Read Online A Valentine's Wish by Betsy St. Amant - Free Book Online

here?” Lori pressed one hand to the heart threatening to burst through her thin purple sweater.
    “I work here.” Summer arched a pierced eyebrow. “Remember?”
    “I meant after hours. Do you have a key?”
    “The kitchen door was unlocked.”
    Lori briefly closed her eyes. Monny must have forgotten to lock it after he left for the night. No wonder—he probably ran out as fast as he could. And to think she started the conversation with the intention of rejecting him .
    “I left my iPod.” Summer moved to the counter beside Lori and picked up the shiny silver player from under the register. “Besides, the better question is, why are you sitting here in the dark?” She did a double take at Lori’s tearstained face. “Are you okay?”
    “I’m fine.” Lori wiped her eyes and winced at the mascara darkening her fingertips. Great. She probably looked as silly as she felt.
    “Right—and I’m the next Rachael Ray.” Summer rolled her eyes. “Listen, if you don’t want to talk, whatever. But don’t lie.” She waited a beat. “I’m really tired of liars.”
    “Me, too.” Lori sighed. Maybe she and Summer had more in common than Lori first thought, despite the silver stud in the younger girl’s nose and the butterfly tattoo adorning her wrist. Hadn’t the youth group at the church taught her that much? Besides, at this point Lori had nothing to lose. Maybe telling Summer about her embarrassment would lift the burden a little. “I just made a huge mistake.”
    “Who hasn’t?” Summer shrugged and leaned against the counter, bracing her elbows against the top.
    “A really embarrassing mistake.”
    “Again, who hasn’t?” Summer slipped her iPod into the pocket of her jeans. “You’re starting to bore me, Boss.” She winked, lightening the harsh words, and suddenly Lori couldn’t wait to pour out her story.
    When she finished, Summer nodded slowly. “You were right.”
    “About what?” Lori frowned.
    “That was a really huge, really embarrassing mistake.”
    Lori laughed despite the fact that nothing had changed. “Told you.” Amazing how much better she felt wallowing with someone instead of alone.
    “Here.” Summer stretched over and hit a few keys on the register. The drawer popped open, and she removed the key to the glass display at their knees. “You need chocolate.”
    “I can’t—I mean, that’s not ours to take,” Lori protested in vain as Summer slid open the case and plucked two cherry bonbons from a lace doily.
    “Take it out of my paycheck, Boss, if it’s that big a deal.” Summer closed the door, handed Lori the dessert and laid the key back on the register.
    Lori stared at the piece in her hand, made a mental note to pay for it the next day and popped the chocolate into her mouth. She chewed slowly, closing her eyes and letting the flavors dissolve on her tongue. “Wow, that’s good.”
    “You hadn’t had one yet?”
    Lori shook her head, mouth full of cherry crème.
    Summer made a tsk noise. “They’re Monny’s specialty.”
    The candy dried in her mouth, and Lori had to force herself to swallow. “Great.”
    “The man can cook. Might be a lousy coworker, leading you on the way he did, but he can cook.”
    “You really think he led me on? I didn’t imagine all that?” Hope tottered at the edges of Lori’s heart. Maybe she hadn’t been desperate after all—maybe she’d been deceived instead of stupid.
    Summer tilted her head to one side and bit into the second half of her bonbon. “Not all of it.”
    “But some.”
    “Yes, some.”
    They chewed in silence.
    “I don’t understand. He flirted with me.” Lori shifted on her stool, feeling even more ridiculous for discussing her love life with a college-aged stranger. Somehow, though, Summer seemed like the last person who’d pass judgment. “You noticed it, right?”
    “Sure I did. But did you not notice him calling most of the women customers ‘my dear’ and flashing that Italian smile all