His thumb slides over the screen to look at all our pictures, and he must spot something he likes because he zooms in closer to our faces. I’ve got a wide smile on my face looking directly at the camera, but Jaxon is looking up at me. “This one is my favorite. Hands down.”
Swallowing hard, I try to come up with something witty to say. “Red is for sure your color. That dress fits you like a glove.”
“Nah. I’d say it’s Cupid pulling all the attention. He’s never looked so good.” There’s a moment. A moment when our eyes meet, and my breathing slows. We lock eyes, the phone with the picture now a distant memory. If only my brain would stop whirling.
Why is he looking at me like that? Is there something on my face? Oh my god, does he want to kiss me? Do I want to kiss him? What does all this mean? What is happening?
After several tense moments, Jaxon licks his lips and clears his throat before looking out across the square. The sun has started to set and a gorgeous orange and pink glow settles across the sky.
“Here, let’s take one more picture.” He turns his back on the amazing sunset and motions for me to get closer. Hesitating for a split second, I slide under his arm, my head resting close to his shoulder.
Jaxon leans his head closer to mine and angles the front facing camera so that the sunset is our background. He takes multiple pictures back to back before lowering the camera
“Here,” he moves slightly and offers his hand to me once more, “We’ve got cookie decorating to do.”
“What?” Placing my hand in his, he pulls me towards Mama’s Cakes, the best bakery in town. Polly brought me here a couple weeks ago for some delicious gooey chocolate chip cookies, and let me just say, they are addictive.
Mama’s Cakes is an adorable storefront in the strip of businesses that surround the town square. It looks just like what you’d expect a locally owned, small-town bakery to be. The front bay window displays mouth-watering desserts on colorful cake stands. In honor of Valentine’s Day, they have a pink and red theme with paper hearts strung up in the display above the bright pink frosted cupcakes topped with cinnamon hearts. Sure enough, there’s a sign in the doorway that says, “Valentine Cookie Decorating Inside.”
Jaxon holds the door open for me, his hand falling to the small of my back as he leads me into the cozy bakery. A small crowd has already gathered in the parlor, everyone waiting for the decorating to begin. I’m expecting Jaxon to drop his handfrom my back once we’re both inside, but he doesn’t. His hand lingers, his thumb making small circles that are driving me mad. A shiver makes its way through my body that has nothing to do with the temperature.
“Are you cold?” Jaxon grabs the jacket slung over my elbow and holds it out for me. Not wanting to explain the reasoning behind the shiver, I nod and smile at him as I slip my arms into the sleeves.
An older lady with short white hair raises her arms in front of the crowd. She has a sweet face that makes her seem like the type of person who would sit and listen to your problems while patting on your knee and telling you everything would be alright.
“Good evening, and welcome to Mama’s Cakes for the first annual Love Festival. I’m Barbara Clement, owner of Mama's Cakes and I’ll be leading you through the cookie decorating. The stations are located in the back room with all the supplies you’ll need. When you’re done, don’t forget to take a picture for our cookie decorating contest. Have fun!”
We all shuffle through the swinging door and into the back room of Mama’s Cakes where Barbara shows us examples of cookie designs and talks us through the methods for using the royal icing. Each design is different: a pair of linked hearts, a set of lips, white hearts with feathered stripes of red and pink, and a cute cupcake complete with a cherry on top.
Ever studious, I watch as Barbara shows us how to outline the designs before flooding the cookie with frosting. When she gets to the feathering portion of the cookies, I practically lean over the table to get a closer look. I have a need to make these the cutest cookies.
Jaxon stands behind me the entire time, not that I turned to check, but I can feel him at my back. I try to not be self-conscious of the fact that my jeans are ridiculously tight and thatI’m leaning over a table, giving him a prime view of my ass. But secretly—or not so secretly—I hope that he looks.
We settle into our station wearing cute matching pink polka-dot aprons that make me giggle when Jaxon dramatically throws his hands on his hips and twirls. “Now, I think this beats the red dress for sure.”
“Who knew that you’d get a fashion show instead of a date?” He moves closer to me and reaches for the red frosting.
Following his lead, I grab the pink frosting to get started on the linked hearts. It looks like the easiest one to do and the directions are pretty straight forward. “About that. Why’d you decide to doCupid’s Shuffleanyway?” He doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who would need to put his name in a jar to go on a date.
He takes a deep breath before answering, his hands stilling around the piping bag. “All of the sports teams had their names thrown in.” He’s quiet for a moment like he’s debating something. “Why’d you put your name in?”
It’s a fair question, and one I’m prepared to answer since I asked it first. Might as well be honest about the whole thing. “I didn’t.” Jaxon looks at me and I drag my focus away from the cookie I’m decorating to look into his eyes. With a sigh, I explain. “Polly put my name in. She’s my roommate. It had been her suggestion that started this whole thing and she was really excited. She knows about my…” I pause trying to come up with a way to explain that I’d never been on a date, “dating history, and wanted to set me up. I told her I didn’t want to do it, but she put my name in without telling me.”
“So that’s why you looked sick when they called your name?”
“Yep.” Looking down at the cookie, I carefully outline the edges trying my best to keep the frosting from sliding over the side.
“So, aside from throwing books at people and singing in the library, what do you like to do?” He glances over at me while continuing to make a mess of his lip cookie.
“I’m pretty boring actually. Reading is how I like to spend my free time.”
“I’d say you are far from boring. No other person has made such an impression on me as you. Except for maybe that book you threw at me. I might have a divot in my forehead for the rest of my life.” He gives me a crooked smile, frosting dripping all over the table where it’s gone over the edges.
“You’re terrible at this,” I laugh.
“Hey, don’t hate on my lips. They’re delicious.” His blue eyes sparkle at me playfully.
“I’m sure,” I scoff.Wait, what did I just say? Am I flirting with him? Oh my god, I am, aren’t I? Have I been flirting this whole time? Has he been flirting this whole time? Dammit, why do I not know these things?“So,” I stammer, “What doyoudo for fun?”
