Baking Love by Lauren Boyd Read Free Book Online Page A

why don’t you stay here with me?”
    She struggled to free her arm from his grasp. “Let me go, you jerk!”
    “Soon enough.”
    “No, now !”
    “Matt!” another voice pierced the night.
    Kate exhaled sharply in relief. Eric! She felt Matt release her arm.
    “Hey, man,” Matt said nonchalantly. “My new friend and I were talking.”
    Eric came to Kate’s side. By the light of the moon, she could see anger burning in his eyes. “Was Matt harassing you?”
    “Eric.” I don’t want to make a scene.
    “He was, wasn’t he?”
    She didn’t answer. I’m shaking.
    Eric turned to Matt. “What the hell, man?” he shouted.
    “What?”
    “You know damn well what! ”
    Matt smiled smugly. “Like I said before, I was just being friendly.”
    Eric lunged at him. “Get the hell out of here before I knock that stupid smile off your face.”
    Matt snickered. “You wish you could.” He stumbled back toward the tavern, uttering words Kate couldn’t make out.
    Eric turned to her. “Are you okay?”
    Stop shaking before he notices. “I’m fine.”
    Eric kicked a rock across the parking lot. “I can’t believe that guy! It took everything I had to keep from punching his lights out.”
    “It’s not your fault.”
    Eric met Kate’s gaze, and his expression softened. “You’re shaking.”
    “I’m cold.”
    “You know better than to lie to me. Come here.” He took her hand and gently pulled her into his arms. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her face against his chest. His heart is racing. She took several slow, deep breaths to try and calm them both.
    “You think you know someone,” Eric mused.
    “Yeah.” Why do I feel like I could stand here all night? “You’re a good friend.”
    “No, I’m not.”
    Kate frowned. “Why would you say that?”
    “I wasn’t there for you when your grandma passed away.”
    Tears instantly filled Kate’s eyes. “It’s okay,” she said in a dismissive manner, hoping to steer Eric away from this topic of conversation. I’m emotionally-drained enough as it is without adding my feelings about my grandma’s death to the mix.
    “It’s not okay. If I hadn’t ended our friendship, I would’ve still been in your life when it happened. I could’ve helped you through it.”
    Kate pulled away from Eric and met his gaze with a forced smile. “You helped me tonight, so let’s call it even, okay?”
    “I should’ve called you after I broke up with my girlfriend.”
    “The past is over, so there’s no need to beat yourself up about it now.” Before Eric could say anything else, Kate started down the paved trail toward the inn.
    He quickly fell in step beside her. They walked in silence for a few minutes before he finally spoke again. “I have to admit, there’s another reason I didn’t start calling you again.”
    “Oh?”
    “I thought you might’ve had a boyfriend.” He paused. “Did you?”
    “No.”
    He was quiet for a moment. “Do you now?”
    First the stand-in bride, now this. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound. “No.”
    He didn’t respond.
    “The bakery takes up most of my time,” Kate quickly added.
    “Do you like owning Sullivan’s?”
    Finally, a reason to smile. “I love it more than anything.”
    “Funny, that’s how I feel about Cecilia.”
    Right, Cecilia. For the second time in two days, Kate found herself inexplicably jealous of Eric’s fiancée. “How did you and Cecilia meet?”
    “We had a class together last semester.”
    “Wait, that’s when you met ?”
    Eric laughed. “Yeah.”
    “Are you saying you’ve only known her for, like, six months?”
    “Yeah. It’s not a lot of time, but it was all the time I needed to realize I’d landed a great woman.”
    Enough time? Yes. Cecilia, a great woman? Debatable.
    “She and I had a class together, and I noticed she always sat in the same seat. One day, I decided to sit beside her. We got to talking and really hit it off. We dated all semester, and I proposed in