Chapter Two
DANE STOPPED THE moment he stepped into the building and took a deep breath. Damn, it smelled good in here! It wasn’t simply the cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and pies covering nearly every flat surface in the shop that had his mouth watering. It was also the aroma of the barbecue spices coming from the kitchen in the back. Skye must be making ribs or chicken…or maybe pulled pork. Either way, it made him hungry as hell.
As he crossed the front room of the building that housed his sister’s catering business, he craned his neck to peek into the kitchen. It seemed even bigger than the last time he’d been here a few weeks ago. It was difficult to believe this place used to be a barn. He wouldn’t be surprised if they needed to put an addition on it soon. Skye’s business was growing crazy fast. When the wedding and event planners, convention centers, and corporate deliveries had started overwhelming her with requests for desserts, his sister had hired another baker and a full-time delivery driver. That had helped for a while, but then her clients had asked if she could also cater hors d’ouevres and meals too. So Skye had hired a chef and another driver as well as purchased another delivery truck, expanding her business even further.
And Dane had thought this would never work. Boy, did he feel stupid.
Five months ago, when his sister had bailed on her Wall Street job and moved back here to Dallas to open a cupcake bakery, Dane had been sure she’d lost her mind. Actually, he’d been sort of an asshole about it. But he couldn’t understand why someone would turn their back on New York, a cushy job, and all that easy money to bake cupcakes of all things.
As if that wasn’t enough, she’d also gotten involved then moved in with his best friend, Jax. He hadn’t reacted very well to that either. Okay, in reality, he’d sort of been a complete jerk about the whole thing. But, fortunately, that stupidity had been short-lived and was all behind them now. As his sister’s wedding approached, he and Skye were closer than they’d ever been in their lives, and he and Jax were closer, too. Even so, he still felt like an idiot when he remembered all the dumbass things he’d said to Jax and his sister all those months ago. That was one of the reasons he was trying to help out as much as he could with their wedding. He wanted to make up for being such a total dickweed.
In fact, that was why he was here. Skye had called and asked him to come over to give them advice about something for the wedding. Dane had no clue what he could provide insight on. When it came to weddings, he was clueless.
Jax and Skye were at the granite-topped island in the center of the shop, sampling cake. Dane might not know much about weddings, but if it involved eating cake, he was in.
“What’s up?” he said. “You make too many cakes and need help eating them?”
Skye laughed, her blue eyes twinkling as she came over to hug him. “Kind of. We need your help picking out a cake for the wedding. Our taste buds are completely shot from tasting so many different ones, and we need an outside opinion.”
Dane frowned. “Wait a minute. I thought you already had the cake picked out. You do realize you’re getting married in a little over a week, right?”
“Skye decided she wasn’t feeling the chocolate cake with raspberry mousse filling and chocolate frosting she picked out,” Jax informed him, filling his fork with white cake that had fruit on the inside and peach-colored frosting. “She thinks the cake we have at our wedding needs to be the very best in the world since it will say so much about her business. We’ve spent the morning eating more cake than I even want to think about.”
Dane wasn’t sure that was possible. Grabbing a fork, he chowed down on one awesome flavor after the other, listening to his sister and best friend talk about their honeymoon plans—glamping on the shores of the Blackfoot River in Montana.
Dane paused, a forkful of red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting halfway to his mouth. “I thought you were going on a cruise.”
Skye tucked her long dark hair behind her ear. “We thought about it, but Jax wanted to go camping. I told him if we were going to be sleeping in a tent on our honeymoon, it had to come with electricity, running water, and maid service. I thought that would be the end of the camping idea, but Jax found the perfect place that met both out needs. It specializes in glamorous camping—glamping. It has hiking, fishing, and horses for him, and luxurious tents with all the amenities for me, including gourmet dining, maid service twice a day, and private honeymoon tents.”
Jax leaned over to kiss her. “I told you I’d find you a place you’d like.”
“That’s why I love you.” She grinned. “Well, one of the reasons, anyway.”
Dane went back to eating his cake, shaking his head at the idea of putting camping and luxurious together in the same sentence. Clearly, Skye and Jax were looking forward to it, though. A few months ago, seeing his best friend kissing his sister would have led to a fight—now he couldn’t help but smile. They really were made for each other, and he was glad they’d gotten together.
“You can eat more than one bite of each cake, you know that, right?” Skye laughed as he took a small forkful of the fourth cake and gave it a try.
He wasn’t going to be any help deciding which cake they should have at their wedding. They all tasted great.
“I have plans later and don’t want to be bouncing off the walls with a sugar high for the rest of the day,” he said.
On the other side of the island, Skye rested her forearms on the counter and leaned forward expectantly. “What kind of plans?”
Dane was wondering how much he could say about his date with Lexi before Skye started in on the whole is-it-serious line of questioning. He flat out did not want his sister involved in his sex life—or at least what he hoped might turn into some sex in his life. He wasn’t going there.
Before he had a chance to wiggle out from under the question, Jax answered for him. “He’s got a date with Lexi Fletcher, the new paramedic at the station house. They’re going out to dinner tonight.”
Dane’s jaw dropped. He hadn’t said a word about the date to anyone, so how the hell had Jax found out? Then again, he supposed Lexi could have mentioned it to someone.
“Dude, you work in a firehouse,” Jax said. “There aren’t any secrets there. People have been taking bets on when the two of you would go on your first date. You guys have been mooning over each other for a month.”
Dane snorted. “I haven’t been mooning. I’ve simply been…interested.”
“Okay.” Jax shrugged, taking a bite of the cake with lemon filling. “Whatever you say.”
Dane would have argued, but Skye interrupted. “Forget about Jax. Tell me about Lexi. What’s she like? Where you going to dinner? Do you think she’ll want to come to the wedding or will that send the wrong signal? You are thinking long-term here, right?”
Dane stifled a groan. This is exactly why he hadn’t wanted to get into this with his sister. She might only ask one question, but it would be in ninety-six parts.
