Deep Autumn Heat Read Online Free Page B

restaurant. The jingle of the door echoed her shaken nerves. Lexie let out a deep breath she hadn’t been aware of holding.
    For her own sake, she hoped he didn’t come back.

CHAPTER 3
     
    Lexie was still reeling a few minutes later when the door opened, and an annoyingly familiar face appeared in front of her. She forced herself not to roll her eyes. It took a lot of effort. “Paige,” Lexie acknowledged, nodding her head slightly.
    “Lexie,” the woman returned, dipping her head in a similar gesture. Neither of them smiled. “Was that Sebastian Grayson I just saw leaving?”
    Lexie shrugged. “Could be,” she said, knowing her vagueness would drive Paige crazy.
    Warily, they sized each other up, and then, unsurprisingly, Paige’s gaze slid to the pastry case to check out her competition.
    Paige Sinclair was the owner of The Vanilla Bean, a rival bakeshop-cum-restaurant in nearby Falmouth. Lexie and Paige had a love-hate relationship—they both loved to hate each other. It went beyond the typical restaurant rivalry, as they also happened to have completely incompatible personalities.
    A natural blonde with adorable ringlets framing her face and floating down her back, Paige was always perfectly put together, from her made-up face to her manicured fingers to her fashionable shoes. But Lexie wasn’t fooled. Beneath that sweet exterior, Paige had the heart of a viper. She would have liked to say that Paige’s food was, like Paige herself, all style and no substance, but The Vanilla Bean’s baked goods were surprisingly tasty, as were the rest of its offerings. Lexie had heard rumors that Paige was about to launch a catering business. Since that was Lexie’s goal, too, she was anxious to beat out her competition by opening earlier. It would mean even more hard work, and longer hours.
    “Table for one?” Lexie asked archly, even though she already knew what Paige’s answer would be.
    “Oh, no, dear. I’ll just take a piece of the you-know-what to go.” Paige gave her aconspiratorial smile.
    She didn’t bite. “Up to your usual tricks, Paige?” Lexie’s eyes narrowed. “You’ll never figure it out.”
    “We’ll see.” Paige’s smile was gone.
    “I could refuse to serve you, you know.”
    “You could, but you won’t. You’re too proud to stoop to that.”
    “You’re right.” Lexie slid open the display case and pulled out the coconut cake. She cut a generous slice, placed it carefully into a small container, and handed it to Paige. “That’ll be four ninety-five,” Lexie said matter-of-factly, holding out her hand.
    “You’re charging me?”
    “As if I’d let you try to figure out my recipe for free.”
    “So much for professional courtesy.” Paige reached into her designer purse and pulled out her wallet. She plunked down a five on the countertop. “Here. Keep the change.”
    Lexie scooped up the money from the counter and popped it into the till. “I’d say it was a pleasure doing business with you, but we both know that’d be a lie.”
    “Do stop by the next time you’re in Falmouth, dear,” Paige said, before making a brisk exit.
    “You don’t have any recipes I want to steal, Paige,” Lexie muttered to her departing back.
    Much to Lexie’s relief, the rest of the breakfast crowd soon cleared out. “Buster, do you, Isis, and Jenny have everything under control back there?” she called into the grill room.
    “Yep,” Buster Quigley, her grill cook and right-hand man, answered.
    “Good.” Lexie untied her apron and grabbed a cardigan from behind the counter. Isis Dandridge and Jenny Arthur were two of her line cooks. Isis, a slim black woman in her early thirties, was solid as a rock, and Lexie had no qualms about giving her additional responsibility. Jenny, a younger woman with strawberry-blond hair that was usually pulled back into a tight braid, was another matter. Until recently, Jenny had been one of her more dependableemployees, showing up on time and even