Winning the Baker's Heart

Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"I know."

Thomas hadn't expected that response. He really hadn't expected Rey to lash out at Kyle either, or him to tell Thomas to shut up. The last one had really shocked him and his only response had been to mule kick the door.

"If he tells Mia and Kay, you may not have a business tomorrow," Thomas mused. They were both aware of Kay's temper. And with an aunt like her even though not blood related, things could be bad.

Kyle shook his head. "I don't think he'll tell them. Not yet anyway. He's still upset. He won't want to say anything to discolor my reputation."

Thomas watched him lean back against the couch with a heavy sigh. He was putting a lot of credit in a person he'd just hurt. How did he know Rey wouldn't slander him? Was it wishful thinking, or did he actually know that Rey wasn't heartless?

He remembered when he first thought something was going on between the two of them. Rey had been showing up for work earlier and earlier. Sometimes his car would be cold. Thomas knew the youngest chef sometimes worked well into the night, but his car should be warm if he'd gotten there before four.

He'd seen Rey coming downstairs one morning looking a little bedraggled. He hadn't said anything, but Thomas's instincts had told him Rey had spent the night at Kyle's. At first, he hadn't wanted to assume anything, but as the days went on, he'd been fairly sure something was going on between the two of them.

Kyle seemed lighter and happier which was another reason Thomas hadn't asked. It had been a very long time since the shop owner had been happy. Thomas hadn't wanted to ruin it.

Clearly, he didn't have to. When the cake order for Hailie's sister had come through, he had expected a bad fallout. What he hadn't expected was for Rey to be so willing to put the broken pieces back together. If he'd had known how deep those feelings had gone, he would have warned the kid a lot more than what he had. He didn't like Hailie, but they'd long ago learned to agree to disagree. Rey wasn't in that agreement so he didn't have to like anything Hailie did to him.

"How did this even happen?" he wondered. Kyle scoffed so he must have said it out loud. "You're not someone who does things randomly."

"Apparently, I am," the older man said.

Thomas scowled at him even though Kyle didn't see it. "Since when?"

"Since that night I got drunk and kissed him."

That was news Thomas didn't see coming. Maybe if it had come from Rey, but Kyle had been the one to say it. That was even more shocking.

"And when was that?"

"The night of Havana's wedding."

Thomas knew that day had been stressful for Kyle. Hailie had been the maid of honor in Havana's wedding, and she had been the one to order the cake. Kyle and Rey had delivered said cake. Thomas had known it would be hard on Kyle to do that, but he'd been grateful when Rey had agreed to go on the delivery with him.

But why had Rey been in Kyle's apartment that night? Hadn't he gone home after Thomas had? They weren't doing anything crazy that night were they?

He didn't think so. The more he thought about it, the more Thomas realized Rey hadn't started watching Kyle until after Founder's Day. Even after that, Thomas hadn't noticed any flirting until about two weeks ago. So either they'd been good at hiding it, or Kyle was reciprocating.

As his brain worked, Thomas realized there had been signs. He should have known the day of Rey's wreck when none of them could get through to him. When Kyle found out what had happened, he'd been completely devastated. That should have been the sign he paid the most attention to.