Puppy Love (bxb)

Chapter Seven

I pretty much decided to harass Henry as much as I possibly could in a four hour period.

I followed him when he was stocking up on food, I went into the back when he needed something, and I even got to go into the kitchen when he had to grab extra sweets.

"I close before I actually leave," Henry explained. "I need to count money and make tomorrow's sweets."

He wasn't totally repulsed by my presence. In fact, he'd taken to explaining how the shop worked to me.

"So is this a one-man show?" I asked. "I've never seen someone else here."

He shook his head. "I have people who help me bake. My mom and my friend Eli. My dad helps with the business sides of things."

"That's really nice of them."

"Yeah." A small smile appeared on his face. "They all want to see me succeed, which is really great."

"They sound cool."

I wanted to meet his parents and his best friend Eli so badly.

More importantly, I wanted to be introduced as Mrs. Fideli when it happened.

I used a nearby piece of paper to fan myself. Henry's information about his family was making me blush. I wanted to be a part of it.

This was getting way too sappy.

"Hey Henry..."

"Oh God, what."

"You're like a box of chocolates, because I wanna take your top off." I wiggled my shoulders sassily and winked.

Henry snorted and shook his head. "You're ridiculous. At least now they're actually related to baking."

"So? 10/10? Date tonight? Did it work?"

"They never work, Dillon."

He was obviously not telling the truth. My pick up lines were legendary.

Plus, his demeanor had changed ever so slightly today. When he thought I wouldn't notice, probably because I was rambling on about food and sweets, he'd sneak glances at me. One time, he did a full-body scan. I noticed the attention because getting attention was kinda my life force.

"Do you want more?" Henry asked out of the blue, pointing at a rack of cupcakes. We were in the kitchen. To my utter shock, Henry appeared bashful. "You liked the eclair so do you want to try something new?"

First Barb, then Henry. Why did everyone I know shove sweets down my throat?

But hell, I wasn't complaining.

I gave him my signature thank-you-wanna-fuck? smile and took a cupcake. "Thanks, honeybuns. You're even more sweet than the food you make."

Henry facepalmed. "I get it, you're into me. Please stop saying those embarrassing things. Please."

"Nah." I smirked. "I like the cute little look you get."

The exact cute little look crossed his face after I said that.

For the rest of the work shift I tried to get bits and pieces of information about Henry's life. He didn't always offer it freely though. I had to ask direct questions to learn that his mom and dad lived in the same town and he had a sister who lived in Savannah, Georgia.

And apparently he'd been baking since he was a kid! He was so talented.

I followed him to his house in my car after the shift ended. Henry had apparently decided to skip out on making tomorrow's sweets for me, so I felt special. And a little bit bad. I hoped my dog obsession wasn't single-handedly destroying his company.

We walked through the door to his home and I met the actual love of my life.

Pavo was the love of my life. Screw Henry.

The guy was wide and stocky, absolutely massive. He had beautiful brown and black fur and brown eyes. I ran around Henry's backyard with him for twenty minutes easily.

It was love at first sight.

When I decided to go back in, Henry was firing up some microwavable meals. I had totally expected a gourmet dinner from the baker, but nope.

He was tragic.

I sat on the floor and Pavo sat between my legs.

"I have to say, this isn't what I expected," Henry chuckled. He looked a little less stern here, without the dim lights of the bakery.

"What did you expect?" I half-assed answered him, because I honestly was focused on Pavo alone. I was giving him good butt-scratches that made his leg jiggle.

"Well...I invited you back to my place," Henry said with emphasis, like that was supposed to have a double-meaning. "I thought you'd be trying to get into my pants or something."

Pavo was doing this cute thing where he smooched his butt right next to me, begging for scratches. It was so adorable!

"...Uh. Dillon?"

"Oh, sorry, what?" I asked, looking up. I'd totally forgotten that he was talking to me. "What did you say?"

He shook his head and laughed. "Never mind."

After I'd completely ignored him once, I decided that I was probably being rude. I stood up and sat at the counter.

I'd spent a pretty good chunk of time with Henry, so I thought I might know him better now than before. I was beginning to think that his droll comments weren't really accurate to how he actually felt.

"Thanks for letting me meet your dog," I said. "I love dogs so much. I love Pav. He's such a good boy and I can tell you do a great job training and taking care of him."

Henry shook his head. "Thanks. You're making this really easy for me, you know."

"What do you mean?"

He shifted awkwardly. "Well, I originally invited you over to see my dog. But then I realized that I was inviting you to my house and that you might take it the wrong way, so I was stressed about that. But you haven't had any sort of high expectations...so thanks."

It was weird to see all those muscles held with such awkward tension. I wanted to run my hands over his arms and smooth it out. "Hey, I don't really think you like me much, I doubt you'd have sex with me," I snorted.

Henry smiled. "I like you. You're definitely straightforward, but I kind of enjoy that."

For a second I was gonna get excited and nervously fire off another pick up line, but I decided to listen to Henry's own words and chill out. Just because he said he liked me didn't mean he liked me like that.

"I like you too, obviously," I said, feeling the blush on my cheeks and getting anxious. "I should probably get going. We both work bright and early tomorrow."

He looked like he was going to protest, but he didn't. "Maybe you should. Do you want to...well, I liked talking to you today. And I guess I...well. It would be nice if we could go somewhere where my dog doesn't take all your attention."

Jealous of his own dog? Hm.

Maybe there was hope yet.

"Alright, honey cakes," I said, earning myself an eye roll. "I think I like that idea. Maybe we can hang out after work tomorrow?"

He smirked. "I'm free after work tomorrow, but not for anyone who calls me honey cakes."

"Fine, sugar plum, I'll see you then."