Frisked in Fondant: Tulle and Tulips, Book 6 by Nikki Duncan Read Free Book Online Page B

really sorry.”
    “Don’t worry about it. Go home. I’ll be there in a little bit.”
    Gisella loved everything about her job. The heat of the kitchen, the slide of her palms against fondant or chocolate, the scent of freshly mixed icing. She loved it all, and all of it brought her peace and calm when her world went insane.
    She also loved sitting with Kyle, curled into his side with his warmth wrapping around her and his skin brushing his. Tension vacated her body when he was near. The ugliness of the past and recent home invasion memories lost their power beneath his touch.
    He offered a different type of distraction from the darkness. He offered light, like her baking did, and she wanted the light.
    “I can stay and help,” Paige said. “There’s the detail work to do too.”
    Working alone was Gisella’s only hope of avoiding a continuous retelling of the invasion. She shook her head before considering Paige couldn’t hear her.
    “Thanks for the offer, but I can handle it.”
    “You sure? I don’t mind.”
    Paige’s next argument would be that staying was her job, and any other time Gisella would have welcomed her help. “Positive. I’m kind of in a mood to work alone. Go home to your girl.”
    “If I must,” Paige said with a chuckle. “She did want to go out tonight.”
    “It’s a win for everyone.” One of us should have a love life.
    “Thanks. By the way, Lori stopped in to talk about her cake design.”
    Which was Lori’s excuse for checking up on Gisella, because they had already planned the cake’s design and once Lori made up her mind she didn’t change it. “Thanks.”
    Gisella hung up to discover Kyle watching her. Concern might be the dominant look in his eyes, if she allowed herself to believe he cared.
    “What’s going on?” he asked.
    “Cake emergency. I need to go to work.”
    “There such a thing as a cake emergency?”
    Aghast, she scoffed. “A bride facing a wedding day with no cake is scarier than any criminal you could face on your job.”
    He nodded, but it was clear he didn’t agree. Few men would, which was okay. As long as he didn’t stand in her way.
    “You want company?”
    “Did you hear me send Paige home?”
    “I did. Do you want company?” he repeated.
    She did. Badly. Working alone at home was one thing. After hours, in her space behind her office, she became uneasy. The building’s security helped, but her past was what it was, which was a darkness-filled abyss where doubts about safety flourished.
    Yeah. She liked the idea of company. Especially Kyle’s company. She couldn’t make herself ask in a way that may make him feel obligated. “I’ll be several hours.”
    He leaned forward and smiled. “I’m going. We should make a stop before we go.”
    “A stop?”
    “I’ll be quick.” His tone suggested mischief, but she would handle it if it meant not being alone. She’d gotten good at being alone over the years, or gotten used to it. Still, the hours away from Kyle, after a quiet night with him, had reminded her what kind of company, relationship, she craved. The kind of relationship her parents had shared.
    The stop turned out to be Kyle’s home less than five minutes from hers. She’d barely been alone long enough to look around his nicely decorated, open-concept living room and kitchen before he returned with what looked suspiciously like an overnight bag.
    Choosing steadier ground than asking about his plans for the night, she waved a hand. “This strikes me as a little formal for you. And entirely impersonal.”
    “You might call me a transient resident.”
    “Why?”
    “For the benefit of low rent, I move into a house realtors expect to be on the market for awhile. I make it look more like a home than an empty house. When it sells I move again.”
    “And this is your idea of what a home looks like?”
    “According to the store I bought the furniture from. He rested his hand on her back and led her to the door. His touch sent