He hadn’t thought of kissing anyone for years. He forced his eyes away, refusing to start now, especially with Tyler’s little sister.
“I should be able to make that work,” Hallie said. “Do you have anything specific in mind?”
Isla hopped up and down in her excitement. “I want a really spooky haunted house. With ghosts and witches and a graveyard in the front.”
Hallie’s blonde eyebrows jumped to her forehead. “Oh my. That’ll be … something.”
“Isla’s a big fan of Halloween,” Christian explained.
“I guess you were born in the right month, then.” Hallie scrunched her nose at Isla. “Maybe you can help me design something really cool?”
The girl pondered the invitation for a moment before answering. “I think I can do that.”
“Awesome.” Hallie slid a sheet of paper from a manila envelope, attaching it to a clipboard before handing it to Christian. “This is my order form. I’ll call you later to discuss the details. For now, just fill out the top with your contact information and when you’d like the cake ready. And I’ll need you to put a deposit down before you leave.”
“Sure.”
Christian shifted the clipboard into the hand that held Penelope to fill out when he finished flipping through the binder. He stopped on the next page.
“Aw, look at the bunnies, Nellie.” He pointed to his youngest daughter’s favorite animal, captured mid-hop on top of a forest-themed cake. “Could you … make a cake like this?”
Hallie leaned over the table to see which cake he pointed to. “I didthat one, so … yeah. I could easily recreate it or do something similar.”
“Great. We’ll add a bunny cake to our order.”
Her brows drew together. “Really?”
“Yeah.” Christian flipped the page. Before he could stop himself, he made another request. “And while we’re at it, let’s add this ghost cake too. You know, to stick with the Halloween theme.”
What am I doing?
“Dude, how big is this party?” Tyler asked, his hand frozen over the bakery box he was packing with cupcakes.
Not big enough for three cakes, that was for sure. But Christian couldn’t stop his mouth from running away from him. It possessed a mind of its own, and he had no say in what came out of it.
Tyler’s blue eyes narrowed in an expression of confusion. Or suspicion, perhaps?
Christian’s laugh sounded forced even to him. “That should do it.”
Hallie blinked several times, apparently too stunned for words. “Um … okay. How’d you like to pay the deposit?”
“I’ll put it on my card and pay for the cupcakes in cash.” Setting the clipboard down on the table, he pulled his wallet from his back pocket and handed her a ten-dollar bill.
She placed his money in the cash box on the chair behind her, then turned back to him. “Here’s two dollars in change for the cupcakes.”
As she placed the bills on his outstretched palm, her fingers brushed his hand. Sparks sizzled up his arm, and he sucked in another breath. His eyes flew to her face, locking with hers, holding her gaze. Time froze, everything around them fading away. Even Penelope seemed to disappear from his arm, leaving a cozy haze surrounding only Hallie and himself.
What was this connection that sparked between them? He couldn’t begin to read the expression written across her beautiful features. But she didn’t look away.
Finally, after an eternally long minute, she gulped in a lungful of air, yanking her hand away. “Do you want a cookie?” Her voicesqueaked. “It’s on the house, of course. As a thank you … for your generous order.”
She spun to the side to grab one from a crate, smacking hard into her brother’s chest. Tyler bobbled the box of cupcakes in his hand.
“Whoa,” he said, righting it before he decorated the astro turf with chocolate and apple spice. “Are you okay?”
Hallie hurried around him to grab a maple leaf cookie. “Yep. Fine. All good.”
Did she really believe that? Because after what passed between them just now, Christian was anything butall good.
