Tagged For A New Start

by Sam Destiny

  “I’ll happily order you tea, but I need what I ordered. This is going to be a long day, and let’s face it, this was the easy part.”

  He arched a brow when Evy received her drink and he was supposed to pick one.

  “Coffee, black, one cube of sugar.”

  “A simple man,” the girl behind the counter stated, and then winked at him. “I like it.”

  He was about to drop one of his usual lines about only being simple when it came to coffee, but never anywhere else, before he’d wriggle his brows, but then he realized she was neither pretty nor was he interested in the flirt. It was his M.O., and nothing more. He responded to flirting because he’d never done anything else. Instead he glanced at Evy, knowing he’d rather flirt with her.

  “Of course you do. He wears a uniform. Show me one woman who doesn’t. And also, you might reconsider flirting with guys who come in with girls. It’s just not nice. What if I’d have been his date?”

  The girl eyed Evy up and down. “You? Miss Stuck-up? I don’t think so. Or you aren’t interesting enough because handsome here just gave me the eye.”

  He had? Tank couldn’t remember, and he certainly hadn’t wanted to because there was nothing he considered worth checking out.

  To avoid a catfight—and because it was the perfect opportunity—he grabbed Ev and pressed a kiss to her mouth, tasting the chocolate from her first sip on her lips. He’d meant for it to be a brief peck, but when her tongue brushed against his lips, he parted them and deepened the kiss.

  Only when someone cleared their throat did he remember that they were in the middle of a coffee shop. Evy’s cheeks were aflame, but he didn’t mind. In fact, he loved the look on her, and also loved that he’d put it there. He could get used to it.

  “Your coffee.”

  The flirty girl behind the counter suddenly was much less friendly, and Tank took his drink before taking Evy’s hand to lead her over to a table furthest from the counter.

  They needed a game plan, and, if he was honest, he liked pretending they were on a date. He sat, and so did Evy, then he put his cup down.

  “And now that we got the contract… what’s next?”

  Staring at Tank across the table at the coffee shop, she couldn’t help but wish this were a different world.

  One where she wasn’t a single mother and he wasn’t a guy who didn’t believe in love and families. In another world, another time and place, maybe this could’ve been the perfect first date. The way he’d kissed her to prove something he didn’t have to prove, the way he’d looked at her instead of the girl when she’d tried to flirt… Damn, Evy had nearly grinned smugly.

  “I guess we need to go and find a bakery ready to prepare cakes for so many people. I don’t even know how that will be possible.”

  Tank leaned back, his long legs stretching under the table, and it felt almost familiar, comfortable when they brushed hers, one foot coming to rest under her chair. “How many people are we talking?”

  “Approximately a thousand,” she replied. It was the only number she’d gotten, since so far she hadn’t gotten a chance to look through the responses to all the invitations that had been sent out. They were at Tessa’s studio and she’d waited for the guys from Elaborate Events to call her about them.

  “Okay, not everyone eats fancy cake, so you might want to have some pies, too,” he suggested.

  She nodded. “I was thinking yeast cakes with different fruits. I’ve seen that when I was on holiday in Germany once. You know, with apples, and some with plums, with cherries and pears. It would be something different, something special.” At his questioning expression, she grinned. “Like a sheet cake with a fruity topping and maybe some crumbles.”

  His expression lit up. “Now, that sounds like I definitely want to try it. So plan on only a few fancy, creamy cakes and more with that the fruit. Some brownies maybe, too. That’s what we need.”

  She nodded, reaching for her handbag until remembering that she’d left it in the car, having paid for her coffee with her last change. “Shit. You better remember all that,” she ordered and Tank leaned forward again until they were nearly breathing the same air at the tiny table.

  “Will do, boss.”

  There was something about the way he said it that sounded naughty and innocent at the same time and she found herself blushing.

  He cocked his head. “You like me calling you that,” he decided and she shrugged, wanting to make him feel embarrassed, too.

  “I liked you kissing me, too, and it made me think of dark corners and stolen moments.” The problem with her teasing was that she got turned on just from thinking about it, heat pooling in her stomach.

  “I tell you what, boss. If we find a bakery to solve the issue with the cakes and all, I’m taking you back and giving you a stolen moment on your desk at the office. You know, where someone could walk in at any given time.”

