“I’ll be back.” The shop owner turned and walked into the back of the bakery, not at all impressed with the girl to my right.
I almost felt bad for her. I glanced over. “Good morning.”
“It’s beautiful out today, right?” She gave me the once-over.
“It’s raining and gloomy, but I guess. If you like that sort of thing.”
“It’s very much England.” She tilted her head and turned to face me. “You look familiar. Wait! Were you with Alfie at Albert’s last night?”
A strange sensation raced through me. “Um, yeah. He’s a friend of mine.”
“He used to be my lover.” She leaned closer. “Best lover I’ve ever had, if we’re being real.” She wagged her eyebrows, and though she was beautiful on the outside, I sensed she was a devious bitch just below the surface.
“Oh. That’s great to hear.” I shrugged and turned back to the counter. “He’s just a friend of my former fiancé.”
“Oh, yeah? It wouldn’t be his pal, Harry, right?”
That got my attention. I turned to face her again. “Wait. You know Alfie and Harry?”
Her smile wasn’t necessarily friendly, but more smug in nature. “Oh, yeah. I was in University with them both. We had some experimental fun, but then Harry got serious and popped the question.”
My mouth went dry. I wasn’t so sure I wanted to hear the rest of her story. Harry had asked her to marry him? She was the polar opposite to me.
“Like he asked you to marry him?” I stood there, stunned.
“Yeah.” She shook her head and glanced down to the bread counter as the owner came back with a smile on her face. “We tried for a while, but it just didn’t pan out. His loss.”
“Here you go, love. Thanks for coming in. Tell Alfie that Matilda says hello and to come by and see me. I’ll bake him some of his favorite cinnamon rolls with extra pecans in them.” She nodded my way and turned to face the other woman. “Priscilla. What can I get for you today, Lass?”
“Thank you.” I turned and walked out of the stop, a little confused about the whole encounter. Did Harry and Alfie share the blonde bimbo back in college? That’s honestly what it sounded like, but surely not. If so, then Alfie was far more like Harry than I imagined possible.
Fuck. Maybe Peyton was right. Birds of a feather do flock together.
I got home and fixed dinner only to receive a text from Alfie that he was stuck at the office until late. I fell asleep on the couch in the living room, but sometime during the night, strong arms picked me up and tucked me into bed.
Chapter Thirteen
Alfie
I laid in bed for what felt like forever that next morning. I’d decided sometime during the long night to just take off for the day. I wanted to spend time with Molly and honestly felt a bit off about what had happened between us.
It seemed that a day of normality caused me to think deeper and harder into our love making a few nights before. I was a little surprised to find her in the kitchen when I pulled myself out of bed that next morning. That she had whipped up crepes and done them beautifully was even more of a surprise. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had them.
The smell was beyond heavenly. “Wow.” I walked in as she turned and looked over her shoulder. “I swear you’re going to spoil me before you leave me.”
“Leave you?” She laughed and turned back to the stove. “I should think you would be thrilled to have me out of your hair.”
I moved up beside her and pressed my shoulder against her. “You think wrong then. For such a well-educated woman, you sure are struggling with the basic signs of a man enjoying the company of a woman.”
She turned to face me and lifted her eyebrow as her cheeks burned pink. It took all of the reserves I had inside of me not to reach out and pull her close. Kissing her soft lips and cupping her perfect ass would have been the right start to my day.
But she was struggling, and rightly so. Maybe I was too, a bit, but I’d never admit it. Not even to myself.
“Speaking of a man enjoying a woman, I met Priscilla yesterday in the bakery on the main street in town.” She turned back to the stove. “She’s interesting.”
“She’s a slut.” I turned and walked to the coffee pot, hating where the conversation was headed. If I’d had a budding erection before, it was dying fast. “She played me and Harry against one another and then threw a fit when we wouldn’t tag-team fuck her in University. She’s not at all the type of woman I’d let into my life again.”
“But you did once?” Her innocence caused my anxiety to wane. She didn’t deserve me attacking her in lieu of being able to get to Priscilla.