He suppressed a smile and took the stairs up to his apartment two at a time, where he threw on a pair of black pants and a polo and slung his apron over his shoulder. Back on the street, he slid into the passenger side, grateful to be riding in a tall man’s vehicle with ample room for his legs. Josie fired up the engine and pulled away from their definitely illegal parking spot, and Erik found himself uncharacteristically curious.
“So, uh.”
He didn’t have to say any more; Josie laughed as she navigated lanes of traffic toward Lake Shore Drive. “Let me guess. What’s the deal with Jake?”
He shrugged, knowing full well that whatever it was he was doing, no part of it was playing it cool. How long had she known the guy? Was there any chance he was actually a married father of five or moonlighting as a Catholic priest? Was it true that Josie only turned those flirty eyes on men in suits?
“That was Finn’s stupidly hot, perpetually single, all-work-no-play brother. He’s a kick-ass accountant at the best firm in town.” The admiration in her voice dissolved into a theatrically over-the-top sigh. “I’ve known him for basically the entire six years I’ve known Finn, and tragically, he’s never once considered marrying me and making Finn and me sisters for real, no matter how hard I’ve tried.”
An unexpected rush of disappointment clogged his throat, and then she surprised him by laughing ruefully.
“Alas, Jake and I have zero chemistry. You can imagine how frustrating that is since hot, übersuccessful businessmen are exactly my type.”
Erik said nothing but filed away yet another piece of evidence that Josie preferred fancy men. Outgoing men. Not-him men.
“Eh, it’s just as well,” she said easily. “He’s better off as a friend. Most of the guys I date don’t stick around past a week or two anyway.”
Idiots.What would it be like to be the person she wanted? Just imagining it made his skin heat. Sure, she assessed him all the time with a professional eye, but to have her look at him with desire? To have her use that persuasive charm to get him to put his hands where she wanted, and then his mouth and his tongue—
He dragged his eyes away from her pert profile and forced his mind elsewhere. They were speeding past the familiar Chicago skyline. Somewhere in all that chrome and steel, the type of guy she actually wanted was toiling away at a computer, not worrying about napkin counts and whether he’d made enough pear tarts.
The reminder tossed cold water on his thoughts, and he let her chatter wash over him as they drove. Her words stopped when the car did, and before they exited the Jeep to start setup, she turned to face him.
“Nervous?”
“No. Maybe.”
“Don’t be.” She dropped the keys in her purse and grinned at him. “I snuck a few samples as we were carrying everything down. It’s all delicious. People are gonna go nuts.”
And they did. Five hours later, he and Josie were left with mostly crumbs and empty platters among the racks and racks of sturdy-soled shoes on display. The raspberry-lemon cake that had been the centerpiece of his service had been consumed down to the last crumb, and the supplementary pear tarts and snickerdoodles were nothing but picked-over remnants.
“It couldn’t have been better!” she crowed. “The Fielders are thrilled. And I gave out so many of your business cards.”
“I have business cards?”
She reached into her pocket and handed him a small square with a flourish. “This isn’t amateur hour, my friend. Of course you do.” The card was emblazoned with the logo and sketch of him that he was trying very hard not to warm up to, along with his brand-new web address and his cell phone number. At the bottom in a simple font, she’d had printedDelicious Outside, Delicious Inside.
He curled his fingers around the thick paper, thrilled at how official this made things and a little touched that she’d remembered the tagline they’d joked about weeks ago. “Thank you.”
She leaned around him to snag the last tart from the tray. “Just keep doing what you do best, and I’ll keep doing what I do best.” With a wink, she darted off to talk with Mr. and Mrs. Fielder, anddamnshe was cute when she talked with her mouth full.
He squashed that thought, shoved the card into his back pocket, and started carrying empty trays to the back. On his second trip, voices just outside the stockroom door had him pausing with his fingers on the handle.
“I wonder where she found the unbelievably hot baker.”
“Right? I couldn’t stoplookingat him.”
Hewas the subject of this conversation?Erik peeked through the crack and confirmed that it was the pair of young Fielder Shoe employees who’d been on hand for crowd control.
“Those forearms!” the woman with braids crooned.
“Thoseforearms,” the short-haired woman agreed. “That guy’s a snack.”
“Girl, that guy’s a whole five-course meal.”
His ears burned as they snickered, and then a familiar voice joined the conversation.
“Yes, yes, congratulations on having working sets of eyes. When you’re done drooling over my hot baker’s incredible arms, could one of you help me shift this table?”
