Even though I’m not dressing to be sexy for him. It just looks good. That’s all. I confirm our meeting location, then, before I ring off, he catches me with a question.
“Actually, can I bring along my daughter?” he asks. “Her after-school science lab was canceled, so I just picked her up when I landed. She’s informed me her sweet tooth is top-notch and should be used for legitimate business research.”
I pause, but only because I remember my reservations when I was younger. When I was twenty and didn’t want to date a man with a kid. But since we’re not dating now, what does it matter?
“Hell yeah,” I answer.
I can hear Corbin’s smile even before he says, “Great.”
Thirty minutes later we meet at The Sweet Spot, a newly opened bakery in Hayes Valley. The sister shop has been up and running in nearby Darling Springs for some time, but it’s just expanded with a store here.
I register the handsome man waiting for me in front of the shop, but my attention, and my exploding nerves, are all for the girl with the high ponytail, who stands beside Corbin. She wears faded jeans, a peach-colored shirt, and a backpack.
I’ve met his daughter before, but we’ve neverhung out. What if his kid hates me? What if I don’t know what to say to her? Will he think I’m a terrible business partner if I have zero kid skills?
Just be yourself, girl.
Pep talk engaged, I march up to them and say to Charlotte, “Top-notch sweet tooth, I hear?”
Charlotte nods. “I’ve had years of practice.”
“Then, you’ve got a job to do. Are you ready to be our taste-tester?”
She stands taller. “I am.”
“You’ll also need to be our arbiter.”
Her brow furrows for a few seconds before she says, “Someone who helps settle disputes?”
My smile widens. “You know that word?”
“I do vocabulary quizzes for fun.”
I blink, processing the detail about this smarty-pants. “You’ll need to arbitrate any sweets disputes between your dad and me. Can you handle that?”
“Definitely,” she says. “I like to give my opinion.”
I offer a hand for high-fiving. “Opinions rule.”
She seems skeptical at first, and the nerves fly up in me again. Have I chosen the wrong tactic? But then she smacks back, and I feel like I’ve passed the first test. I open the door for Charlotte, and we head inside.
“Dad, technically we’ve been doing market research every time we’ve baked together,” Charlotte says as we settle into a table in the corner of the white bakery with pink polka dot walls.
“Of course we have,” he says, gesturing to the treats we selected—a seven-layer bar, a dark chocolate brownie, and a blondie. We won’t eat them all. I don’t have that much room in my dessert drawer. Especially since I won’t try the ones with nuts, so that saves some space. But I’ll treat the others as samples and take bites of most of them.
“But isn’t this stealing ideas?” she asks with some concern.
Corbin shakes his head. “Nope. It’s scoping out the competition. In hockey, you watch game video. In baking, you check out what others make.”
“And you take pictures,” I offer, then pull out my phone to snap photos of how their goodies look on the pretty white plates.
Which gives me an idea for Afternoon Delight. “We should get plates at the thrift shop—Reprise on Main Street. I’ve loved an eclectic mix of dishes ever since my grandmother served me dinner once on a totally random collection of vintage plates and nothing matched.”
“It’s like an adventure,” Charlotte says, then goes thoughtful. “Plus, we can get all kinds of patterns then, and patterns help.”
Corbin gives a soft smile, lowering his face, and I read between the lines. Patterns must be helpful for him. That’s good to know.
“It’s settled. We’ll shop for plates too,” I say.
