Kissing with Fangs by Ashlyn Chase Page A

felt her cheeks heat and she hung her head.
    â€œDon’t be embarrassed. I’m proud of you. You’re doing what you need to do to take care of yourself.”
    â€œI’m not exactly embarrassed. More like ashamed. I had no business working in a bar for so long.”
    â€œDid you drink the profits?”
    â€œOf course not!”
    â€œThen you have nothing to be ashamed of. Anthony wouldn’t have trusted you with his business if you weren’t doing your job. And now he’s trusting you again.”
    â€œThat’s just it. Somehow I managed to work sober, but when I got home I’d drink the rest of the night away.”
    â€œAnd now you have something better to do with your evenings.”
    Claudia gave Sadie a grateful smile. “Yes, I do.”
    â€œI still worry about you.”
    Claudia’s jaw dropped. She didn’t know whether to be insulted or just accept that people would be concerned for a while. Maybe Sadie was just honest enough to say it out loud.
    â€œBut not for the reason you think,” Sadie added. “I knew you and Anthony were fighting a growing attraction to each other. I figured it would only be a matter of time before Ruxandra discovered it.”
    Claudia groaned and rolled her eyes. “I don’t know what to do about her.”
    Sadie reached across the table and took Claudia’s hand. “Let Anthony handle her. It’s the only way.”
    The little bells over the front door tinkled, letting the women know they had a customer.
    Before Sadie let go of Claudia’s hand, she whispered, “Good luck, dear. I’m here if you need me for anything.”
    Trepidation that Claudia hadn’t felt earlier suddenly enveloped her…until she looked over to see who had come through the door.
    â€œBrandee! Angie!” She rushed over to her first customers. They had been her employees at the old bar, and now she thought of them as dear friends.
    Things might work out okay after all.

Chapter 6
    Claudia hugged Angie and Brandee in turn, then invited them to sit anywhere. She took two square menus over to them and grinned like an idiot. Realizing they needed a minute to look at the offerings, she flitted off to the cash register.
    The little bells tinkled over the door again and a woman she didn’t recognize entered. She was dressed like a Victorian lady in a long dress full of lace and ruffles. A huge, foppish hat covered in flowers and vines partially hid her face.
    â€œUm… Welcome to the Boston Uncommon Tea Room. Sit anywhere you like,” Claudia said brightly.
    The hat nodded.
    As the woman found a table, Claudia grabbed a menu and followed her.
    Brandee looked up and caught sight of the woman, and her eyes rounded, as if she were ducking school and about to get caught. She tried to hide her face behind the nine-by-nine-inch card.
    Hmmm…I wonder what that’s about.
    Just as Claudia was about to hand the woman her menu, the bells over the door tinkled again. In came more familiar faces. She grinned and waved to Kurt and Tory.
    â€œI’ll be right back to take your order,” she said to the stranger.
    The woman held up one finger. “No need to rush off and come back. I know what I want.”
    â€œOh. Of course. What’ll it be?” Claudia said as if still in the bar, but then gave herself a little mental slap upside the head. Reach back to your refined upbringing, dumbass. Her casual manner must have come from seeing the old bar’s regulars walk in.
    â€œI’d like the raspberry and chocolate scone with Devonshire cream and a small pot of Darjeeling tea.”
    â€œWonderful choice,” Claudia said. As she jotted down the order and strode toward the kitchen, she wondered how the woman had managed to order something on the menu without even reading it. That’s weird. Maybe every tea house offers those items. She made a mental note to ask Chris to come up with some