As happy as I was for him, I wouldn’t deny a little envy on my part. Had things gone differently for me, I’d be in Chicago with my own woman and family. Unfortunately for me, she’d opted not to wait until I got out of the military.
“He’s gained three more pounds,” Jude said.
April grinned at him and then me. “He’s so proud of that.”
“Of course. Proud papa. How’s Maya handling all this? Still the dutiful big sister?” I asked about their eight-year-old daughter.
“She’s doing great,” Jude said.
I was sure Maya could rob a bank and Jude would still think the sun rose and set by her.
“She’s had a few hard moments, but overall, she’s really great,” April said. “How are things here? Keeping organized?”
April had started as our administrative assistant. She was highly organized but also, she had a degree in business and accounting, and so her skills went beyond filing. She was also observant so she often was the one to review surveillance tapes when it was part of our investigation. She wasn’t our employee anymore though. Not since she used part of her trust fund to invest in our security business, which helped us grow immensely over the last year. Now we were all partners.
“Dina does her best,” I said of the admin we hired when April left on maternity leave. We’d decided we’d keep her on when April returned, and that April would do the bookkeeping and other work more suited to her education, but that would allow her the flexibility to work from home if needed.
“I’m sure she’s great.” April reached over to take the baby from Jude. “You’re going to come to the Halloween party we’re throwing, aren’t you?”
Inwardly I groaned. “I’ll probably have work to do.” I wasn’t ever a party person, even during my teenage years. I especially wasn’t one that wore a costume.
“Now, now, Cyrus, we’ll have clients and potential clients there. You have to come do your part to woo them,” she said.
“Do you woo?” Jude asked, his face looked serious, but I knew he was poking at me.
“Jude, be nice.” April admonished him.
“No really. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with a woman since we’ve been here. Granted, I’ve been preoccupied, but still. Office gossip hasn’t had any word of you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Someone needs to keep this place afloat.”
“We just want to make sure you’re happy here,” April explained. “We can’t afford to lose you. We worry you work too much.”
“The only time you leave this place is for your coffee-cupcake break and to go home to go to bed,” Jude said.
I arched a brow.
He grinned. “So says the office gossip mill.”
He wasn’t wrong. What he didn’t know was the coffee-cupcake break was the highlight of my day. It could be freeze-my-dick-off cold outside, as it got in the winter in South Dakota, and Petal, the owner of the cupcake shop could light up the world and fill it with warmth with her smile. Not that I’d tell Jude or April that, partly because it seemed like a pansy ass thing for a man like me to admit to, but also, Petal was their good friend. As much as they wanted me to be happy and apparently get laid, they wouldn’t want me to do it with Petal.
“Come on, Cy. It will be fun. There will be single women there too. Or just drink the beer.”
“Can I put Mentos in the soda bottle with Maya? That was fun.” It had been one of Maya’s cool experiments she showed me this summer.
“Maya will be with August,” Jude said, his voice a little tighter. He and August had once been best friends, but apparently, August still wasn’t quite over Jude sleeping with his sister, April. And Jude hadn’t quite forgiven August for keeping him from April and Maya.
“You’re coming. That’s that,” April said. “If you like cupcakes, they’ll be some there too. Petal said she’d make some.”
Well, if Petal would be there, maybe I could manage to go. “Yeah, sure.”
“Oh good.” April smiled sweetly. “Now, I need to get home. I’m exhausted. Little Bertie is still waking up twice a night.”
“I’ll get you home. It’s okay if I take off the rest of the day?” Jude wasn’t asking for permission as much as he was making sure there wasn’t something pressing that needed his attention.
“I’ve got it all covered here,” I assured Jude.
When they left, I sat in my chair and finished going through and assigning the intakes. We’d taken on another of one of our SEAL brothers nearly a year ago, and had an intern working with us this year. When I completed the intakes, I checked my watch. It was coffee-cupcake time.
