HOW TO TEMPT A CROOK

Chapter 2

"What can I get you?" Kelly asked as she stood by Table Six with her pen poised over her notepad.

"A glass of fresh mango juice and..." The man seated at the table paused briefly to study his menu. His forehead drawn in a frown, he asked, "What dessert would you recommend to go along with it?"

"Everything here tastes really good," she said, "but if I had to choose, I'd go with the strawberry cream-cake."

"The strawberry cream cake it is." With a smile, the man handed her the menu.

"It should be about ten minutes," Kelly said before heading off to the counter to place the order.

As was usual these days, Lani's was booming with business. Though the café wasn't a terribly big place, it was bursting at the seams. Almost all the tables were occupied by hipsters, couples and college-age kids. They were a marked difference compared to the older crowd who'd patronized the café when Kelly's father still owned it.

Kelly wasn't really sure what had drawn the younger crowd in. The décor and layout was still the same. It was just ten two-top tables along the exposed brick walls, floor-to-ceiling windows that faced the busy street, and ten oversized armchairs arranged in groups and nestled into cozy corners. Maybe they liked the new owner; he was certainly hip enough to fit in with this crowd.

"One mango and cream-cake," she said to the acne-ridden teenager behind the register. Moments later, the customer's order was ready, and Kelly carted it to him.

"Miss, more coffee here," a feminine voice trilled just as Kelly started back towards the counter.

Kelly turned to face the 'customer' a.k.a. Sin. Sin was parked at one of the tables at the corner giving herself a manicure. Seated across from Sin was a handsome bespectacled man who was engrossed with a game on his tablet. With a roll of her eyes, Kelly grabbed a jar of coffee from the counter then started towards the pair.

"You're supposed to be working not ordering," Kelly scolded Sin even as she poured some coffee into her friend's mug.

"This is me working," Sin said as she gingerly picked up her mug to sip her coffee.

"Teddy, do you need a refill too?" Kelly asked Sin's companion.

Theodore Cole, better known as Teddy and the new owner of Lani's, didn't even look up from his tablet as he said, "Yes, please."

"How is doing your nails working?" Kelly asked Sin as she filled up Teddy's mug.

"I am working." Sin waggled her fingers as if to dry her nails. "This is my job."

Kelly guffawed. "Really?"

"Really." Sin nodded. "My job is to look good. I'm the new face of Lani's."

"The new face of – what?" Kelly shot her friend a wide-eyed look. "Since when did the café have a position like that?"

"Since yesterday," Sin insisted. "Ask Teddy."

Teddy nodded. "Yes, it's a new position that I created just for Sin."

"Did she con you or something?" Kelly made a horrified face. "Blackmail?"

Teddy laughed. "Nothing like that."

"I'm offended by the implication that I would con my friend." Sin tried to look hurt but it was difficult when her eyes were twinkling with unrestrained amusement. "Even con women have ethics."

"Mm hmm." Kelly eyed her friend with a healthy dose of distrust. This was the same woman who'd made a career out of trying to con Kelly and A.J. out of their weekly spending money when they were in prison.