Standing By: A Knight's Tale #2 by Claudia Y. Burgoa Read Free Book Online Page B

respond to the date comment, she simply takes a single cupcake box, assembles it, puts on a disposable glove and takes the cupcake from the showcase before placing it inside the box. She does her signature show of wrapping it with the ribbon and hands it to him.
    “Four, thirty-two is your total,” the guy hands her a bill.
    “So, no date?”
    “No, sorry. I’m usually sleeping by seven o’clock at night.” She hands him the change. “Hope to see you soon.”
    “ Hope to see you soon ” and “ Come and visit us again ” are her customary phrases when she finishes a transaction, yet the guy beams with that phrase, waves at her and leaves. I decide to stay in the kitchen and wait for her.
    “That’s a lame way to shut him down.” I say as Hayley comes back and grabs her salad. “ I go to bed at seven .”
    “I actually do.” She gives me a side-glance before taking another bite of her salad. “I go to bed at seven and wake up a little before three. Baker’s hours.”
    “At what time do you have fun?”
    “Uhmmm,” she takes more salad, chews, glares and those ghostly green eyes narrow. “Are you about to make fun of me?”
    “No.” I put my hands up in surrender. “Why would I, my dear Strawberry Shortcake? We have a peace treaty.”
    “Look, Strawberry Shortcake is a redhead that wears pink dresses with green and white stockings or maybe they’re tights. Either way, my hair isn’t auburn; obviously I’m not dressed like her, concluding the nickname makes no sense.”
    “Do your homework, child, there’s a reason why I call you that. However, I should change it for something more fitting. I’ll research. Now let’s talk about this lame life you have going on. I can’t help but worry about your wellbeing. First, is going to bed at seven at night, then the lack of interaction with humans before six in the morning. I need to fix this before you turn into a bitter old woman. A few days with my charming personality should rub in.”
    She scrunches her nose, sets her bowl on top of the stainless steel counter and walks to the back door. Hayley opens it and then glares back at me.
    “Out, the treaty is over.”
    “What did I do?” I give her my best innocent voice.
    “Spending just a few hours with you, I forgot how arrogant you are. Out.”
    “But we have to go through the books and set up a plan. Then go out, of course, I won’t make you go out if you’re scared of the big bad city. I thought you might enjoy a stroll around Central Park. We can do all those things the tourists do when they come to New York. We’ll call it—”
    “I don’t like you,” she walks to where I’m standing and touches my chest with her tiny index finger. “The only reason I’m trying to give this deal with Willows and you a go is because I need to save my dream—make this bakery a successful business, on top of proving my family wrong. They all think my store is going to lose its momentum soon and I need to buy myself a bit of time while I set up a new five-year plan. That doesn’t mean I have to deal with you and your attitude that drives me crazy.”
    “I’m good at planning.” I found the loophole and I’m taking advantage of it. Mitch 2, Muffet 0. “You’ve seen my sushi restaurants around the city. I’ve already opened a few in New Jersey, Brooklyn and there are four more under construction around the East Coast. Trust me, we can put this baby on the map; surely that will show your Dad and everyone that doesn’t believe in you that you know what you’re doing. Plus save your dream, assuming the bakery is that dream.”
    “I like that,” she says, taking her finger away from my chest. “Keep talking.”
    “You let me help you, in exchange for letting me take you out after you close the shop.”
    “What’s the catch, Mr. Knight?”
    “Catch?”
    “Yeah, the ulterior motive. What would you gain from me going out with you?”
    “I don’t know, Hayley.”
    I spike my hair with both