Brady’s eyes opened, and all of that deliciousness pinned me to the bench. “We’re going to win. Hands down. I don’t even need a second bite. These are...” He made the mind-blown motion with his hand. “Forget Strawberry Cheesecake Sorbet. We’re calling them Berry Sinful.”
“Berry Sinful, huh?” I asked, a brow in the air. “This is only the first batch. I bet we can make them even better before the competition in a few weeks.”
“Doubtful,” he said, around another bite. “Fluffy, the perfect amount of sweetness, and the icing is like a puffy cloud when you bite into it.” His eyes rolled back in his head when he took another bite.
“That’s the marshmallows,” I said, making a note on the pad next to me. “I’ll make sure to keep it as part of the recipe. We get one secret ingredient. Do you think the marshmallow is worthy of being undeclared?”
Brady pointed at me with his mouth full of cake. “If you let Darla know you’re using it, she’ll jump on that bandwagon.”
I put a star next to the marshmallow crème. “Done. The last thing I need right now is to be beaten by Darla McFinkle. My life would be over. She stopped by earlier tonight. You know, before the date with the loser, because if my night wasn’t already bad, dealing with Darla just added to the pleasure. Anyway, she’s convinced she’s going to beat us, so we better bring our A-game.” I rolled my eyes to show my sarcasm, and he rolled his back at me.
“Her winning would be a hit to your baking prowess. I’ll give you that.”
“No, it would be the end of my baking career. I’d never pick up another beater again. I’d curl up in a ball and rock in the corner until the earth swallowed me whole.”
His brow went up, and his lips followed in a smile. “If I didn’t know you as well as I do, that sentence might make me think you’re a bit of a drama queen.”
I chuckled and rested my ample hip on the baker’s bench. “When it comes to Darla McFinkle, I just might be.”
He waved his finger around in the air at me. “What’s your beef with her?”
“Have you met her?” I asked dryly.
“As stated, I took her out on a date. She was full of herself, but—”
I pointed at him. “That’s my beef with Darla. She’s so full of herself that there’s no room for anyone else in her atmosphere.”
Brady shrugged. “I’ve learned one thing when it comes to women like Darla. She’s not full of herself. She’s actually about the least confident person I’ve ever met, and she knows it.”
I huffed, rolled my eyes, gagged, and pelted the cupcake in the garbage. I didn’t need it anyway. It would only add to the fluffy part of me.
He chuckled and shook his head. “That was a lot of drama right there.”
“Because you clearly don’t know women,” I said, starting to clean up the bench. “If you did, you wouldn’t have just defended someone’s archenemy to their face.”
I stomped around the bakery, dumping the garbage, binning the rest of the berries, and packing the cupcakes in a box for tomorrow. We had made a small batch, and I’d save the rest for Amber and everyone else to try. If they all liked them as much as Brady and I did, we’d have a winner for the competition. I hadn’t planned to bake the first batch tonight with him, but it worked out, I guess. Usually, I liked baking the first batch by myself. That way, if they flopped, no one was the wiser. I had enjoyed myself being able to bake with him in a relaxed atmosphere. Too bad he had to go and ruin it by defending Dumbass Darla.
Brady grabbed my arm on one of my mad dashes past him. “Haylee, I wasn’t defending her. I was just explaining my impression of her. I’m not saying you have to agree with me. She has a way of rubbing people the wrong way. I don’t deny that. I cross the street to avoid her, too.”
My shoulders deflated, and my anger quickly dissipated. “I get defensive when it comes to women like Darla in all their skinny, made-up glory.” I waved my hand at my neck. “Forget it.” I grabbed the box of cupcakes and headed to the cooler. “I’ll save these for Amber to try. Hopefully, she likes them as much as we did.”
“She will,” he said when I joined him again at the bench. “You know cupcakes. You don’t need her approval, or mine, to know they’re winners.”
“True, but I still want people to love them. I want them to come to The Fluffy Cupcake looking for more.”
He leaned his strong forearms on the bench. “I’ve never asked how you came up with the name for this place. Something tells me it wasn’t for the simple reason it’s catchy.”
