by Kira Archer
“Any questions?” she asked.
“Just one,” Jenny said. “You doing okay?”
Gina gave a short laugh. “As well as can be expected for being ridiculously huge. This baby definitely takes after his or her daddy.”
“Aw, I think you look beautiful.” Jenny squatted down and held her hand out, glancing at Gina for permission. Gina took her hand and guided it to where the baby was thumping away.
A sense of awe and excitement came over Jenny. She adored new babies. Wasn’t sure she ever wanted to have one herself, but she adored other people’s. She’d seen how much work the little tykes were. She was the youngest of five siblings and had probably been the cause of a good 80 percent of her mother’s gray hairs. It’d be just her luck to end up with a kid like she’d been. No, thank you! And now, her three older sisters had had the niece and nephew factory going pretty steadily for years. But this was her big brother’s first child. And they were all excited to see him as a father.
Her mind wasn’t really on her brother, though. It was on Jared. She definitely needed to get that under control, or working with him was going to be all kinds of uncomfortable. Or all kinds of fun.
“So, does Jared help out a lot?” she asked, hoping she sounded vaguely interested.
Gina nodded but her forehead creased in a slight frown. “Yeah. When we first got started he helped more, and he still comes in every now and then, if we’re shorthanded. He does marketing stuff for us, created the logo for the bakery. I think he arranged things with his projects so he can cover some shifts and stuff while Nat and Eric are away. Just…watch out for him.”
Jenny frowned a little. “Why? Isn’t he one of your best friends?”
“Yes. But he sort of has the tendency to screw anything not nailed down, and while you’re an intelligent, fully grown adult who can do whatever the hell she likes, Rick would absolutely lose his shit if you and Jared hooked up. I’d kind of like to keep Jared in one piece. Just don’t tell him I said that.”
“Ah, yeah. I know that type. I am that type.” She laughed. “Don’t worry about me. I can handle myself.”
“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of.”
Jenny laughed again. “I promise I will resist his charms.” Whether he could resist hers was up for debate.
Gina shook her head, a small, almost proud look on her face. “Don’t be too sure. Jared is a piece of work.”
“So am I,” Jenny said with a wink.
…
Jared finished mixing up the bowl of frosting and carried it over to the island where the naked cupcakes stood waiting. Gina bustled in and actually rewarded him with a smile when she saw that he’d already made the frosting.
“This looks great, Jared, thanks.” She dipped a finger into the bowl and took a small taste. “Perfect.”
“See, I can be useful.”
“Oh, I know you can be. But most of the time, you choose not to be.”
He shrugged. “Gotta keep you on your toes. Wouldn’t want your life to get boring now that you’re an old married lady and all.”
“Oh, shut up,” she said, rolling her eyes at him.
Normally, he’d needle her a bit more. But he’d been trying to go a little easier on her, mostly because Nat had asked him to. Gina had the unique honor of being the best friend of his best friend’s wife. And sometimes his best friend, too. Not that he’d ever tell her that. The woman was insufferable enough as it was. Loud, bossy, opinionated, a little on the crazy side. The sister he never wanted. He was totally crazy about her, in an older-brother, I-get-to-torture-you-but-no-one-else-can way. The one night they’d drunkenly spent together had been great, but they’d quickly decided they were better off as frenemies.
And then Gina had met the love of her life, Officer Rick Boyd. She’d shocked the shit out of everyone by moving in with him after a few months together and then turning around and marrying the guy. “Marriage” and “Gina” were not words anyone would have ever put together in the same sentence. Just proves the old adage that when you meet the right one, you’ll know it. Not that Jared would know. He’d yet to meet the right one and when he did, he was going to haul ass in the opposite direction, as quickly as possible.
The fact that Jenny popped into his mind at that particular moment meant nothing. Nothing at all. And he was damn well going to keep telling himself that.
