can't be upset because she thinks I don't want… Oh shit.

"I want to go out with you." It bursts out of me, and I close my eyes in mortification. A little smoother would've been good instead of shouting at her.

"You do?"

Cheeks burning, I open my eyes and meet hers. She's grinning at me and I can't help but grin in return and nod.

"You don't want a drink?"

"We should get dinner instead."

"Okay," she breathes out.

Before I can congratulate myself on the slightly smoother delivery, the door crashes open at the stairs and we both jump. I step in front of her, but the tension in my shoulders release when I see Gemma.

"Your alarm's going off." Gemma's eyebrow lifts as she scans us and focuses on my hot cheeks. "Want me to deal with it?"

Lily continues to grin. "No, I'll get it."

Gemma's gaze darts between us before she trots upstairs with a smirk and leaves us alone again.

"I've got to go, but I'll see you soon." Lily hands me a piece of paper and with a brush of her hand goes upstairs to deal with the alarm.

I watch her ascend the stairs, her curvy hips swaying, and don't look at the paper until she's out of sight. The packing slip from today now holds her scribbled phone number on it with a smiley-face under the digits. My stomach churns with excitement, and a sense of satisfaction settles in my chest.

We're going on a date. She asked me on a date. I never imagined she actually liked me or wanted to date me. A perfect start to the day after the early delivery.

Leaving the storeroom, I wave to Lily before I exit her store and duck inside my closed and locked truck. Put the paper on the dashboard where I can see it and drive out of the alleyway to finish the rest of the deliveries.

That could have gone a lot smoother. For one, I could've answered her question calmly instead of nearly yelling in panic and stumbling over my words. When I had coffee with her, I managed to keep my cool, but this time I got a date. Maybe acting dumbstruck isn't a bad thing.

One delivery takes me past her flat, and I glance towards it and see her cat darting across the window. My lips tilt up at the sight before fading. My hands clench on the steering wheel.

What happens if she finds out what I've been doing? That I've been following her.

Granted, it's mostly to make sure she gets to work safely, but I can't imagine the conversation going well on a first date.

Hey, Lily. I follow you to work at four in the morning to make sure you're safe and sometimes stand outside your flat, and one day I want to marry you and befriend your cat.

It'll go down great with her. Fucking hell, I'm an idiot. How am I supposed to date her without telling her? Although, if we're dating, maybe she wouldn't find it weird if I wanted to drive her to work. I could make sure she gets there safely and spend time with her. Not a bad deal.

Unless she finds out.

Or I keep it a secret and tell her on our twentieth wedding anniversary and deal with the consequences later.

Neither sound like great options. Either way, I'm fucked.

Unless I get her to fall in love with me and convince her it isn't weird.

I groan and stop at a red light. This is going to be complicated.