For a minute, I wondered if maybe I shouldn’t be so regular in my daily visit to Petal’s shop. Not if the staff was talking about it. But this was the time of day I needed a blast of sunshine. So, I stood, put on my coat to guard against the October chill, and headed out.
“See ya in thirty,” Dina said, knowing where I was going.
“Yep.” I walked out of the office and turned up the street toward the shop. I wondered if maybe Jude and April were right. Maybe I needed to get out more. Date a little bit. It had been a long time since I’d been with a woman. Part of that was because it had taken me awhile to adjust to the fact that Lora wasn’t going to be waiting for me when I got home from my last tour. She’d sent me a “Dear John” letter saying she’d met someone else, and included the ring I’d given her just as I’d left for the tour when I’d asked her to marry me.
I was hurt for sure, but also, left in limbo. I certainly didn’t want to go home and see her with someone else. I hocked the ring and along with my savings, decided to come to Bismarck, North Dakota to start a security firm with my Navy SEAL buddy, Jude Mason. For the last year, I’d been focused on ensuring the business succeeded because I didn’t have a plan B beyond moving home. I was sure my mother would have me, but I couldn’t bear the idea of having to fall back on my mother to live.
I took my tie off and shoved it in my pocket as I made my way toward Petal’s. I’d dodged a bullet, I realized, by not marrying Lora. Afterall, it appeared she hadn’t been faithful to me while I was gone. She insisted nothing had happened between her and the other man. Instead, she said she realized she had feelings for him, and felt it was unfair to lead me on. I suppose it didn’t matter what was true. The end result was that she didn’t love me enough to wait.
My pace sped up as I walked the last ten yards to Petal’s, and I had to concede that perhaps I wasn’t the committed type either. I mean, if I was married to Lora, would I have this compelling daily need to see Petal? Would I be fantasizing about Petal in her pretty pink apron and nothing else while making love to Lora? Because for the last year, Petal had been staring in my erotic dreams and shower fantasy jerk off.
I shook my head so I didn’t look like a horny asshole as I opened the door to her shop. She’s your friend, I chanted to myself over and over. I wondered if there was something wrong with me the way I was fixated on her.
I’d met her last year when Jude and April were planning their wedding. At first, we were friendly, which wasn’t to say I didn’t notice her fantastic curves or lovely smile, because I did. But at the beginning, we’d developed a friendship. I was the best man. She was the maid of honor. She was April’s best friend and I was Jude’s best friend. So it made sense we’d become friends too. But within a few weeks of meeting her and spending time around her, I realized my daily trips for a coffee and cupcake weren’t really because I needed coffee and cupcakes. I wanted to see Petal.
That causes all sorts of issues for me because she was Jude and April’s friend. I wasn’t sure how’d they feel about me and Petal, but I knew if it didn’t work out between us, they’d side with Petal and I’d be the odd man out.
Plus, at the time, I wasn’t sure Petal was even interested in me beyond being my friend. About eight months ago, I tested the waters with Petal to see if she might be open to being more than friends, but she’d put me squarely in the friendzon
e.
She asked me to reach up to get a bag of flour off a shelf. I trapped her body between me and the counter as I did, watching to see her reaction. Would her breath hitch? Would her cheeks turn rosy red from my nearness?
“I love having a big bad ass friend like you around, Cyrus,” she said, taking the flour and then hurrying off to mix up a batch of cupcakes.
Friend.
So, I accepted her friendship knowing it was probably the right relationship to have with her.
I opened the door to her shop and stepped in. She looked up behind her counter and smiled radiantly, her dimples fully bared. Everything inside me went warm, including my dick.
She’s your friend.
2
Petal
He’s right on time. Cyrus entered my shop like he did every weekday. And like every weekday, he made my insides flutter just to look at him. It wasn’t everyday a romance alpha male come to life walked into my store. Well, now it was everyday because of Cyrus. Today’s suit was charcoal with a light blue shirt. It was unbuttoned and he had no tie on, so I could see the hint of crisp dark hair on his chest. He was a businessman now, but there was no looking at him and not seeing the lethal soldier he’d once been. He was tall, with broad shoulders. His eyes were dark and observant.