“So, where’s Jenny today?” he asked. He nearly bit his tongue the moment he asked, but he couldn’t seem to help himself. He’d been thinking about her since he’d landed in her lap. In fact, she’d been the reason for his sudden burst of productivity. He’d cranked out his pending projects in two days so he could be at the bakery, ready to help, days ahead of schedule. He hadn’t spent so much energy on work since his college days and his disastrous foray into the business ownership world.
“She ran out to the store for me. I needed…” She stopped and pressed a hand to her belly with a grimace.
Anxiety shot through him fast enough to turn his blood cold. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Baby’s ninja-kicking my kidney.” She sighed. “And there goes the bladder. I’ll be back. Get the frosting in a bag and start decorating.”
Jared chuckled, watching her go back to the bathroom. He didn’t know how impending fathers did it. He was a nervous wreck every time he was around her, and it wasn’t even his kid. He didn’t plan on being a father, but if it did happen, he’d need a steady supply of heavy medication just to make it through the pregnancy. And then a surrogate father to take over once the baby was there, because there was no way he was father material. He was going to make a kick-ass uncle, though.
The bell over the door tinkled and he went out front to help the customer, stopping short for half a second when he saw who it was. Anna Lopez. Small-time celebrity and host of the weekly cooking segment on the local channel’s morning show. And Jared’s crush du jour. Or at least she had been. The thrill he usually experienced when she pranced into the shop was gone…and he was pretty sure the reason for that had laughing blue eyes and the softest lips on the planet.
Not that Anna wasn’t gorgeous. The woman was a total knockout. Gina had mentioned that she was a regular, but she’d never given Jared more than a cursory smile when he’d seen her. Probably why he’d felt compelled to try to get a date with her, though so far she hadn’t given him the time of day. He wasn’t used to not being noticed. And he didn’t particularly care for it.
Maybe that’s why he was so fixated on Jenny. He still wasn’t convinced she hadn’t recognized him at the club.
“What can I do you for?” he asked, giving Anna his most charming smile.
She briefly glanced at him, then back down at her phone. “Large decaf, black, and nonfat, gluten-free scone.”
Inwardly, he grimaced. Nonfat anything was about as tasty as cardboard, even the stuff they made here, which was way above par compared to others he’d tasted. Also making it gluten-free shot any chance it had of having any taste whatsoever. And a decaf coffee? Why bother? The whole point of coffee was the caffeine. But…what the lady wanted, the lady would get.
“Coming right up,” he said. She didn’t even look at him.
He got her order, rang her up, and then offered to carry everything to a table for her. Though offering was a bit of a stretch. As soon as he’d handed her credit card back, she’d turned and walked to a table as if she expected him to follow along with her stuff. She didn’t even look at him when he deposited her order in front of her. Just raised the phone to her ear and started talking.
Frowning, he went back to the kitchen. He’d have to come up with a new approach. If he was still interested. Usually, he hated to quit before he’d gotten a date, on principle alone, but this time…it wasn’t bothering him so much.
Running into Jenny was totally throwing him off his game. Which was unacceptable for a host of reasons, not the least being that Jenny was off-limits thanks to her big brother and his even bigger fists. He definitely needed
to get his mind off her and back to available women, where it belonged.
Which was going to be a lot easier said than done. Especially since the woman in question was now standing outside the bakery happily hugging another woman in some girlie, overly exuberant reunion. Usually such displays had him heading for the hills, but she was kind of cute, laughing and waving her hands everywhere as she spoke. He chuckled and leaned against the counter so he could watch her being adorable.
He knew the exact moment she noticed him watching her. Her whole body stilled, her mouth slightly open as she looked through the window. And then she flashed that brilliant smile of hers straight at him and for a second he forgot where he was and what he was supposed to be doing.
Oh. Right. The cupcakes needed to be frosted before they dried out. But with Jenny still out in the front talking to her friend and glancing his direction every chance she got, he didn’t want to be stuck in back. Yeah, he should probably hide in the kitchen and keep his distance. But at the moment, he couldn’t muster up enough survival instinct to care.
