A Dash of Romance by Elizabeth Harbison

Author:Elizabeth Harbison
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

In the days that followed, Warren and Rose had a much easier rapport with each other. He teased her about overpaying for organic toothpicks, and she teased him for pinching his pennies so hard she could hear Lincoln screaming.

They also worked together when they needed to, balancing the books and reconciling the daily slips, as well as donating leftover food at the end of each day to a local soup kitchen. As soon as Rose had pointed out it would be a tax write-off, Warren was all for it, and it had helped counterbalance what she was spending on higher quality ingredients.

All in all, after a couple of quiet weeks, Rose began to feel as if she and Warren were actually friends. They ended up on opposite sides of a lot of fences, but even when they argued, they usually ended up laughing in the end.

But they didn’t talk about the kiss again. Rose tried not to take it personally, and rationalized to herself that he had probably reached the same conclusion she had about the two of them. Their lives were too different, and getting together romantically could only complicate the business relationship they were forced to have right now.

When a package arrived for Warren one afternoon in mid-October, it surprised Rose. Granted, he’d placed several orders in his own name so that Doc wouldn’t be charged for them. But this one was different. The box was small, about eight inches high and wide, and a foot long. It had arrived via courier, but there was no return address.

As soon as she had a moment, she went into the back, took out the business card Warren had given her and made a call to his office. The secretary who answered said he was in a meeting and took a message, so Rose set the box aside and went back to work.

Warren returned her call around 7 p.m.

“A box came for you,” she said, trying to sound nonchalant. He’d probably thought she was calling for personal reasons, so she was quick to let him know she wasn’t.

“Did you open it?”

“Of course not. It has your name on it.”

He sighed. “If it came to the diner, then it’s something for the diner. Open it up.”

“Fine, fine. Hold on.” She set the receiver down and retrieved the box. It was tightly sealed with packing tape, so she had to get a knife. When she’d finally wrestled the thing open, she found another box inside. This one was marked Confidential. She returned to the phone and told Warren.

“Confidential?” he repeated.

“That’s what it says. In big black letters.”

“Was there any sort of return address? Anything at all that might indicate where it came from?”

She looked again. “Nope. Just a plain brown box. You haven’t purchased something that requires…discretion, have you?”

“No.” He was clearly not up for joking. “How big is the box?”

“Small. Like eight inches long, five inches wide, and maybe five inches tall. It’s obviously not, you know, produce or anything.” She gave a small laugh.

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