JUNIPER’S POV:
Today is another lazy weekend for me, with Hiram out of town. Well, not exactly lazy-I’m at the bakery, waiting tables while texting Hiram. Sally doesn’t make it in today, so she leaves Rhea and me in charge. It’s day three of my fever, and while I feel better, I’m still not up for much.
“I’ll handle the deliveries and grab what we need at the market,” Rhea says as I wrap a freshly baked pastry and place it on a plate.
“Thanks, Rhea. I love you,” I reply, smiling as I turn to her.
She scrunches her nose.
“Yeah, because Mr. Hot Professor is out of town. If he wasn’t, I wouldn’t even be an option. You’d just pay me off to go sit on his lap.”
I chuckle as she leans in to kiss my cheek. “I’m off,” she says, grabbing her things.
My phone beeps, and a smile spreads across my face as I glance at the screen, reading his text in my mind.
“Just woke up. What are you up to, love?”
“And now he’s texted back, making me completely irrelevant,” Rhea teases, rolling her eyes.
I scoff, shutting the phone for a moment. “I know I’m desirable, but you both can share me.”
She shakes her head dramatically, grabbing the delivery boxes. “Unbelievable,” she mutters, heading out the door.
As soon as she’s gone, I grab my phone again, eagerly typing my reply to Hiram. “Working in the bakery while you enjoy your impromptu trip.”
He reads it immediately.
“I am not enjoying my trip, and I miss you so much. Plus, we get to see each other this evening. It has just been twenty-four hours.” He replies.
“You really cannot do without me, can you?”
I roll my eyes as the feeling of irritation simmers. The cocky tone of his text never fails to get under my skin. A part of me wants to rile him up, maybe throw out a response to make him squirm just a bit.
I’m about to type something back to get under his skin when the chime of the customer bell rings out, pulling me back to the present. I slide my phone into the pocket of my apron at once.
“Coming!” I yell as I grab the tray of freshly baked pastry and hot coffee, rushing out to the table where a man is seated.
“I am sorry,” I say, flashing a smile, then he chuckles as I take out my note to write the bill.
“I can never stay mad at a pretty lady,” he says, causing my breath to catch in my throat as my pen stops halfway on the notepad.
I look down at him to catch his face, and Hiram’s blue eyes quickly replaced those chestnut eyes staring back at me, snapping me back to reality.
“You do not need to write that,” he says, placing a hundred-dollar note on the table. “Keep the change.” He winks at me, and I open my mouth to speak.
“You refuse tips too?” he asks just in time as another customer rings the bell on their table.
“The name’s Troy, and you have a waiting customer.” He lifts the mug of coffee to his face while I take the money from the table and walk away.
A smile, which I do not note, hangs on my lips until I get to the table, and the customer puts down the menu, their face coming into view.
“Miss. Sullivan,” I choke out, staring at her.
Tatiana Sullivan is a lecturer at my school, well known as the sweetheart of almost all male lecturers. Rumor has it she is only twenty-four, making her the youngest lecturer. I do not doubt it because she looks ageless with breathtaking beauty.
“Juniper, having the males at her fingertips,” she says, and I force a smile up my lips.
I forget to add that she is among the females who have their hawk eyes on Hiram. The way she looks at me in class is as though she has a personal beef with me, but she always covers it up with a smile.
“I’m just kidding.” She waves her hand down, then slides the menu over to me. “Get me cake. The one with the little cherry on top, and I would like some tea,” she says, and I nod, scribbling her order on my notepad.
“Got it,” I say, pressing my lips together. She raises a brow with a smile hanging on her lips. Then I turn around at once, making my way back to the counter.
My eyes meet that of Troy, who is sitting in his corner, munching on his pastry. He looks at me, waving as I look away, grabbing a tray at once to prep Tatiana’s order.
I have just finished laying out the tray on the counter when my phone beeps in my pocket. My mind drums to the fact that I left Hiram’s text hanging.
“You are leaving me on read?”
I slide my phone open to reply to his text when a message from Rhea comes in.
“June, I have bad news.”
At first, I think she is messing with me, but another text comes in immediately.
“I just saw Hiram across town, and he’s with Lola Baker.”
My stomach drops when I read this, and I take in a deep breath, sliding into her DM to see a picture of Hiram and Lola in a random corner in the middle of the street.
“I am so sorry,” she texts back, and I try to steady my breathing.
I want to question myself on why he lied about leaving town, but he is Hiram, and he will never be straightforward with me. It is like he has some lie up his sleeves until I probe him.
“It is fine, and I am good,” I text back.
“I’m almost at the store, and maybe you should meet with him now. Let him know you know.”
I stare down at the text, and my hands glide over the keyboard, searching for a reply when Troy’s voice trails off in the background.
“Hey.” I turn to face him, then I walk over to the counter.
“I was about leaving, but I didn’t catch your name,” he says, and I try to force a smile like my boyfriend isn’t somewhere across town speaking to my arch-nemesis.
“Juniper, but my friends call me June,” I reply, and he nods.
“Nice name. Here is my business card, in case you want to talk sometime or… anything,” he says, and I keep the smile on my face as he turns to leave.
I stare down at the card, which has his name, Troy Davidson, embossed in bold, sleek letters across the front, followed by a phone number and an email. A tagline underneath reads, “Making your dream home a reality.”
Without thinking twice, I cover his number and email with my fingers, then I take a picture. I want to send it to Hiram now to rile him up, but a better thought crosses my mind, and I save it for the evening when I do not show up at his house because I am with Troy Davidson.