Okay, rambling rambler, zip it. I rolled my lips between my teeth and waited while he tried to smother a smile.
But in his eyes, I saw his answer because they were disappointed. There was regret there. If I thought my cheeks were hot before, that was nothing compared to how they felt now.
"I wish I could," he said gently.
"Right. There's probably some client/therapist rule you can't break. Next thing you know, you'd be burning the ramp at my request, and I'm sure they can't have that happen."
OMG shut up, Joss, I thought furiously.
"There's no rule set in stone about that," Andrew said, smiling again. I hope that wasn't supposed to make me feel better, because knowing there wasn't a rule meant that it was me. It was all me. I trained my eyes on my lap and fought valiantly against the tidal wave of embarrassment. But he kept talking. "Honestly, if you'd asked me that day when I first met you in the bakery, I would've said yes in a heartbeat."
My eyes lifted. "You would've?"
"Yeah." He shrugged one shoulder. "I don't buy cupcakes for just everyone, you know."
I nodded slowly. "But …"
Andrew breathed out heavily. "I did set aside what I thought about you when I found out you were my client because even though there's no rule, I do think it makes things trickier once you cross that line. And this is a new job for me."
I waved a hand at him. "Yeah, no worries. I totally get it."
"That's not why I'm saying no, though," he interjected.
"It was my crawling technique last week, wasn't it?"
Andrew chuckled. "No. I, umm, I started dating someone recently. And I like her. I think she'd have a hard time understanding why I'm going to a wedding with a funny, beautiful woman when I just asked her to be my girlfriend."
"Oh," I whispered. My face was hot now for a different reason. Fiery inferno hot. It was amazing how you could be a fairly confident person, live a life like I did, being the center of attention for something out of my control, and get ridiculously flustered when someone told you that you were a funny, beautiful woman. "I'm glad you're saying no," I told him.
"You are?"
I nodded. "Because that means you're a good guy. I'd hate to realize that my asshole radar was broken."
He was still laughing as he stood. "Any man you go with will be lucky, Joss. I hope you ask someone else."
"Ha. My list of options is pretty epically long."
Andrew adopted a mock-hurt expression. "So I'm not special? Ouch."
"I'll tell you anything you want to hear as long as I don't have to do the same thing as last week."
He nudged my shoulder as he headed back by the equipment. "Come on. We'll see how far your flattery gets you."
Before I turned my chair and followed him, I closed my eyes and fought against the feeling that I never should have asked. I should've left this stone unturned because now I knew I was simply too late for Andrew to be an outlet for whatever crazy bullshit was making me feel like this.
There was literally no one else who even remotely held my interest.
No one else—the voice I'd been waiting to hear argue with me all damn day whispered—except Levi.
Chapter 14 Jocelyn
Thwack.
"Stupid men."
Thwack. Roll. Roll. Turn.
Thwack. Thwack.
My hand gripped the handles of the rolling pin so tightly, I wouldn't have been shocked if my bones burst through the skin.
"Stupid men who flirt and make you think things and go crazy and then start dating someone else."
Thwack. Thwack.
"Stupid men who help you work out and make you smoothies and look hot when you're swimming."
"Joss?" Joy asked cautiously.
I gave the dough one more unnecessary hit before I turned to her. "Yeah?"
Her wide eyes took in my face, which was actually sweating a bit from the mini-therapy session.
"Let's just … back away from the bread dough, okay?"
"Right." I looked down at it, beat the hell up and rolled way too thin.
"Are you … are you okay?" Her already big eyes took up about half her face as she watched me carefully set down the offending pin.
What a bitch I was, I thought glumly. I'd been at work for over an hour, and I hadn't spoken two words to anyone, heading straight back to the kitchen to work on bread and mini berry pastries for the case. Jennifer had given me a concerned look when she caught sight of my face but wisely gave me space. Her eyes, man, they freaked me out. Joy had tried to talk to me. Tried. I'd been about receptive as a concrete wall.
No wonder Levi called me Sonic. When my prickles were up, they were up, and God help anyone who tried to approach.
So even though I didn't want to answer Joy's question about whether I was okay, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.
"I asked someone out today. And he said no."
"Ohhhh," she breathed. "I'm sorry, Joss. He's stupid."
I smiled a little bit. "He's not stupid, just unavailable."
She nodded earnestly. "I understand unrequited love."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." She sighed.
I wiped my hands on my apron and eyed her expression. "So no boyfriend for you?"
She leaned up against the large stainless steel island, facing me. "Nope."
"Me neither."
"No girlfriend, either," she continued. "Not even a dog or a cat."
Nero's dopey face popped into my head. It was nice to have someone to cuddle with at night, even if he got around on four paws and ate his own shit from time to time.
"It's depressing, actually."
I grimaced. "Sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."
Behind Joy, Jenn's husband Cletus came in, giving me charming, wide smile in greeting. He was a giant grizzly of a man, barrel-chested with a full beard covering his handsome face.
If my sweet co-worker understood unrequited love, it was probably because of this guy. I tried to elbow her, but I
