Chapter 32

CHAPTER

THIRTY-TWO

A dam Harmon had no idea what to do with the gorgeous blonde in his arms. He knew she was far too young for him, as well as a Young, which made her completely off-limits. He couldn’t even imagine telling Harry he was going out with one of his cousins. The very idea was laughable—and fire-able.

He’d been toying with leaving behind celebrity assisting and finding something else to do to earn money. Truth be told, Adam could quit assisting Harry and live off his savings for several years, especially if he stayed here in small-town Coral Canyon.

And Adam was tired. He held himself to a high standard, and he’d enjoyed over a decade in the entertainment and celebrity world. He’d immediately taken to the slower pace of Coral Canyon, and he’d been as eager to move here as Harry had been .

“Help,” he called as someone rolled down their window. “She passed out.”

The woman—someone much closer to his age—jumped out of her car and hurried toward him. “Oh, dear,” she said. “I’ll call nine-one-one.”

Adam was sure Joey would not like that, but he didn’t have another solution. He did his best to push the cupcakes out of the way, and he cringed as one of the boxes fell onto the floor on the passenger side of his SUV. But he couldn’t hold Joey’s dead weight for much longer. Not that she was a big woman. Quite the opposite, and Adam searched his memories for her age.

Too young , he thought. Too young, too young, too young. He finally got her into the backseat, and he got the seat to recline as much as it would while the woman a few feet from him told the EMTs where they were.

In the car, Joey made a terrible moaning sound, and Adam returned his attention to her. “Hey,” he said. “You’re okay. You just passed out, but I caught you.” He tried not to feel too proud of himself. He couldn’t believe he’d gotten out of his SUV in the first place, but he couldn’t stand to see someone get mistreated.

Joey moaned again, and this time her eyes fluttered open.

“She’s waking up,” he said to the woman, and she relayed the information to the dispatcher.

“Adam?” Joey asked, and Adam leaned into his vehicle, right over here.

“I’m right here, Joey,” he said. “You’re okay. ”

“I don’t—I saw my own blood.” Her face had gone about as white as the paint on his SUV.

“Here’s a first aid kit, Mister Harmon,” the other skater said, and Adam backed out of his SUV to take it from her. He didn’t have time to ask her how she’d known his name before she rollered away to deliver the two dozen cupcakes in her arms.

“They want to know if we need an ambulance,” the woman said.

“No,” Joey practically yelled, and she sat up. “I’m okay. I just don’t like the sight of my own blood.” She looked from her to Adam. “Would you help me get it cleaned up?”

“Of course,” he said diplomatically.

“Is everything okay?” another woman asked, and Adam turned to welcome her to the fray.

“I’m okay, Miriam,” Joey said as she wiped her hair off her forehead. “I just stumbled and skinned my knee, and I accidentally saw it.”

Miriam crowded into the open doorway of the SUV and looked at Joey’s knee. “Okay, but if you can’t stay on deliveries, I’ll move you to the counter.”

“She passed out,” Adam said, his overprotective streak rising up. Why he wanted to protect this woman, he didn’t know. “She needs to get cleaned up and go home.”

Joey didn’t argue with him, and Miriam likewise blinked at him.

“I’m going to get her knee cleaned up and then I’ll take her home,” he said. “I work for her cousin. ”

“I know who you are,” Miriam said. “And Joey can decide for herself.”

“Of course she can,” Adam said smoothly, and then he clicked open the first aid kit. “Joey, can you put your leg out of the car?”

She did, and Adam ripped open an antiseptic wipe. He cleaned up the blood quickly, and said, “It’s just a scrape,” though it looked decently bad. He covered it with a couple of bandages and added, “Good as new.”

Joey’s face had pinked up again, and she gave him a smile. “Thank you, Adam.”

“Of course.” He closed the first aid kit and checked over his shoulder. Miriam had left, as had the other women on rollerskates. When he faced Joey again, she’d started to stand from the back of his car. “What would you like to do? Miriam said you could get a different assignment or go home.”

“I’ll go talk to my boss.”

Adam held out his hand, letting it hover only a few inches from Joey as she found her balance on her skates. “Okay,” he said. “Do you want me to wait and make sure you’re okay?”

Their eyes met, and something powerful and charged shot between them. Adam had not dated for a few years now, as being on-call for a megastar didn’t leave much personal time. He’d lost girlfriends because of his job, as he had to up and leave whatever he was doing when his bosses needed something.

