Read The Oddest Little Chocolate Shop in London for Free Online Page A

if I hadn’t
interfered. I owe it to you to find her real owner.’
       ‘Bien,
follow me, I’ll find them for you.’ He headed towards the back of the shop and
she followed him through the rustling clatter of the bead curtain.
       His
shirt was tucked into his blue denims today, and it was hard not to stare at
his taut buttocks, outlined by the tight material. Oh my, she thought, her
cheeks reddening.
       ‘Where’s
Rachel?’
       ‘She
kept sneezing,’ he said casually, ‘and there was no work for her, so I told her
to take the week off. On full pay. Until I make a proper decision. That is, I
had decided to close and not renew my rental agreement on the shop when it finishes
at the end of this month. But now … ’ He nodded her to sit down at the small
breakfast bar area in the shop kitchen, then checked the coffee machine.
‘Coffee?’
       ‘Thank
you, that would be lovely. With milk for me, no sugar.’
       ‘I
remember.’
       She
perched on a stool and hurriedly texted work: Running late. Be there asap. Sorry!
       It
was only a little white lie, she told herself guiltily. There had been a tube
delay on the way in that morning. Signal failure somewhere on the District and
Circle line, according to the app on her phone. She had avoided a long wait on
the platform by accepting a lift with a neighbour who was driving this way.
       Anyway,
Uncle Geoffrey seemed to hate having her in the office; he had been frowning at
her all week, and she did have a cursed touch with his machines, it could not
be denied.
       So
perhaps he would not mind so very much if she was half an hour late again …
       Turning
off her phone, she watched as Dominic briskly sorted out two delicate-looking
bone china mugs for their coffee. Of course. This was the second time they had
sat down to enjoy a coffee together. A brief memory came back of him making
their coffee after supper the other night, then his peck on the cheek that had
turned into something else. Something unexpected but wonderful. Something promising.
       ‘What
changed your mind?’ she asked daringly.
       He
handed her a steaming mug of richly fragrant coffee. His gaze steadied on her
face. ‘You.’
       ‘Me?’
       ‘Your
advice,’ he corrected himself, and she saw a faint tinge of colour in his cheeks.
       ‘You
mean, after I looked at your books?’
       Dominic
nodded slowly, sitting opposite her. For a moment he seemed lost in thought.
Then he added a small lump of demerara sugar from the bowl, and stirred his black
coffee. ‘You showed me that things were not as desperate as I had thought. And
your ideas about how to reduce my running costs and streamline the business …
Well, they were extremely astute. After you’d gone, I rang my father and talked
it over with him.’
       Oh
gosh, she thought, suddenly worried. She hoped her advice had not been wildly
inaccurate.
       ‘I’ve
never particularly got on with my father.’ His lashes flickered and he looked
away. ‘It was a difficult conversation, and one I had been avoiding for several
years. Since I left France, in fact. But it did at least allow me to see my
problems in perspective. You were right. I was too ready to assume I’d failed
just because sales had fallen.’
       ‘So
you’re going to reopen the shop? That’s fantastic news!’
       ‘Assuming
the bank can be persuaded to give me an extension on my loan, I’m willing to
give it another try,’ he agreed, but still did not smile. ‘My father confirmed
what you said after I’d gone through the figures with him. I need to lose a
member of staff. Three of us are simply draining the business. Instead of just
being back here, making the chocolates, I need to serve in the shop more.’
       She
frowned. ‘Three staff. You, Rachel … and who else?’
       ‘Sophia.
She’s on holiday this week. Back in France.’ He sighed. ‘She’s my cousin.’
       ‘I
see.’ Clementine guessed what was