He grabbed a tray of cupcakes and the bowl of icing and got everything settled on one of the front counters. Jenny was busy looking at the pictures her friend was scrolling through on her phone. He filled a pastry bag with frosting, making sure his movements as he squished the frosting down into the bag were intriguingly obscene. She still didn’t look up. But he kept it up because when she did, he wanted her to get a nice eyeful of some serious sex appeal.
He twisted his body slightly so his arms were shown off to the best degree. Time to put those hours at the gym to work. He got a good grip on the frosting bag and squeezed again, bunching his muscles much more than necessary. Throw in a little oh-baby-just-like-that bedroom face and…
Ms. Lopez looked up mid-sexy-lip bite, and he froze. From the expression on her face she seemed to think he was checking her out. No harm, no foul, he guessed. Pointing out her misunderstanding would only embarrass her, so he’d leave well enough alone.
Besides, her attention remained mostly fixed on her phone, though every now and then she’d glance up at him. Without looking like she was about to toss the coffee in his face, either. Bonus. He could flirt with Jenny and keep the world’s crankiest customer happy, all at the same time. That’s what you call talent, right there.
He leaned against the counter and lazily drew his finger through the chocolate frosting on the cupcake in front of him. He made sure Jenny was watching before he put his finger in his mouth and very slowly sucked the frosting from it. She rolled her eyes and looked away. But Jared caught the telltale blush on her cheeks. Oh yeah. She was into him. Naturally.
He stuck his finger out for another taste but before he could a wooden spoon appeared out of nowhere and rapped him sharply on the knuckle.
“Ow!” He turned to glare at Gina but quickly wiped his expression. Normal Gina when she was pissed off was enough to scare anyone. Extremely pregnant and hormonal Gina was cruel and unusual punishment.
So he switched on a smile. “Hello, you beautiful vision of motherhood. What can I do for you?”
She glared at him. “Cut the shit, Crew.”
He held up his hands. “I come in peace. Keep the anal probe holstered,” he said, pointing to the spoon in her hand. “Did you assault me for the sheer pleasure of it, or did I commit some horrible infraction again?”
She pointed to the bowl of frosting and everything that went along with it. “Prep work, including cupcake decorating, is done in the back. No one wants to see the guy who is making their food stick his finger in the frosting and then lick it off. That’s nasty. You should be wearing gloves. And a hairnet. And icing the cupcakes in the kitchen. At least you got rid of that god-awful beard.”
“Yes, well, a hairnet over my hair is bad enough. You slapping one on my carefully cultivated beard was the last straw. And I’m aware of the ever-important frosting location rules, but if I went back there, I wouldn’t be able to see her.” He pointed to Jenny, who was still chatting with her friend.
Gina peered over to look at her and then glanced back at Jared. “You mean the Sofia Vergara look-alike at the back table?”
Jared’s brain finally registered that he was speaking to Rick’s wife, and since literally pointing out his interest in Jenny was bad for his health, he quickly nodded. “Hell, yeah.”
“She’s so out of your league it’s not even funny.”
Jared laughed. “Au contraire, mon frère. I have no league. That is one of the beauties of being me.”
“Frère means brother. I’m not your brother.”
“I know. That’s why it’s funny. Plus it rhymes.”
Gina rolled her eyes. “If you have to explain it, it’s not funny.”
“Of course it is. Everything I say is funny.”
“God,” Gina groaned. “You’ve got such an ego.”
“This is true.” It was also the exact same thing Jenny had said to him. He seriously needed to get that woman out of his head.
He ran a hand through his hair and picked up the spoon from the frosting bowl.
“Don’t you dare lick that,” Gina warned.
“Why, you want some?” he asked, holding it out to her.
She wrinkled her nose. “Gross.”
He shrugged and stuck it back in the bowl to get a heaping scoop.
“Jared, seriously! You’re supposed to be helping out. Not making my life more difficult.”
Jared sighed, totally exasperated, though riling Gina up was one of the highlights of his day. “Gene, you have got to lighten up. Look around. No one is even watching us. You’re the only one who cares.”
