Chapter 7 - CLAIRE'S PAST WALKED THROUGH THE DOORThree months later, Claire was happier than she had been in years.
Naturally, that was when her ex-husband appeared.
Daniel Bennett walked into the bakery at 10:14 on a Tuesday.
Claire dropped a tray.
Roman wasn't there.
Lily was.
Daniel smiled.
“Hello, Claire.”
She went cold.
They had been divorced seven years.
Daniel had spent most of their marriage criticizing her.
Her body.
Her ambitions.
Her clothes.
Her baking.
He called the bakery “a cute hobby.”
Then left her for a woman from his office.
“What do you want?”
“I heard you're dating Roman Duke.”
Lily looked up sharply.
Claire said:
“Leave.”
“I came to warn you.”
“About what?”
“He isn't safe.”
Lily stood.
Claire held up a hand.
“It's okay.”
Daniel continued.
“Men like him don't love women like you.”
There it was.
Old poison.
Once, those words would have destroyed her.
Now?
Claire almost felt sorry for him.
“Women like me?”
Daniel smiled.
“You know.”
“No.”
She stepped closer.
“Explain.”
He couldn't.
Because cruelty becomes cowardly when forced into complete sentences.
“Claire—”
“No. Explain what kind of woman I am.”
Daniel looked around.
Customers were watching.
His confidence faded.
Claire smiled.
“You came here expecting the woman you divorced.”
He said nothing.
“She doesn't work here anymore.”
Lily grinned.
Daniel left.
Roman learned about it twenty minutes later.
He arrived furious.
“Where is he?”
“Gone.”
“What did he say?”
“Doesn't matter.”
“It matters to me.”
Claire looked at him.
“Why?”
“Because he hurt you.”
“Seven years ago.”
“And today.”
“No.”
Claire smiled.
“Today he discovered he can't.”
Roman stopped.
Then something like pride appeared in his face.
Claire kissed his cheek.
“I handled it.”
“I know.”
“You wanted to handle it.”
“Desperately.”
“Growth.”
He sighed.
“I hate growth.”
Lily laughed.
Then Daniel caused a bigger problem.
He sold an old interview to a tabloid.
Photographs of Claire from years earlier appeared online.
Articles mocked her body.
Called her Roman Duke's “unlikely girlfriend.”
One headline asked:
WHAT DOES PITTSBURGH'S MOST ELIGIBLE BACHELOR SEE IN HER?
Claire stared at the screen.
Old insecurities returned.
Not because she believed strangers.
Because thousands of strangers repeating cruelty can still hurt.
Roman found her sitting in the dark bakery after closing.
“Claire.”
“Don't.”
He sat beside her.
“They're idiots.”
“I know.”
“Then why are you crying?”
She laughed through tears.
“Knowing something intellectually doesn't make you immune.”
Roman understood.
He didn't tell her she was beautiful.
Not immediately.
He simply sat.
Eventually Claire whispered:
“I hate that part of me still wonders.”
“Wonders what?”
“Why you want me.”
Roman turned toward her.
“Do you want the list alphabetically or chronologically?”
She laughed despite herself.
He continued.
“You terrify my security staff.”
“Good.”
“You make Lily laugh.”
Claire's eyes filled.
“You make my aunt mind her business occasionally.”
“Impossible.”
“Rare, but documented.”
She smiled.
“You built something from nothing.”
Roman touched her flour-dusted hand.
“You are loyal without being obedient.”
Her breath caught.
“You challenge me without trying to humiliate me.”
He looked directly at her.
“You're kind when nobody is watching.”
Then:
“And yes, Claire, I think you're beautiful.”
She looked away.
Roman gently turned her face back.
“But if you were asking why I'm here, beauty wouldn't even make the top five.”
Claire began crying again.
“That's unfair.”
“What?”
“You're becoming good at this.”
“I've been studying.”
She laughed.
Then Roman did something nobody expected.
The next morning, reporters waited outside the bakery.
Roman arrived.
They shouted questions.
“Roman, are you embarrassed by the coverage?”
“Is Claire really your girlfriend?”
“Are the photographs accurate?”
Roman stopped.
Claire watched through the window.
He could have threatened them.
Ignored them.
Had security remove them.
Instead he said:
“Yes. Claire Bennett is my girlfriend.”
Claire froze.
Roman continued.
“And since apparently some of you require clarification, I consider myself extremely fortunate that she agreed.”
Silence.
Then he entered the bakery.
Claire stared.
“I told you to stop telling people I'm your girlfriend.”
Roman removed his coat.
“That instruction is outdated.”
Claire tried not to smile.
Failed.
Then he leaned across the counter.
“Unless you'd like to revise our relationship status.”
“Don't push it.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
Lily shouted from the kitchen:
“HE'S SCARED OF HER!”
Roman closed his eyes.
Claire laughed.
May you like
For once, Roman Duke's entire reputation didn't matter.
He was exactly where he wanted to be.
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