I clapped my hands together and headed to the light switches. “I think it’s time for bed. We’re only six hours away from being back here again.” He grabbed my arm before I got to the door, and I sighed internally. I didn’t want to be alone in the bakery with him, but I was also glad I wasn’t alone with Tieg. I’d take Brady over tulip boy any day. “Thanks for saving me from that horrific date tonight, Brady. I appreciate the lifeline since I couldn’t get a text out to anyone.”
“It wasn’t a problem, Haylee. I could tell you weren’t enjoying yourself, for whatever reason. Now it’s time to stop dodging my question. It shouldn’t be that hard to tell me why you picked the name for your business when I ask.”
I pursed my lips and wiggled them around a bit. “It’s bottom-line basic, Brady. I picked the name because cupcakes are fluffy. It made sense.”
He didn’t let go of my elbow. “I’m not blind, cupcake. I saw your reaction the instant I asked that question.”
“Don’t call me cupcake!” I said, wrenching my arm free of his hand. “Men, you’re all the same!”
“How are we all the same?”
“You don’t listen, and you won’t take no for an answer!”
“Whoa, back up the cupcake wagon. Did some guy not take no for an answer, Haylee?”
I huffed and crossed my arms over my chest. “I haven’t met one that has yet. Some have been worse than others. There were some where I wasn’t sure if I was going to get out of the situation unharmed, which is another reason why I appreciate your help tonight. I suspect Tieg Tulip wouldn’t have taken no for an answer, that is, if he could get past the size of my hips and ass, which...” I made the so-so sign in the air with my hand. “Didn’t seem likely considering he mentioned the size of them no less than two dozen times.” My shoulders deflated, and I leaned on the baker’s bench, my chin dropping to my chest. “I know you’re new to Lake Pendle, but Darla has been after me since the first day of kindergarten. Defending her to me is like claiming store-bought bread is just misunderstood.”
Brady’s laughter should have been infectious, but I was too tired to join in. I was tired of the day, but even more tired of my boring life. Life with Brady would at least be entertaining. That was as likely to happen as Darla deciding to stop bullying me.
He rested his hand on my shoulder lightly, and I didn’t move away, which took me by surprise. Maybe I was just too tired or in need of a little comfort, no matter who offered it.
“Listen, I get what you’re saying. I was just trying to make you feel better about Darla nagging on you all the time. I’m relatively new to the town in the respect that I didn’t grow up here. I didn’t know the history between you two ran that deep. Forgive me?”
“Nothing to forgive,” I said, before pushing off the bench. “I always overreact when I’m tired. Especially when it comes to Darla McFinkle.”
Brady hung his apron on the hook and slung his arm over my shoulders while we walked out the front door. “I’ll take you home, but for the record, the size of your hips and ass is size perfect. Don’t let some loser make you think otherwise. I’m warning you now, Haylee Davis, someday you will tell me why you named this place The Fluffy Cupcake.”
I locked the bakery door and tucked the key in my pocket. Walking backward toward the stairs on the side of the building, I held my hands out at my sides. “I am home, and it shouldn’t be that hard to figure out. Night, Brady.”
I climbed the stairs t
o my apartment, fatigue making my feet heavy with each step. Brady’s laughter carried through the quiet night air and filled my head with ideas a girl like me shouldn’t have. Size perfect hips and ass or not.
AMBER STOOD AT THE bench, snarfing down a cupcake at five a.m. Her moans filled the bakery, and the sound of lip-smacking was all you heard besides the constant whirl of the oven where more cupcakes rotated in all of their baking glory.
“Hay-Hay, these are seriously the cupcake of the century.”
Rolling out a pie crust on the bench, I bit back a laugh. “Amber, it’s just strawberry cake batter. It’s not up for a Pulitzer.”
“You’re right, they’re up for Lake Pendle Strawberry Festival Cupcake of the Year, and these are the ones. You’re going to win hands down.” She tossed the cupcake paper in the trash and brushed off her hands.
“The only time I’ve ever lost was when I didn’t enter,” I said, laughter in my voice. “I’m glad you like them. That’s three for three.”