“I’d like to check up on you later,” Adam said, working hard not to clear his throat. “Should I have Harry text you?” He hated how much of a coward he was for not asking her directly for her number. He coughed as a gust of wind kicked up, and he took a look at the scattered cupcake boxes.

When he looked at her again, he’d found some unknown reserve of bravery. “Or, if you give me your number, I can simply contact you directly.”

He hated how formal his request had been, and Adam pressed his eyes closed in a long blink. Joey still hadn’t said anything, and he just wanted to leave. “I should get these cupcakes over to Belle’s new apartment.” He backed up a step, and then started around the SUV to the other side, as he’d pushed the cupcakes over there to make room for Joey.

“Maybe I’ll see you there,” he said, and he smiled and waved to her, clearly dismissing her.

She gave him a kind smile—surely her way of letting him down easy—and then limp-skated back toward the door in the corner of the bakery.

Adam righted all six dozen cupcakes, noting that ten or twelve of them had definitely been jostled enough to notice. Heaven knew there’d be so much food at Belle’s that a few slightly smooshed cupcakes wouldn’t be noticed or needed.

With everything set, Adam got behind the wheel of his SUV and tossed a look toward the bakery. Joey hadn’t come back out, and he told himself to get out of there before he did something twice as foolish as he already had.

“How obvious can I be?” he wondered as he made the drive from the bakery to Belle’s almost-downtown apartment, something that only took six minutes .

When he walked in with half of the cupcakes, Harry looked over from where he’d just watered one of Belle’s potted plants. Seeing him do something like that made Adam smile, because Harry had been so unhappy for such a long time.

“There you are,” Harry said. “What took you so long?” He came forward and took the boxes from Adam, plain curiosity in his expression.

Adam’s face heated, and he turned to leave again. “I have three more boxes to bring in.” He retreated back to his SUV and collected the last of the desserts, and he put them with the others on the slip of Belle’s countertop.

Harry gave him a look that said he’d ask Adam again about what had happened at the bakery, and he glanced around the part of the apartment he could see. This place had two bedrooms and two bathrooms, with a spacious living room, dining room, and kitchen, and if Adam hadn’t found a pretty perfect house rental of his own, he’d consider these apartments.

“Where’s Belle?” Adam asked, the knot in his throat so tight and so big.

“She called her mom,” Harry said. “She’s in the bedroom talking to her.”

Adam nodded and cleared his throat, which made his boss and best friend perk up again.

“Just spit it out,” Harry said, his tone somewhat grumpy. He didn’t like secrets, and he didn’t like prolonged conversations. He’d been down-to-earth and kind, and Harry Young was Adam’s favorite client out of anyone he’d ever worked with.

“How old is your cousin Joey?” Adam asked.

Harry stopped fiddling with whatever was in the box on the dining room table—a family heirloom of Belle’s, Adam had been informed. “My…cousin…Joey?” He spoke like he didn’t understand those words in that order.

“She works at the bakery where we ordered cupcakes,” Adam said, glancing over to the pastry boxes. “Someone was harassing her, and I helped her a little.”

“Okay,” Harry said slowly. “And now you want to know how old she is? Why?”

Adam shrugged, his face burning. He hated feeling like this, and it hardly ever happened to him. He usually exuded confidence, and he knew all the details of every situation inside and out. He knew who to call at every establishment, and he could explain himself and what he needed for Harry in two tight sentences.

“Are you telling me you’re interested in asking her out?” Harry asked.

“I didn’t say that.”

“Your face is bright red,” Harry said with a chuckle. “And I hate to say it, brother, but she’s far too young for you.”

“Yeah,” Adam mumbled. “What? She’s twenty-two or so?”

“Twenty-two, yeah,” Harry said. “And you know you’re thirty-two, right?”

“I’m only thirty-one, actually,” Adam said .

Harry grinned at him and started to laugh. “I can’t wait for you to explain it like that to my uncle Otis.” He laughed, and laughed, and laughed.

Adam finally rolled his eyes and said, “All right, I got it. She’s off-limits.”

“I mean, if you want to keep your teeth,” Harry said, still chortling. He hadn’t said he had a problem with it, and Adam had met Otis Young several times. He worked with Harry a lot on the songwriting, and he’d come to help them both move a few weeks ago.

Adam had known intellectually about Joey, but he hadn’t spent too much time thinking of her. Now, though, he sincerely hoped she’d finish up her shift at Cake Bites and decide to drop by Belle’s to welcome her to town.

Then he’d get to see her again, talk to her and make sure she was okay, and maybe, just maybe, get that elusive phone number for himself.