He smiled at me, and because he was usually a dark, broody type, when he smiled it was like a gift. “Hello Petal.”
His voice flowed over me like cream. Velvety soft and smooth. It made my insides quiver to hear him say my name. I had dreams of dousing him in icing and licking it off him while he said my name over and over. Just thinking about it now made my nipples hard. Thank goodness I had my apron on.
“Hello Cyrus. The usual?”
“Of course.”
Since I knew he was coming, I was sure to have the double shot of espresso ready to go, and thanked the heavens I’d thought to buy the expensive coffee machine. Just having Cyrus come into my shop everyday made going into debt worth it. I got the coffee brewing and then went to my display case and pulled out a chocolate peanut butter cupcake. I always made sure I had one for him even if it meant telling other customers I was out.
I set the cupcake on a pretty lime colored plate with a white doily. Then I steamed the milk for his double cappuccino.
“How’re things at the office?” I asked as I handed him his cupcake and drink.
“Jude and April came in with the baby,” he said, taking his items to his usual table. I grabbed my water, grateful that no one else was in the shop so I could join him. Good thing he wasn’t there all day or I’d go out of business with all this not wanting customers there when he was.
“Oh, little Bertie.” He was as sweet as any cupcake. “Was he delicious looking as usual?”
Cyrus’ lips twitched upwards. I think he found me amusing. “He was cute. Healthy. Jude said he’d gained three pounds.”
“Jude or Bertie?”
He snickered and had to cover his mouth with his napkin. “I believe he was talking about the baby. But he is looking a little pudgy around the middle, now that you mention it.”
Jude was like Cyrus. Built from bricks. But I went with the joke. “That would never happen to you.”
He sat up straight and puffed out his chest. Immediately, my mouth went dry as I thought about running my tongue over the hard lines of his pecs visible even through his shirt. He thumped his chest. “Like steel.”
I managed a smile as I wondered about another part of him that could be like steel. Seriously, I was going deliriously mad with erotic lust around him.
“If you eat too many cupcakes, it could be a problem,” I said.
He shook his head with confidence. “I run an extra two miles just so I can have one every day.”
I didn’t doubt it. “So, Jude and April looked good?” I knew they did. April and Jude had stopped by to pick up a cupcake for Maya on their way to pick her up from school. But I liked having Cyrus visit so I’d let him tell me about his time with them.
“They did. Happy.”
I sighed. “Yes. True love won out in the end.”
He sipped his coffee and studied me over the brim. “You believe in true love?” he asked as he set his coffee down.
“Sure. They’re proof of it.”
“How about you?”
Cyrus and I talked some in the past about our non-existent love lives. I knew he had a woman in the past who sent him a “Dear John” letter. As far as I was concerned, she had to be the dumbest woman in the world. I mean, who’d give up a sweet, strong, loyal, and sexy beyond belief man like Cyrus?
He knew that I hadn’t a lot of time for love since starting my business. I was up at the crack of dawn making cupcakes, serving them all day, making a few more before heading to bed, and then doing it all over again the next day. The closest thing I had to a social life was the time I’d spent hanging out with April and Maya before Jude had come back into their lives.
“My big love right now is my business,” I said. It wasn’t a lie. I loved owning my shop. But I couldn’t deny that having a man in my life would be nice. I envied April and how Jude doted on her. “How about you?”
He shook his head with a small laugh. “With Jude out, I’ve been married to the job too.”
“But now he’s back. Surely you have time to find a good woman.” I’d want to scratch her eyes out from jealousy. A part of me wished he and I could explore this crazy lust I had for him. I’d even tried to find out if he’d be interested in me. Once when I was in the kitchen, he helped me out by getting a bag of flour from a tall shelf. I’d purposefully stayed put so he’d have to brush against me. I think I might have orgasmed right then as his hard body pushed against me. I was sure he could tell, and I was so embarrassed, I quickly scurried away to make my cupcakes.