Amber’s brow went up in curiosity. “Who else tried them besides you and me?”
“Brady,” I answered nonchalantly. “He helped me bake them last night. You should have heard him. He was as bad as you with all that moaning, oohing and ahhing.” I checked the clock. “I wonder where he is. He should be here by now.”
“He probably overslept after spending so much time last night making cupcakes with his cupcake.”
My fist came down on the wooden bench with force. “I am not his cupcake! And it wasn’t that late.”
Amber held up her finger in confusion. “Why were you baking cupcakes with Brady instead of on a date with Tieg. That was last night, right?”
The deep inhale of air through my nose told her she was about to get an earful. “Oh, it was last night. Tieg Tulip is indescribable when it comes to how truly awful he is.”
“I take it you two didn’t hit it off?” Amber asked, leaning her ribs on the baker’s bench. She was so short she needed a stool whenever she had to work on the bench with me. It aggravated her when we teased her about using the kiddie stool.
“Hit it off?” I asked, slowly setting the pie aside. “No, we didn’t hit it off. He was rude, didn’t listen, mentioned the size of my hips in a derogatory manner too many times, and insisted I carry his tulips around town as a reminder to people that he was the one who gave them to me.”
“Seriously?” Amber asked, her lip curling up.
“You know me. I don’t sugarcoat anything. I was at the park having a horrific time at a picnic with him when Brady came along. Thankfully, he noticed my discomfort and rescued me from the situation.”
“Brady rescued you from a date?” she asked in shock.
My hands went out to the side. “We were having a picnic in a public place, and Brady saw me sitting there. Tieg was none too happy about him interrupting, but I owe Brady a debt of gratitude. I can’t say for sure what this guy was going to try at the end of the date, but I do know I wouldn’t have liked it.”
“Damn, I’m sorry, Hay-Hay,” she said, taking my hand. “I knew he was a bit odd, but sometimes oddness is endearing. Obviously not in this case.”
I squeezed her hand and then released it to get back to my pies. “If I were you, I wouldn’t help Tieg find dates anymore. You’d hate to feel responsible if he did something to one of your friends.”
Amber’s hands went up in the air. “Agreed. I’m scratching him off the potential suitors' list. I guess date number twenty-nine was a bust.”
“Just like the dates one through twenty-eight were,” I agreed with my head nodding. “I’m done dating now. I can’t deal with these guys. They all think they know everything, all they want is a woman to control, and thus far, none of them have had any respect for the fact I own and run my own business. They’re either too caught up in themselves, or too caught up in my measurements.”
Amber’s frown told me she wasn’t in the same camp about giving up on love. “Hay-Hay, you can’t give up. Besides, I know someone who admits he doesn’t know everything, doesn’t want to control a woman, has the utmost respect for you owning your own business, and he’s hot to boot.”
Brushing a strand of hair off my face, I paused in the filling of my pie. “Well, where is this mythical unicorn?”
“Coming in the back door,” Amber said.
Before I could react, she spun on her heel and flounced to the front of the bakery to load the pastry case. The sound of Brady’s humming from the back room filled the bakery, and my heart contracted. He might be all those things, but he would never be mine.
Seven
I set the last of the cupcakes down on the freezer rack and let out a sigh. It had been a long hot day, but the work was finally done. Now I could go home and catch up on some missed sleep. I was working more now than ever, and I knew my latest change in the bakery personnel had been the wrong one.
The idea had frosty white plumes puffing out into the cold air where I stood. I had initially hired Brady as my kitchen manager and part-time baker. He worked his way up to making all the bread, buns, and now the ordering, which was great. The problem was, I was already regretting that decision. He was too talented as a baker to have him squired away doing inventory. He should be at the bench as a full-time baker. He’d been working toward it for years, and when I made a rash decision to put him in charge of inventory, I did it out of fear. I was too afraid of working with him full-time to offer him the position. Now, I worried Brady was offended that I overlooked his work at the bench. Knowing Brady, that wasn’t likely, but I knew I made a mistake. It was a mistake I’d have to rectify.