He stuck his tongue out and wiggled his eyebrows at her.
“Don’t you dare,” she warned.
He brought the spoon closer and she tried to grab it. He yanked his arm away, flinging chocolate frosting in a magnificent arc through the air.
And right into the face of the gorgeous brunette who’d been haunting his thoughts.
Chapter Four
Jared and Gina froze—Gina in horror, Jared with a mixture of “oops” and amusement, while Jenny stood there, mouth open, blinking chocolate out of her eyes. She scooped a bit off her cheek, glanced at Jared, and grinned. Before she could lob the frosting back his way, Gina grabbed her arm.
“It’ll only encourage him,” she said.
“No food fight, eh?”
Gina rolled her eyes. “You’re as bad as he is. Here.” She thrust a towel into Jenny’s hands and rubbed her own on her apron.
Jenny wiped at her face and nodded at Jared. “Looks like everything I keep hearing about you is true.”
He laughed. “From the tone of your voice, I’m guessing you didn’t hear much good.”
She shrugged. “Depends on your definition of good.” Before he could respond to that, she continued. “So. Was this a crazy accident or some sort of intern initiation?”
“Ha! Like Gina would let me have that much fun. It’s not a bad idea, though.”
“Don’t even think about it,” Gina warned. “You might want to clean that bit off the floor before you slip and break your neck.”
“Ahh, listen to you. Didn’t think you cared.”
Gina shrugged. “I don’t. But if you get blood on my floor that’s one more thing for me to clean up and I’m really not feeling like extra duties today.”
She rubbed her back and Jenny frowned at her. “You should be home resting. I know the ropes. I’m sure I can handle things here.” She glanced at him, and Jared got the distinct impression she was referring to him. Several inappropriate comebacks about her ability to handle him popped into his head, but he managed to keep them to himself. Barely.
Then Jenny’s tongue snaked out and swiped a lick of frosting from the corner of her mouth, and his brain nearly short-circuited. Working with her was going to be torture. Exquisite, delicious torture.
She shrugged. “Not bad. Except I usually prefer vanilla.”
Jared laughe
d. Thank God she has a sense of humor.
She looked around for another towel. Jared snagged the hand towel he’d shoved in his back pocket and thrust it into her hand, using the one she’d already dirtied to scoop the bit of frosting off the floor.
“Sorry about that,” he said, infusing it with as much sincerity as he could, since he couldn’t contain his laughter. He didn’t want her to think he was laughing at her. He really was sorry. But the whole situation was such a clusterfuck of crazy it was unreal.
“Thanks,” she said, her voice muffled from behind the towel as she continued to mop up her face.
“If I’d known I’d be creaming you today, I would have at least made sure to make your favorite flavor,” he said, taking Jenny’s hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.
Her perfect, cupid mouth dropped open in surprise before she laughed, squeezing his hand in return.
“Well, I suppose it’s a good thing you creamed me and not any customers. Most people aren’t as forgiving as me, I’m sure.”
Gina snorted. “A forgiving nature is a good thing to have if you’re going to be around Jared for any length of time. You two behave. I gotta pee again.”
Jared ignored her and took a few steps closer to Jenny. “Here,” he said, taking the towel from her. “You missed a spot.”
He dunked the tip of the towel in the pitcher of water that sat behind the counter and moved closer so he could wipe the streak of frosting from her cheek. She froze, eyes the color of a deep, tropical sea, staring up at him like he was a bee she was afraid might sting her if she made any sudden movements.
“There, I think I got it.”
She blinked and moved back a step. “Thanks.” She looked him over. “You lost the beard.”
“Do you approve?”
She tilted her head like she was contemplating how to answer that. His eyebrow quirked up, and finally she laughed. “Yeah, I approve.”
Jared opened his mouth to spread a little charm, but she gestured to the counter.
Jared turned to see what she’d pointed at and saw the woman of his former dreams waiting impatiently. He’d almost forgotten her.