Dark One- The Khiara Banning Series Book 1

Seven

"In the fridge, I guess it's all milk and stuff?" I ask, feeling a little dumb for asking such an obvious question. He leads me over to the fridge and opens the door. There's every type of milk, including soy and non-lactose, and there is also every type of cream and creamer.

"This is amazing."

Cael laughs, "And it's about to get even better. Do you like cheesecake?"

Mock blanching I say, "Who doesn't!"

He leads me over to the back of the room where the books are, and there are stairs that lead to a little ramp with comfortable chairs and couches are laid out with tables next to them and foot stools in front of them. We stop in-between the two bookcases, where there is a door that I hadn't noticed before, and Cael looks at me, "Are you ready?"

I nod, and we step through to the kitchen. It is huge! "Oh my God!"

It's a kitchen like that of a restaurant, which this space used to be as I recall. I thought they'd gotten rid of it, but I guess not.

"We make our own baked goods to ensure the quality of the food," he explains. "This is strictly a pastry and baked goods only café. We don't do sandwiches or soup. That's why it's called The Sweet Treat Café."

Cael walks over to one of the many fridges lining the back of the room, "You have your pick, though I really recommend any type of cheesecake. It's amazing; I think you'll love it."

"Cocky, aren't we?" I joke, but he just laughs it off.

In the end, I settled for a carrot cake cheesecake mix. "This is an emotional experience!"

Cael chuckles, "Careful not to drool everywhere, the big unveiling is in three days."

Through a mouthful of cake I say, "Really? Wow, I can't wait for everybody to see this place! It's going to be a huge hit, Cael."

"I hope so," he says as he runs his fingers through his hair. "I've worked really hard on the place, and it took me a while to round up the kitchen staff. I still need somebody to work the cash register for me, and I need somebody to deliver the cake to the tables."

Seeing an amazing opportunity I say, "I can be a waitress, or work at the register. I need a job, actually. I was fired from my last one..."

"What did you do before?"

"I worked at Wal-Mart but I was accused of stealing one of my co-workers wallets, and even though it was proved that I didn't, I kicked up enough of a storm for them to not like what they saw. All they did was say that they didn't like my 'attitude' and that they were letting me go."

Cael digests this a little until he finally says, "Bring in your resume and we'll make it official. I'm still going to hire you, but I like to know who I'm working with, and it's always good to know more about the person you're going to trust the cash with."

Astonished, I say, "Really? No interview or anything?"

"If you want we can conduct one right now," he says, a smirk on his face.

I take the last bite of my cake and nod. As I'm busy trying to make the cake last, he says, "What's your favourite colour?"

I swallow the cake finally, having chewed way too long, and say, "Blue. But how does this have anything to do with my experience?"

"It doesn't, but I want to get to know you better."

Oh...

"What's your favourite animal?"

"All of them," I reply. "But my dog, Pug, trumps every single animal out there, even other pugs."

He looks at me strangely, "You named your pug, Pug?"

I blush. "Yeah, well, I did. Guilty of being weird and I like it that way."

"What's your favourite food?" He asks next, his eyes dancing with laughter.

"Whatever batch of baked goods you've happened to whip up, because that cake was fantastic." All of a sudden, I remember his bookstore job, "Are you still going to be working at the bookstore?"

Laughing, he says, "Part time, now anyway. This shop used to be a project, but now, it's kind of my baby. When I met you yesterday, I didn't want to let on too much about the shop because it's kind of a surprise for everybody in the mall. But now I'm really glad I met you today, and got to show you. It's kind of like fate, huh?"

I'm glad too. "Yeah," I say, staring at his mouth. I wonder what it would be like to kiss those lips. Not that I want to kiss them- well I do, but I hardly know him. Oh lord, what would it be like?

"I'm sorry, what?" He asks all of a sudden, brows raised in surprise.

Oh. My. God. Did I say that out loud? "Uhh, I guess it depends...what did you hear me say?"

"Well, it depends whether or not you wanted me to hear it," says Cael with a grin.

My face must be crimson by now because I am totally embarrassed. "Did you want to hear it?"

"Yeah," he says, "I did. I really like you, Khiara, and I'd like to get to know you better. If that's okay with you. I feel like we were, I don't know- supposed to meet."

"You're my boss now," I say, a little awkwardly. "Are you sure you want to mix business with pleasure?"

"There is no pleasure in boring business, now is there?"

"No," I whisper, "I guess there isn't."