Free Secret Identity (What's Her Secret?) by Stacey Lynn Rhodes Page B

week while he’d worked magic with his hands under cover of her clothing.
    Actually, she’d be lucky if his bite marks and hickies faded by then. Especially the big one he’d sucked up while she’d come against his hand…
    Sienna flushed at the memory of falling apart right there in his arms on the dance floor. Clearing her throat, she pulled her focus back to the situation at hand, annoyed with herself at having let her concentration on the job slip. Normally, she didn’t let anything throw her off, but Greg kept seeping into her thoughts.
    “Huh.”
    Jay had picked up the note and was reading it. She waited for him to share the news with her.
    “Letter from your uncle. He basically said what you did. You go by Cici?”
    Those fuckers . “Yeah. Family nickname I kind of hate. Sienna is fine.”
    “Oh, I don’t know. I kind of like Cici.” Jay was relaxed enough around her now to wink at her, catching her a bit off-guard. Everything that they had on him pointed to him being gay, but maybe he was just friendly. Or bi.
    Or had horrible taste in nicknames.
    She followed his lead and shot him an evil glare. “Use it and die.”
    “Die laughing,” he shot back quickly. He tossed her an apron. “Here you go. We’d better get started on the scones or we’ll never be ready on time. You can hang your bag up here if you want.” He indicated a row of hooks on the wall behind the office door. He shrugged out of his coat and hung it on a hook then put on the apron he’d taken down from there. She walked over to follow his suggestion then put on her own apron.
    She finally processed what he’d said about the scones. “You guys bake here?” She sucked at cooking.
    He led the way into the small galley. “Technically yes, though we get the dough pre-made. Today’s batches are in the fridge—I put them in to defrost last night.” He waved his hand at the appliance. “We get a few other baked goods already done. That delivery will come in about half an hour. Bagels, strudels, muffins—that sort of thing. But the scones are our big seller.” He started washing his hands and she stepped up next to him at the sink to follow suit.
    “What time do you open up then?” She already knew but played the part of trainee asking obvious questions.
    He shot her a glance. “Five, which is why we need to hustle.”
    “Gotcha, boss.” She knew she was going to need to be on top of her game around him. He seemed to have a keen sixth sense about people. What she didn’t know was if that made him more likely to be involved with the criminal activity in and out of the building. It could also be that he wasn’t in it but might have information that could help their investigation.
    The best way she’d found to learn a person’s true nature was to work alongside them. Some people were chatters, but you could get a good read even on the ones who weren’t if you spent enough time with them.
    Sienna tied on her apron and trailed Jay over to the workspace.
    Mr Jay Ayers had himself a new shadow.

Chapter Two
    By the time the morning rush slowed down, it was after nine. Sienna took the opportunity to bend over and touch her toes, wincing at the tightness in her back and hamstrings. Damn, there was something exhausting about being on your feet all day. Even with only having moved only about ten feet in each direction, she felt like she’d run a marathon.
    Jay must’ve spotted her impromptu stretching session, because he laughed sympathetically. “Yeah, you’ll get used to it after a while. Maybe want to go for comfort over fashion tomorrow and wear sneakers instead of boots.”
    Sienna straightened up then stretched toward the ceiling. “They’re actually work boots, but maybe I’ll switch it up anyway.”
    Jay continued in perpetual motion, taking the time between customers to wipe down the work area. He had a routine that worked, and he went at it hard. He hadn’t taken a break yet.
    Sienna had come to the conclusion that Jay