Read Online Dimitri by Roxie Rivera - Free Book Online Page A

to
go—Yuri.

Chapter
Five
     
    "Benny, Lena is here."
    I finished swirling bright white frosting on a
chocolate cupcake and glanced up at Celia. "Tell her I'll be right
there."
    She nodded and left but not before
shooting a silly smile my way. I fought the urge to roll my eyes.
All morning, I'd been getting strange looks. Just as I'd predicted,
Adam had shared his gossipy discovery with Lupe who then told Celia
who told everyone .
    It annoyed the crap out of me that I couldn't
even have one day to enjoy my secret all by myself. I also couldn't
shake the worry that things between us wouldn't work out and then
what? I'd have the entire bakery in my business when Dimitri dumped
me? The very thought made my stomach churn.
    I finished frosting the tray of cupcakes and
slid them down the line to be spattered with sprinkles. After
tossing my gloves, I untied my apron and hung it on an empty peg. I
caught Marco's attention with a little wave and let him know I was
leaving the kitchen for a short while.
    Out in the bakery, I spotted Lena at one of the
tables closest to the door. She looked out of place in the
laid-back atmosphere of the small café. With that bold, deep blue
dress and nude peep-toe pumps, Lena embodied the image of a career
woman on her way to a power lunch. She'd pulled her sleek black
hair up and wore simple earrings. I sort of envied her polished
look and upwardly mobile career path.
    I marveled at the way my friend had changed
since we'd known each other in college a few years back. Lena's
drive to be successful, to make something of herself and rise above
her impoverished beginnings in one of Houston's harshest
neighborhoods hadn't lessened any. She'd blossomed with confidence
and had proven herself more than capable at her job.
    That blog of hers that chronicled the highs and
lows of the Houston social scene had grown from a silly little
pastime our freshman year to an internet hotspot that allowed her
to earn advertising revenue and build her own personal brand. A
social media maven, she'd recently branched into charging for
tweets broadcast to her thousands of followers. She was careful to
highlight only places she actually endorsed or enjoyed to maintain
the authenticity of her nightlife stamp of approval.
    But with that pretty face and knockout figure,
Lena had to work twice as hard to get people to take her seriously.
Graduating with honors and a degree in only three short years had
been a good start. Snagging a job at the top Houston PR firm had
been even better.
    "Hey!" Smiling, I slid into the seat across
from her. "How are you today?"
    "Great." Lena cocked her head and studied me.
"Something's different about you. Did you cut your
hair?"
    I shook my head and self-consciously touched
the tip of the braid dangling over my shoulder. "No."
    "Hmm," Lena murmured and continued
to stare at me. "You just…you look different ."
    I swallowed nervously and shrugged.
"Okay."
    She narrowed her dark eyes. "You know I'm not
going to let this go, right?"
    With a little sigh, I glanced around to make
sure no one would overhear us. Leaning forward, I confessed, "I
sort of spent the night with Dimitri."
    "What?" Her hands flew to the table and she
moved closer. With a scandalized expression, she asked, "Why am I
just hearing about this now? You should have texted me this
morning!"
    "And said what?"
    "Oh, I don't know. Maybe you could have spilled
all the incredibly dirty details of your sexy night with the blond
Adonis?" A bit conspiratorial, she asked in a hushed whisper, "How
was it? Like so hot you almost set the bed on fire? How big is his
you-know-what?" She glanced down at her lap. "Huge,
right?"
    "Oh God." I couldn't stop laughing as I buried
my red face in my hands. "I'm really not going into specifics
here."
    "Then come over tonight," she said. "We'll get
Vivi to cook for us and have Erin bring over a few bottles of
obscenely expensive wine from Ivan's cellar. You can regale us with
all the delicious little