Read Online Licorice Whips by Bridget Midway - Free Book Online Page A

did she grab his interest? If she did, why did she care?
    “You really don’t have to stand out here with me.” Nikla kept marching back and forth in front of him.
    “No, I really do. I told you I would do whatever I could to protect this place.”
    “I’m not going to burn it down.” She turned her back on him and strolled away, hoping for a distraction.
    “I don’t know you so I don’t know that. But I did do a little research on you.”
    Nikla froze in her spot. With her back still to him, she asked, “You did? What did you find?”
    When Sweet didn’t answer right away, she turned to him.
    Sweet’s stoic expression made the man hard to read. Nikla liked the mystery.
    “You don’t have much of a web presence.” Sweet finished off the water, then crossed his arms over his chest. “You aren’t on any social media sites. You don’t have a website, blog, or vlog. For someone so passionate about your stance, it surprises me that you don’t have a petition site.”
    Nikla shied away from putting herself out on the web for several reasons, one mainly because of her father. Since Sweet didn’t mention her association with Lawrence, she assumed he didn’t know about her father.
    “Maybe you weren’t looking in the right places.” Nikla tried to keep up the mystery but felt Sweet could see right through her.
    “Unless you are hiding a side of yourself, I like that you aren’t caught up in letting the world know what you ate for breakfast.”
    Nikla paused before she let out a laugh. “There’s something about me that you like? I’m shocked.”
    “You’re still a pain, but you’re an interesting puzzle to figure out.” Sweet started to move toward her.
    Nikla started her pacing again.
    “How long have you been doing this? I get the impression that you’ve been at this for a while.”
    “Just a few weeks.”
    “How is it that I’ve never seen you before?”
    “I don’t know.” She brought her gaze up to meet his. “Maybe I never captured your interest.”
    When he didn’t speak, she thought he would burst into laughter soon. His heavy-lidded gaze told her that he didn’t find anything she said funny.
    “So why do you want to have your own business?” he asked.
    “Why do you care? I’m just some woman with too much time on her hands and a small dog, right?” Just to make the statement boiled her blood again.
    “I was so wrong about that assessment about you.” He put his hand to his chest in a show of sincerity.
    Just before Nikla started to thank him for his subtle apology, he continued with his speech.
    “It’s obvious you couldn’t care for another living thing.”
    With it being so soon after her breakup with Justin, the comment hurt more than she thought it would. Nikla felt her heart starting to pound. Even in the mild seventies temperature, sweat started to erupt on her forehead.
    Keep it together. Breathe. Breathe. 
    “I’ve met some pretty hard women, but you have to be the coldest.” Sweet rubbed his hand across the back of his neck. “What person, man or woman, would picket a candy store?”
    When she glanced at Sweet, on the surface, she could tell he’d said the truth. Behind his eyes, he looked like he kept a secret hidden. Looked like they both kept secrets close to their vests.
    “I’m passionate about a lot of things.” Nikla balled her hands into fists. “Did you ever think that women were cold around you because you make them that way?”
    For that question, he answered her with a single flex in his jaw. Nikla must have struck a nerve.
    Nikla didn’t know what type of women Sweet dealt with in his life. She wouldn’t be some cowering woman willing to roll over for him even though her nerves started to betray her.
    She took in a deep breath, held it hoping it would sustain her, then released it. Why was her heart still racing?
    “Tell me about the boyfriend,” he stated as he strolled next to her.
    Nikla couldn’t speak. Her throat felt constricted,