Flour Girl (Bucky x reader Bakery AU)

Part 4

Characters: reader, Bucky (Jimmy), Wanda.

Summary: Discovering the cute guy you just flirted with is the heir of a rival bakery, you suddenly find yourself running into him all over the city. Can your small boutique bakery compete? And how do you deal with the guy who seems determined to make your life a living hell? Luckily you're distracted by a secret admirer...But who is he? (Inspired by "You've Got Mail", Enemies to Lovers)

Warnings: none! Mild swearing?

Word Count: 1.4k

A/N: I'm so grateful for all of you who have shared your love for this series. I'm having so much fun hearing all your theories and offering guesses about who "B" might be. ;) I'm pretty sure we all know, but it's rather amusing to see the two developing relationships! :D Please let me know your thoughts on this part, any comments or feedback are appreciated! I love you guys. <3

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Alarms were the worst. 4:30am wasn't even a real time in the morning, it was more like the middle of the night. Part of you knew that you were the boss and got to set your own hours, but the other part was aware that there was too much to do so you grumbled and rolled out of bed before getting ready for the day. Some mornings, the only reason you didn't smash your alarm was because it was also your cell phone and you needed that for conducting your business and checking email. And texting.

A tease of a smile tugged at your lips as you slipped on your shoes. Pulling out your phone, you scrolled through the messages between you and the stranger, "B". It was nothing. Pure nonsense. But somehow, even those small interactions sparked a warmth in your chest. Sadly, with your crazy work hours and superintendent duties, you didn't have much time for a social life. Is that how you viewed this...whatever it was? A replacement relationship? God, you needed to get out more.

Shaking your head, you bounded down the outdoor stairs in the dark and unlocked the front door of the bakery before locking it again behind you. Flicking on only the kitchen lights, you turned on the oven to heat and pulled out pastries from the fridge so they could proof before baking. You turned on some music, nodding to the beat, and then grabbed a pad of paper so you could put in an ingredients order later that day.

There was a constant balance between quality and food cost when running a business. You strived to be as organic as possible and entirely non-GMO, but that came at a price. Just as you were finishing your list, the preheat indicator light switched off on the oven so you filled it with pastries before setting a timer.

Next you went out front to check yesterday's products for freshness. You preferred to bake everything fresh, but it wasn't practical to toss everything at the end of the night. Not to mention, it would be wasteful, so you let some items carry over to the next day. The few that didn't quite meet your standards were added to a box under the counter and it would all be donated to a homeless shelter later that day.

The oven timer sounded then so you ventured back into the kitchen to remove those trays and replace them with another round of pastries. Roughly an hour later, everything was baked, glazed, and/or sugar-dusted, and ready to go in boxes or in the pastry case. You heard your phone chirp from the far end of the table where you'd left it, so you wiped your hands on your apron and woke up the screen to see what the alert was.

A text. From B. You smiled automatically, knowing it was bizarre to get excited about a message from a stranger. Part of you wondered why he was up was up so early, reading the clock that showed 6:30am.

B: Coffee or tea?

You snorted at that.

FG: Is that even a question? Coffee, all the way.