He shrugged at my comment about his having more time with Jude back at work.
“How about the Halloween party. Are you going to that? I’m sure there will be plenty of women you can meet there.” There was seriously something wrong with me that I was suggesting he find another woman.
He was shaking his head before I finished.
“You’re not going?” I asked.
“Oh, I’m going. I couldn’t get out of it. But I’m not going to pick up a woman or bring a date.”
“You sound like that would be such a hardship.” I joked.
“I’m just not built like that I guess.”
“If you brought someone, then no one would try to play matchmaker.”
He smirked. “That would require me bringing someone and since I don’t have anyone to bring, that doesn’t help.”
I laughed. “Poor Cyrus.”
“You have no idea.” His lips smiled as he joked with me. “Are you going? Who are you bringing?”
I let out a groan. “You’re not the only one trying to hide from the matchmaker. Jude and April were telling me about all the eligible bachelors.”
Cyrus’ eyes went hard for a second, and then he took a bite of his cupcake.
“What is it about people getting married that they try to get everyone else together?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Don’t know.”
I sighed. “I suppose they just want us to be happy.” I wondered why Jude and April didn’t mention that Cyrus would be there when they listed the eligible bachelors coming to their party. I didn’t ask if he was coming because I didn’t want to give away my interest in him. It could put them in a weird position if they knew I liked him but he didn’t like me.
“I’m happy. Enough,” he said.
I studied him. “Enough?”
He shrugged.
“You don’t want more? Incandescent happiness.”
He let out a loud laugh. I always felt like I won the lottery when he laughed at something I said, even if I didn’t mean it to be funny. He was always so serious, so seeing him laugh, seeing those dark eyes light up, was like a gift.
“I love your attitude, Petal. You’re like sunshin
e.”
My insides went all warm, but not from the lust that he usually sent coursing through me. No, this was because of something sweet he said.
I had a thought and wondered if I dared express it. “You know, Cyrus. Since we’re both dating adverse, maybe we could go together. Then there wouldn’t be any awkward introductions for us as they tried to hook us up with others.”
His brows lifted in intrigue. “I like how you think.” He leaned forward and took my hand. Electricity shivered over my skin. I’m sure my hairs were standing up.
“Petal, will you be my date to the Halloween party?”
The fairy tale princess inside of me heard, Petal, will you spend your life with me, because I was just that sort of crazy romantic. But I was able to overwrite the happily ever after scenario and focus on the agreement that we’d be each other’s plus one to avoid being set up by Jude and April.
“Why Cyrus, it would be my pleasure.”
He grinned, and it gave him a boyish aura that I didn’t see in him often. Mostly he looked like he could kill someone with his pinky. But now, with his grin, he looked sweet and soft, and kissable.
The bell over my door chimed and I cursed whoever was walking in to burst my bubble with Cyrus. It was a couple of women that came in several times a week. I had to be good to my regulars.
I stood. “You’ll give me the details?”
He nodded. “Let’s just say I’ll pick you up at seven. Sound good?”
“Sounds perfect.” I went to the counter to help the women, but my eyes were never long off Cyrus as he drank his coffee, ate his cupcake, and checked his phone. When he finished his food, I was helping another group of customers that came in.
He stood to leave, waving at me. I nodded my acknowledgement and then he left. I finished serving the customers and did some quick tidying up around the shop, sighing at another afternoon spent with Cyrus. I was going to go on a date with him. Sort of. I grinned at the idea of it even as I knew it was silly to feel like a schoolgirl. Even if Cyrus and I never became anything more than friends, I was okay with that. I really liked him as a person. I loved how he supported Jude and April when their lives seemed to be going up in smoke. I love how he was here everyday supporting my shop. Yes, if all I ever had of Cyrus was his friendship, I’d still be a very fortunate woman. But, a woman could hope to discover the wild heat that lived just under the surface with him.
Friends to Lovers: A Secret Pregnancy Romance (Heart of Hope Book 6) Page 2