“I still have to work on your client’s order,” I say to my sister. It’s only cupcakes, so they should be simple, and maybe make a nice break from planning everything. It’s a lot of money and I don’t want to fuck it up.
“Plenty of time.” She eyes me. “Don’t burn yourself out.”
“I have Aiden.” Even saying his name makes that phantom hand stroke along my stomach. I can’t stop thinking about that kiss. He never wrote me back, though, and I ignore the annoying little thrum in my stomach. It was everything I’ve been missing.
Heat. Fire. Passion.
Aiden is a hard man to read. He looks angry most of the time.
Then I think about the way he held me when I cried about my mom.
Then the soft way he melted under me while we kissed. Soft pliant lips. He tastes delicious. He’s so fucking beautiful it’s unreal. I’m not a bad-looking guy, but Aiden is impossibly beautiful.
And he moaned when he kissed me.
I feel something and lift my eyes, watching Noah scrutinize me. “What?”
He places his chin on his hands and studies me.
“Nothing.” He goes back to his notebook, writing some things down. He’s been so much help, and I really can’t believe this is the same man who let me fall asleep drunk, face down, ass up, naked on his bed during college.
It’s a long story . . .
“Well, if you ever need a professional taste tester, your girl is right here.” Bri grabs another orange one. I reach into the cabinet and pull out a container.
“Here. Fill it with whatever you want. There’s way too much here.”
“Really?” I nod. “I love my friends.” Bri places a couple of each dessert into the container and I can tell she’s restraining herself. There is way too much here.
“Don’t be shy seriously. And take extra for Xavi.”
“Who are these for?” Noah asks. I look at the small white box and open the top to show them. “Mint?”
“They’re mint chocolate truffles. I tried out a recipe. They’re a gift.” A thank you for taking care of me when I was sick.
“Where’s Puck Daddy? Shouldn’t he be here for bestie time?”
Hunter.I think about the night on the porch. I know he’s being protective. I love him so much, but I don’t want judgement right now.
“He has to work tomorrow, and I know he and Mark don’t get a lot of free time together, so...” I don’t want to bother him.
“You know he’d drop everything to be here right now.” I ignore Noah as I dump sugar, flour, vanilla, and baking soda into a mixing bowl. That may be true, but I don’t want to bother him. I don’t want him to feel obligated to hang out.
After stirring in some chocolate chips, I dump the mixture into a bread pan. “Why are you making your heartbreak banana bread?”
I turn to my sister. “Excuse me?”
Instead of answering me she turns to my friends. “He makes banana bread when he’s sad about a boy.”
“No I don’t!”
“So you’re not sad about a boy, then?” She grins around a bite of one of the orange truffles.
“Fuck off.” I scrape the mixture into the pan and feel all eyes on me. I sigh. “Something may have happened.” I drop the pan onto the table, getting any air out of the mix. I like it dense. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Uh-huh. So you called all of us here on your day off to talk about desserts?” Noah says. “Nice try. Spill, Bakery Booty.”
“Why don’t you call him Cupcake Daddy?” Bri asks.
