Neighbors (Twin Estates #1) by Stylo Fantome

back of the room.
    “Keep it down! I'm still at work,” she hissed, glancing around the tiny break room.
    Of course, no one had cared that she was late – Katya had never, ever been late, the entire time she'd been working there. She was also head baker, and highly sought after, at that. After a prominent magazine had featured her culinary skills, her appointment book had been full. Wedding cakes by Katya Tocci had to be booked a year in advance, other events at least three months. She could show up to work high on meth, and as long as she made a perfect sugar rose, she wouldn't get fired.
    “I know, I know, but still, I cannot get over this! You had sex with some random dude, in some random club! This is AMAZING!” her roommate insisted.
    “He wasn't random, I knew who he was. Kinda. Sorta,” Katya tried to make it sound better.
    “Oh, whatever, don't try to downplay it, you little slut. It's great! I cannot wait to hear all the dirty details.”
    “I'm not -”
    “You are , and you're gonna tell me everything. Length, girth, which hole, how many times.”
    “Oh jesus. I can't believe you weren't even worried when I didn't come home.”
    “I knew where you were.”
    “You did!?”
    “Uh, yeah, you texted me about A MILLION times, don't you remember?”
    “No. I told you, I don't remember anything from about midnight on.”
    “Yeah, you were telling me about how fucking hot he is, and how good he gave it to you, and about how it didn't hurt as much as you thought it would,” Tori prattled off. Katya felt another bout of nausea sweep over her.
    “Still. What if after the amazing sex, he'd taken me home to rape and murder me?” she pointed out.
    “Oh, he took the phone from you after you started messaging gibberish. Sent me his address and phone number, just in case. He's one of the good ones, you can tell. When are you gonna see him again?”
    A jingling noise came from the front of the store. The bell over the front door, meaning a customer had just come inside. Saved by the bell . Katya took a deep breath and smoothed her hand over her apron.
    “I gotta go, customer is here,” she whispered.
    “You can't hide from me! Everything! I want to know everything when you get home!”
    Katya didn't bother with goodbye, she just hung up the phone and took a couple deep breaths. She glanced in a small mirror and cringed again. She hadn't bothered with blowing out her hair, but had just slicked it all up into a high bun while it had still been wet. Now that it was dry, it was starting to frizz up around the crown of her head. She was wearing the barest amount of makeup, just enough powder to kill the zombie look she was rocking.
    She'd never been into wearing the whole chef's jacket and pants, usually opting for a pin striped apron and a smock. But that day, she'd barely managed the apron, and was wearing a pair of skinny jeans, ballet flats, and a loose blouse. Maybe normal clothing for other people, but unheard of for her. She could just imagine her mother's reaction at seeing her dressed that way, in public, at her job.
    Her parents were very proper people.
    But shitty clothing and hangover be damned – she had a job to do. She took a deep breath and pushed her way through the double doors that led to the sales floor. Normally, she almost never went on the floor, unless it was to meet a client. But the counter clerk was on her lunch break, one of the assistant bakers was on a delivery, and the other was on vacation. Katya was on counter duty till the other girls returned.
    “Hello, welcome to Fondants!” she chirped pleasantly, though she could hear how scratchy her voice sounded. Whether it was from the hangover, or from Liam making her scream his name, she couldn't be sure. She took another deep breath and fanned at her face as she turned to look around the shop.
    The place looked empty at first glance, but then she saw him. A man was standing in the corner with his back to her, in front of a display of