First, I would have to talk to Amber about who would replace him as our kitchen manager. Secretly, I hoped she would tell me I was crazy to promote him, and then I could leave things alone. Truth be told, I wasn’t sure I could work at the bench with Brady full-time. It would be a lot harder to keep my roving eyes and hands to myself if I had to work next to him all day every day instead of just a few hours a day.
I pushed open the door to the freezer, deciding to deal with it another day when I wasn’t tired, hot, and hungry.
“There you are!” Amber said, throwing her arms up in the air. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”
“Sorry, was finishing the last of the cupcakes for tomorrow’s order. What’s up, buttercup?”
Amber tapped her watch impatiently. “You heading upstairs to change. Chop-chop. You’ve only got an hour.”
My eyes rocked back and forth in my head while I searched the database for what I had forgotten. “An hour for what? I’m going to bed. I’ve been up since three a.m. It’s Sunday, and I need a nap.”
With my pink and white frosting stained apron tossed in the bin, I spun on my heel to head for the door, but Amber grabbed my arm. “Not so fast, petunia. You have brunch with Maxwell in an hour at The Modern Goat.”
My head swung in denial instantly. “Not in this lifetime or the next one will you find me having lunch with Maxwell at The Modern Goat. I don’t even know who that is,” I exclaimed, throwing my hands up. “I told you, no more blind dates!”
“I had this one set up before you told me that, though,” Amber insisted, pouting the way she used to when she didn’t get her way when we were kids. “It’s too late to stand him up now.”
The growl that tore from my lips would have put a rabid dog to shame. “And you waited this long to tell me because you knew I’d cancel!”
“Maybe Maxwell will be your soulmate. If you stand him up, you’ll never know.” My best friend gave me a frowny face and batted her lashes at me. “Besides, this date will make it an even thirty for your twenty-ninth year of life. If you don’t hit it off with him, I promise I’ll never set you up on another blind date.”
“Where do you find these guys anyway?” I asked, heading for the front of the bakery. “Do you surf dating websites looking for the biggest losers in the area and then hook them up with your loser friend?”
“You are not a lo
ser!”
I flipped the open sign to closed and spun back to face my oldest friend. “If that’s true, then why do you keep setting me up with losers?” I paused and held up my finger. “And why aren’t you dating these guys? Why do you keep setting me up with them?”
Amber huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m happy where I am. You, on the other hand, are not, so I’m doing what best friends do and helping you find someone.”
“Best friends bring booze and pizza to movie night. They don’t set their best friend up for failure with every loser in town.”
“Maxwell isn’t from town,” she said, chasing after me as I headed for the back door. “He’s from Dawsbury.”
I huffed and rolled my eyes, grateful she was behind me and couldn’t see me as I started climbing the stairs to my apartment. Dawsbury was the next town over, there were less than one thousand people in that village, and all of them were farmers. I love my farmers, they keep me in eggs and butter and everything else I need to make cupcakes, but I have no desire to date any of them. “Great, you want me to date a guy who smells like manure and wears teat dip as cologne!”
Amber’s finger twirled around my face when I turned. “You’re kind of picky.”
I tossed my arms up in the air again. “I’ll go on the stupid date, and I’ll give your farm boy a chance, but this is it. Do you hear me? The next time you set me up with someone, I will break the date, and I’ll never talk to you again!”
“You’re the one who wanted to be in a serious relationship by thirty!” Amber exclaimed. “I’ve been trying to find you a guy, but you’re constantly finding something wrong with all of them!”
“That’s because every single one of them points out all my flaws on the first date! I’m never dating again. I’m happy being alone if every available guy is as awful as the ones you’ve set me up with so far. Keep this up, and I’ll start finding you guys to date who are equally as terrible!”
The threat made, I slammed the door and bolted for the shower. Maxwell might smell like manure, but I wasn’t going on a date smelling like sweat and sickly-sweet frosting. When I climbed in the shower and lathered up, I only felt slightly bad for yelling at my best friend. Amber was right when she said I wanted to be in a relationship by thirty. I just had no idea how impossible of a goal that would be when I made it.
Cupcake (The Fluffy Cupcake Book 1) Page 5