Read Online From Boss to Bridegroom by Karen Kirst - Free Book Online Page A

boss’s assessing glances.
    â€œIt’s late, Quinn. I’m exhausted and hungry.”
I need time to recover before doing it all again tomorrow morning. No telling what my enemy has planned for me.
    â€œThis won’t take but a minute.” He leaned against the door frame, hands in his pockets and ankles crossed.
    â€œIf this is about the dishes, I—”
    â€œNo.” His expression turned thoughtful. “I detected something...off between you and Kenneth. Do you two have a history? Because if you’re uncomfortable working with him, I can send him on his way in the morning.”
    â€œIf you’re asking if we’ve ever courted, the answer is no,” she spluttered. “Absolutely not.”
    â€œThen what’s the problem?”
    Here was her chance to explain everything. To absolve herself and be rid of Kenneth and his buddies. But she was, above all, a private person. Exposing her problems to her boss didn’t hold an ounce of appeal.
    â€œNo problem.” Pushing an errant curl behind her ear, she rubbed a sore spot in her lower back. “If there are no more questions, I really do have to go.”
    Quinn didn’t appear convinced. Still, he moved sideways to let her pass. As she was edging through the doorway and he was centimeters away, he said softly, “Good night, Duchess.”
    Nicole stiffened at the brush of his minty breath across her cheek.
    She didn’t like nicknames on principle. Caleb did it to tease her—good-natured, brotherly ribbing that nevertheless irked her. Kenneth’s intent was to demean her. What was Quinn Darling’s motive? And why did a little thrill zip up her spine?
    Risking a glance at this close range, she didn’t detect a trace of cruelty in those light brown eyes, merely lazy curiosity.
    She was an enigma to him, was she? Well, he was wasting his time trying to figure her out. She wasn’t about to divulge her secrets to the likes of him.
    * * *
    The locals weren’t adjusting to Quinn’s implemented changes as quickly as he’d hoped. Ever since they’d reopened three days ago, the customers had doggedly avoided him. Some went so far as to denounce his decisions to his face, unsatisfied with his explanations.
    No amount of pleasantness or willingness to help had put a dent in their wariness.
    Leaning against the shelving unit, he eyed the five-deep line of customers waiting for Nicole’s assistance.
    He caught the familiar elderly lady’s eye and thanked the Lord he had a memory for names. His smile didn’t come as easily as it had that morning. “I can help you over here, Mrs. Kirkpatrick.”
    Crinkling her nose, she shook her head, gaze skittering away.
    The rejection stung. He, Quinn Darling, heir to the Darling fortune and a man whose very presence deemed a social gathering a success, could not convince the lady to let him wait on her. Weariness pressed behind his forehead, turning the slight headache he’d nursed since Nicole whopped him with that pot into a full-blown hammering against his skull.
    He pinched the bridge of his nose. Shoving off the counter, he strode to his assistant’s side. “I’ll fill orders for you. What have you got?”
    Her face a polite mask, Nicole’s pencil hovered above the ledger and pointed at the row of red metal spice bins on the bottom shelf. “I need one ounce of cinnamon, four ounces of cream of tartar and one container of vanilla extract.”
    â€œThrow in a pack of chewing gum,” the needle-thin man on the opposite side of the counter added.
    â€œComing right up, sir.”
    Grinding his teeth, Quinn quickly gathered the items. Up until this moment, he hadn’t considered himself a proud man too good for lowly work. He hadn’t started out at the top. Edward Darling had thought it important his son experience all facets of the industry. He’d done everything from sweeping factory