Page 20 of Suddenly Yours

“No back-and-forth ferry rides while you’re working for us. I’ll put you in one of my best guest rooms. You can have meals, amenities, whatever you need.”

“That’s not necessary,” I started.

She raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “Cade. Let me do this, please. It’s my way of saying how much we appreciate having you stick around.”

Hell. It was hard to argue with that.

“Alright,” I relented.

Maybe… maybe I could ask Missy to come out with me. It would be… something. A weekend. Space to talk. Space to breathe. Space to finish the kiss we never got the chance to finish.

Or she could say no, and I’d end up sleeping alone in a fancy room.

I took the last ferry back that evening with my head full of half-formed plans and half-spoken conversations.

By the time I pulled into town, the bakery’s front windows were dark, but I could see a light coming from the back room.

She was there. I just knew it. I could feel it in my gut. Plus, her car was still parked in the same spot it always was.

She was probably just working late or cleaning or… maybe waiting for me?

I didn’t let myself think too hard. I parked next to her car, got out, and walked to the back door. I knocked once, then tried the handle. It opened easily.

“Missy?” I called softly as I stepped inside.

The kitchen lights were on, soft and golden. The smell of sugar and cinnamon clung to the air. For a second, I smiled because it felt like her. Like home.

Then I froze, my mind refusing to accept what I was seeing.

She wasn’t alone.

Levi, her ex, had her pinned to the countertop, his arms braced tightly around her body. He was far too close to her. I saw the tension in her shoulders, saw the way she leaned away from him, not into him, like she was trying to vanish through the counter itself.

Something cold and violent ripped through my chest and, before my brain even processed it, my voice was already a low, lethal growl.

“Levi?”

His head snapped toward me as his grip moved up to her shoulders and tightened. As if he was trying to possess her. To assert his ownership.

And every part of me went still.

Deadly still.

I was ready to break something.

Or someone.

The look Levi gave me wasn’t confusion. It was recognition. And long-standing, deep-seated, petty-as-hell hatred.

“Well, well,” he sneered. “If it isn’t the carpenter prince.”

I felt my jaw tick. “Let her go.”

He didn’t acknowledge my words, just tightened his hold on her arms like he was staking a claim. I stepped toward him.

Missy tried to twist out of his grip and finally managed to step away from him. He made a move toward her but stopped when I let out a low growl.

“Back off,” I said.