Daddy in Disguise (Crescent Cove 7)

“Oh, is that why you put your hand and your mouth on me?” She took her seat on the other side of the table. “Not that I minded, by the way. Momentary possessiveness hits us all.”

“What if it’s not momentary?”

Saying nothing, she ate cotton candy, her gaze steady on mine. That was Macy. Utterly direct and unflinching at all times.

She was unlike any other woman I’d ever been involved with. She didn’t know how to be coy. If she wanted something, she asked for it. If she didn’t like what was happening, she didn’t disguise her feelings. There was no subterfuge with her.

It was refreshing and scary as hell.

“Hey, John.” Hayes Manning, Beckett’s younger brother, stopped beside our table. His hair was wild around his head and he’d tucked his usual glasses in the pocket of his shirt. Probably why his eyes were a little unfocused.

“Hey, Hayes. Have you met Macy Devereaux? She runs Brewed Awakening in Crescent Cove, along with—”

“Oh, you’re the one who runs that rocking Halloween all year place?” Hayes eagerly pumped her hand. “I had the best coffee of my life there a few weeks ago.” He glanced over his shoulder. “Don’t tell my ma or my Aunt Laverne that though. They’ll stop making a mincemeat pie for me at Thanksgiving.”

Macy laughed. “Mincemeat is gross, but thanks for the compliment. Someone else said today that my beans were burnt, but she’s batshit crazy so she doesn’t count.”

“Yeah, damn straight. Your beans are perfect, far as I can tell.”

I cleared my throat, and Hayes coughed into his hand. “Anyway, I thought you were probably doing that Trick or Treat shop too that’s just going up. Same theme and all, but that’s candy—”

“Going up where?” All humor fled from Macy’s face.

“Edge of town. Just starting building now. My brother-in-law Ian stumbled across it online and he has the worst sweet tooth known to man. I figured I’d—hey, are you okay?”

Macy’s cheeks flushed as she yanked out her phone from her purse. Her fingers flew across the keys. A moment later, she dropped the phone on the table. “Motherfucker!”

Hayes coughed into his hand again. “Okay, well, that’s my cue. Hayride coming up. You’re joining us, I hope?”

“That’s the plan,” I said under my breath.

“All righty, enjoy.” Hayes practically sprinted from the table.

I might not have noticed anyone paying much attention to us before, but that wasn’t the case right this second.

“Some assclown is trying to build a Halloween-themed candy joint in my town. Not far from my place. Can you believe the brass balls that takes? And look at this monstrosity.” She shoved her phone at me and I blinked at the twisted metal oversized scarecrow in the parking lot holding up a crudely lettered sign bearing the establishment’s name. Some half-filled balloons were wrapped around the scarecrow’s other hand. The metalwork was impressive, even to an untrained eye like mine—definitely not my area of expertise—but everything else was not. At least so far.

Including the ramshackle building near the sign. It was clearly being remodeled, but the project hadn’t gotten far off the ground yet. Or it had been abandoned.

Kind of fit the Trick or Treat theme actually. Dilapidated candy shop, luring in unsuspecting kids…

I shared my theory with Macy, and she glared at me, clearly not amused.

“Maybe they aren’t even finishing it.” I gave her back her phone. “Perhaps they didn’t realize you had something similar going on up the street and—”

“Similar? You call that low rent operation similar to my business? I’ve slaved over every detail, and I’m paying top of the line to make sure everything is to my exact specifications. Paying you,” she reminded me as if I’d somehow forgotten.

Rather than snipe back at her, I decided to let her wind herself up and then simmer down once she’d gotten it all out. I understood it must be a shock to have something of a niche you’d made your own, but by the same token, candy and coffee were not the same things. Nor was a restaurant. To me, it seemed as if the businesses could work together to send customers to each one.

Obviously, Macy was not in the same headspace.

“You have no clue who own the place, and it could be a simple mistake. Although I’d seriously consider seeing how you could create cross-traffic between your shops. Why cut off your nose to spite your face?”

She narrowed her eyes at me then stared hard at the balloons strung up where people were already lined up to board the first hayride of the night. “Did you know condoms can be used as inflatables in lieu of balloons?” she asked, propping her chin on the back of her hand.

I hid a smile as I gathered our garbage. “You ready to be scared?”

She made a face. “These things never scare me. I watched Texas Chainsaw Massacre as a bedtime story one night.”