Close to You by Kate Perry Read Free Book Online

else going on. I assume you’re interviewing other places
in San Francisco for Daniela’s launch party.”
    “ Yes.”
    “ Hmm.” She let the sound
hang in the air, not wanting to accuse anyone of anything, but not
willing to go down without a fight. Frankly, she couldn’t imagine
someone would deliberately seed Yelp with bad reviews to sabotage
her chances of hosting Daniela Rossi, but she was willing to let
Carmen think that.
    The publicist took the bait too.
“People have been known to go to great lengths to host
Daniela.”
    Eve rolled her eyes but said
nothing.
    “ Okay, we’ll overlook this.
We’ll see for ourselves soon enough when we visit your
store.”
    “ You’re visiting Grounds
for Thought?” she asked, excited again.
    “ Daniela would like to get
a feel for each place in the running before making a final
decision.”
    “ And when will this
be?”
    “ We’ll let you know. In the
meantime, I suggest you take care of those Yelp
reviews.”
    Like there was anything she could do.
But she just said, “Of course. Thank you for calling,
Carmen.”
    The moment she was off the phone, she
ran to the laptop on the opposite counter. Standing, she looked
them up. Sure enough, there they were, just like Carmen
said.
    Sketchy. They were all posted three
days ago. She looked at the previous dozens of reviews, all of
which were glowing.
    The kitchen door creaked open.
“Eve?”
    She looked up to find Treat peeking
in. Her cheeks flushed instantly, but instead of greeting him what
came out of her mouth was “I’m so pissed.”
    He walked in, a frown furrowing his
brow. “Tell me.”
    She waved at her laptop. “Someone
posted bad reviews about my baking.”
    “ That’s crazy.” He leaned
over her shoulder to read the postings. Then he shook his head.
“These look like they’re written by the same person. Look at the
word choice. They sound too similar.”
    “ You think so?” She reread
them.
    “ Definitely. Besides, Eve,
your baking is delicious.”
    She looked over her
shoulder, startled to find him so close. He was right there . She was suddenly
conscious of the smell of his leather jacket overlaying the scent
of soap. A lock of his hair had fallen loose of his ponytail, and
she had the strong urge to brush it away. Instead, to keep her
hands occupied, she tucked her own hair back.
    He searched her face. “You make magic
in here, and you know it. A couple bad reviews won’t make a
difference.”
    “ They will if Daniela Rossi
believes them and takes her launch party elsewhere.”
    “ I don’t know you well, but
I get the sense you wouldn’t let that happen.”
    His voice raised goose bumps on her
skin. “No, I wouldn’t.”
    “ I didn’t think so. Where
are your shoes?”
    The non sequitur made her blink.
“What?”
    “ Your shoes.” He nodded at
her flip-flopped feet.
    “ Over there.” She pointed
to the corner where she’d kicked them off.
    “ Are they
black?”
    “ With a little pink.
Why?”
    “ You’re going to kill me,”
he said cryptically. Then he smiled and brushed her hair, which had
fallen forward again, back.
    “ I’ve tried
barrettes.”
    “ What?”
    “ To keep my hair out of my
eyes, but they make me look like I’m five.”
    He grinned. “You don’t look five to
me.”
    “ What do I look
like?”
    “ A smart, sexy woman.” He
snaked his hand around her waist and pulled her closer.
    Her lips parted. He was going to kiss
her. Her heart pounding, she gripped the counter behind her to keep
grounded.
    He nuzzled her cheek with his nose.
“You smell like Christmas.”
    It took her a moment before she
realized what he meant. “I baked cinnamon rolls.”
    “ Delicious,” he
murmured.
    She felt his breath against her neck
and shivered. She waited for his lips to kiss her there—it’d been
so long since anyone had kissed her neck—but he hovered a
frustrating distance away.
    His hand tightened on her waist. “I
may want one.”
    “ I can give it