Knead: Contemporary Romance (Creamy's Bakery Book 1) by Aspen Drake Read Free Book Online Page B

just a few months old. The bruise on my shin is now a yellowish green, but it has kept me out of shorts all week, which just pisses me off even more. I hate long pants. Long skirts are fine, but I feel like too much of a flower child in this granola town I live in if I wear them every day.
    ~**~
    A slammed Suburban has driven by the house a few times, and I know it’s got to be one of JR’s boys. I’m tempted to call the cops and report the suspicious activity, but I know that’ll just piss him off even more. Now that JR has my address, I have to either move or play nice. Moving is a very real possibility but not one I want to consider today.
    Today, I just want to forget what’s happening with JR and have some fun.
    “Who wants to go to the beach?”
    “This girl does.” Isla points both thumbs at her chest.
    I laugh out loud at the gesture. One of the teachers at her school said that when I asked if anyone wanted donuts last week. Isla has been saying it ever since. So far, it hasn’t gotten old.
    “Alright, girly. Go change and grab the boogie board. Let’s see if we can find some waves.”

 
     
     
     
    Chapter Eleven
    Mason
     
    “Hey, Aaron. How’s it going out here? Need any help?”
    “I'm good, Mase. It's been kind of busy but it’s not too bad right at the moment.”
    The floor of the main dining room of Creamy’s has a handful of people at tables with laptops or newspapers. And a few more are in line.
    Aaron is helping a businesswoman with two dozen sticks for a meeting she seems nervous about, so I wave to the two guys standing in line behind her. “Hey, guys. Can I help you?”
    Their eyes light up as they approach. “Definitely. We’d like two regulars and two chocolate sticks, please.”
    The shorter man bounces on his toes and leans in to drop a soft kiss on the cheek of the taller man. “Thanks, babe. I didn't know which to choose.” He leans his head on the tall guy’s shoulder for just a second, but a gasp from the woman behind him makes all of us turn toward her. She's glaring at the two men.
    “I expect this in San Francisco, but really, this is an upstanding community with classier people than you folks. I have a child in the room.”
    I’m not really sure what's going on until she physically turns her daughter's face into her wide belly and says, “Don't look.”
    Both men turn to me with confused expressions, so I peek around them. “Is everything okay, ma’am?”
    She shuffles away from the couple. “No, it's not okay. I'm trying to get a treat for myself and my daughter and these men are being completely vulgar. Just because they are comfortable being an abomination of the Lord does not mean it's okay for them to scare my daughter and put evil images in her mind. I think you should ask them to leave your store.”
    I feel Aaron’s body tense beside me as he freezes in the middle of boxing up his customer’s order. It takes a minute for me to realize what she means and for my response to form.
    “I'm sorry if anything that we've done makes you uncomfortable, but I can’t accept that kind of hate in my shop. I'm gonna have to ask you to leave.”
    Her smug smile at getting the guys kicked out turns down when she realizes she’s the being asked to leave.
    “Me? You're kicking me out? I am an upstanding citizen of this country, and I have the right to be in here without watching pornography.”
    The younger man looks like he's gonna cry as he steps away from his lover and clasps his hands together in front of him.
    “Zack, it's okay, baby.” The older man pulls his boyfriend into his arms and holds him, rubbing his back while speaking quietly into his ear.
    The woman's face turns red as she points her thick finger in their direction. “They're still doing it. I’ll call the police for indecent displays in a public place if you don’t do something. Where is the owner?”
    I step out from behind the counter and slide between her and the couple. “Ma’am, please.