Read Online Exploding: A Mafia Romance (The O'Keefe Family Collection #1) by Tuesday Embers - Free Book Online Page B

work the counter for the night shift. Fallyn liked Kristy well enough, but the woman treated Fallyn like she was a kid sister, and not an equal or her boss.
    “Looking good. Given that we doubled our staff this week? I think we can handle it and still make a decent profit, provided the crowd stays consistent. Tomorrow I can actually chip away at the custom orders.” She stretched, enjoying the luxury of the motion. “I can sleep in my own bed!”
    “Like a real rock star,” Kristy kidded, tossing her long black hair over her shoulder. “I think it went well out there tonight. You’re doing good, kiddo.”
    Fallyn smiled, but inwardly cringed at the demeaning nickname. She didn’t mind “sweetie”, “honey” or the other affectionate terms, but “kiddo” felt like a slam her family used too often, though she knew Kristy meant no offense. “See you tomorrow, and thanks for all your help.”
    Fallyn closed the books and bid Rina goodnight, leaving her to bake the hundreds of muffins she had been doing on her own the many nights before. She packed up her things and headed home, not answering with more than a grunt when Jen chastised her on the phone for working a fourteen-hour shift.
    Fallyn’s home was her haven, and she relished that she lived there by herself. The moment she stepped inside, a layer of stress disintegrated automatically. The soft peach accents of her living room enticed her to relax and stay awhile. Fallyn peeled off the skirt that had felt springish and cheery when she’d put it on before the sun rose, but now it was weighted with wrinkles and food stains. She stepped into the shower and washed away the sleepless nights and days. She scrubbed away the responsibilities of her life. She rinsed off the anxiety that had been creeping upon her with every passing day, taunting her that the work of her adventure might prove to be too much.
    When she slipped into her pink boy shorts and tank top, she barely made it to the bed before her cell phone chirped. She grinned with secretive delight, locking her door (though she lived alone) and turning on the ceiling fan to drown out any giddiness that the world might overhear. She answered with a cheerful, “I’m hoping you’re the handsomest Larissa I’ve ever seen. Otherwise I got all happy for a platonic call from a potential vendor.”
    James chuckled, his easy smile touching her insides from clear across town. “I’ve got no hints of platonic intentions for this phone call.”
    She thrilled at his playfully sexy nature she was only just becoming accustomed to over their back and forth the past couple days over text. “Is that so? What sort of things did you have in mind to discuss?”
    “Filthy things. Things like dirty muffin pans. Disgusting tabletops with coffee rings on them.”
    “Oh, that gets me so hot,” Fallyn joked in a faux-sexy voice. “How was your day for real?”
    “My day was better than usual. Apparently one of the senior partners’ jobs isn’t so much working on cases, but securing new big-name clients. It’s lots of dinners and cocktails for him, and a whole lot of delegating to the various attorneys for me. Hard to keep everything straight, but I’m getting there. I think I’m getting my system down.”
    “One day you’ll be the senior partner. Then you can tell me the horrors of the upper crust. You can complain how awful it is that they only put one olive in your martini instead of two.”
    James smiled at her good nature. “It’s what I worked for, but now that it’s here I feel like a poser. Like I should still be down in the trenches with the guys I hired in with, and now I’m assigning work to them.”
    “Politics didn’t seem to be your kryptonite. I’m sure it’s just like any other new job. Overwhelming for the first couple weeks, and then you take the training wheels off.” Fallyn’s nose wrinkled as she slid under her covers. She smiled with contentment she hadn’t felt in ages. She yawned,