Kyle faked a hurt expression. “Excuse me, but I am doing my job.”
Bree folded her arms over her chest and glared at him, but I could see a hint of amusement on her face.
Kyle held up two tickets—and Bree let out a scream that would put her friend Candace’s to shame.
“Are those the BLACKPINK tickets?” she asked, skipping over to Kyle.
He held them just out of her reach. “Yes, they are. But I do believe you owe me a favor for playing your fake boyfriend and making me kiss you.” He pretended to gag.
Without warning, Bree punched Kyle in the stomach. He doubled over, giving her the opportunity to take the tickets from his hand and skip to the front door of the bed and breakfast.
“Shit, are you okay?” I asked as I leaned over to look at Kyle who was gasping for air.
“Yeah,” he wheezed. “Fuck, I didn’t see that coming.”
I shook my head. “I can’t tell if you two are friends or enemies.”
He nodded. “Friends. I think. Christ, who taught her how to punch? She didn’t hold back at all.”
Lifting my hands, I took a step back. “Not me.”
“I’m going to arrest you for assaulting an officer!” Kyle yelled out.
Looking back toward the front door, I said, “I think she’s in the house.”
“Yeah, I know she is—it’s safer that way. Anyway, I’m going to go cough up blood now, maybe a kidney too. Tell Brighton I already gave Willa her ticket.”
“For the BLACKPINK concert, I take it.”
He nodded and spoke between gasps. “Yeah. Regretting…it…now.”
Kyle turned and made his way back toward his vehicle. I could hear his K9 barking, most likely wanting to take a bite out of the woman who threw the punch.
Before he got in, Kyle cleared his throat. “Better think twice before marrying that one. She has a bit of…evil in her.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Thanks for the advice.”
It didn’t take Ron and Joanne long to get packed up and head out of town, leaving Bree and MaryLou in charge.
As her parents’ car slipped from view, Bree turned to me. “Okay. You start on the bread and salad, and I’ll get to work on the pasta sauce.”
My brows shot up. “Um, excuse me?”
Bree tilted her head. “You do know how to make bread, right?”
I let out a laugh, only to stop when it was met with a glare. “This is a side of you I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.”
Smiling sweetly, Bree replied, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Now, back to the bread.”
“Bree, why in the hell would you think I’d know how to make bread? I only know how to cut bread, dip it in olive oil, and eat the shit out of it.”
She closed her eyes and sighed, then snapped them open. “I’m sorry. I lost my head for a moment. Can you make a salad?”
I scoffed. “Yes, I’m not that useless.”
Reaching up onto her toes, she kissed me on the mouth. “I’ll teach you how to make the bread. Then we need to make the gift bags for this evening, but it won’t be that bad. We don’t have a full house.”
I’d only been at the bed and breakfast for one night, but yesterday evening there had been a little brown bag filled with lavender cookies hanging on my door when I went up to my room. When I’d checked in, Joanne had informed me that I could expect a little gift each night.
I pulled her to me and wrapped my arms around her waist. “I like this.”
She beamed up at me. “What?”
“Helping you with the bed and breakfast. Is this something you want to do? Run the bed and breakfast with your folks?”
She chewed on her lip and thought about her answer. “Would it bother you if I said yes? I mean, I don’t know how you feel about going from having people wait on you to turning around and waiting on others.”
“As crazy as this may sound, I’ve never had people wait on me, Bree. Hank, yes, but I couldn’t have done my job without his help. But I’ve always cleaned my own house, and when I wasn’t getting takeout, I was making myself dinner.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “You cleaned your own house?”
“Yes. I find it relaxing, and besides, it’s only ever been me. It wasn’t that hard.”
She ran the tip of her finger along my jawline. “And what types of meals did you make for yourself?”
I looked up as I thought about it. “Well, I make a mean hamburger. BLTs, tacos, spaghetti…oh, and I love grilling up salmon for fish tacos. A lot of nights I made myself cereal and cinnamon sugar toast.”
She blinked a few times, then shook her head. “Cereal and toast?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
Taking in a deep breath, she patted me on the chest. “Well, when we do our weekly outdoor grill nights, you’ll be in charge of the burgers.”