  Evy couldn’t help herself. Her breath caught and she swallowed. “It’s not a question of if,” she replied. “It’s a question of when.”

  He stood, surprising her and almost making his now empty cup topple over. “Let’s go right now. The sooner we’re done, the sooner…” He cleared his throat while licking his lips seductively. “We can report to Tessa that we have solved one huge issue.”

  “I assume you know all the bakeries in town?” she asked, also standing, even if it was much slower.

  “Of course. I know every place where you can get pastries. Let’s try the biggest I can think of,” he suggested and she happily accepted the offer, following him outside to start a mission she couldn’t help but hope wouldn’t take very long.

  Turned out that even the big bakeries weren’t fit to prepare for an event with that size. They knew the location, were ready to bring it there, but there was no way they could produce the amount Evy was thinking of.

  Most would even be ready to try the sheet cakes the way she envisioned them, but again, that didn’t help her in the least.

  “Fucking shit,” she cursed, hitting her head back against the head rest of Tank’s passenger seat.

  “So, eight told us they could do about twenty percent of what we wanted, and some said if it would be just the yeast cake thingies you want, they could do more. Do you want to consider looking for—”

  “No,” Evy interrupted as an idea hit her. She should’ve thought about that right away.

  Taking out the list of bakeries she’d made, she looked at them, glad she’d put down what he’d just mentioned. “Let’s get back to the office. Now.” She grabbed the seatbelt absent-mindedly, then shook her head. “No, let’s go to Sweetie’s Bake first.”

  It was the one they’d been at beginning, and while it was rather small, they specialized in fancy cakes.

  “Can we not start with this one here?” Tank pointed at Easy as Pie’s store front, but Evy shook her head.

  “I didn’t like their display or the way it smelled in there. Seriously, a bakery needs to smell like one, maybe like a coffee shop instead, but certainly not like a burger joint. I doubt their cakes will be good. If we take them, we might end up with fried stuff.” She shivered, glad when Tank started up the car and brought it out onto the main road, away from the alley they’d parked in.

  “I do agree, it smelled weird. Share your plan with me?”

  “Sweetie’s Bake said they could make ten cakes which would feed about five-hundred people, right?” She knew she was right because she’d always been meticulous about jotting things down.

  “They could feed a lot. I don’t remember the exact number,” he agreed.

  Evy tapped her chin. “I’m thinking those ten cakes, and four from For Heaven’s Bake. They have smaller ones, but that doesn’t matter. We have cake pieces for seven-hundred-fifty people. It’s all I would plan for. It’s probably way too much, but I’d rather have most people have a chance at a piece instead of just assuming half or less eat it. The sheet cakes we just distribute among the others. I’ll get them to p
rice match each other, that way no one complains about someone else getting more money. Most of the bakeries get a chance at being better known in the end, and we could still always do a tasting.”

  She finally looked up at the end of her explanation because Tank had not once interrupted her, but he was focused on the road.

  “Not good?” she eventually asked and he glanced at her briefly.

  “Very smart actually. And you’re using the strength of every shop. And… tasting?”

  She sighed. “To be honest, those yeast cakes need to taste good, so I need the bakeries to find a recipe they want to work with, and I want to try them before we order. They need to be fluffy and good. You’ll see once you tried them.”

  She had a very precise idea how the cakes had to be and he’d see the light the moment he tried a good one, that much she was sure of.

  “Okay. Hate to be a Debbie Downer here, but what if the bakers won’t agree?”

  Evy winked. “They will. The food at a thing like that is the most important thing, so it’s the one thing I’m not going to try and be tight with money about. I’ll offer them an amount that will ensure they do their job because they can close the shop for a couple of days to focus on us only. They’ll love it. I’ll also promise to put their name on each card explaining what kind of cake it is.”

  “Did you think about allergies?” he asked and she huffed. No, she hadn’t.

  “Not yet, but thank you, that definitely needs to go on my list. Let’s have two or three of allergy friendly ones, I’d have said, because I don’t think we’ll have too many of the people really allergic. I just want to offer them an alternative.” She made a note next to one of the bakeries when Tank stopped the truck.

  “First stop? We’re here. Good luck, boss.”

  He grinned at her and for a brief second he looked as if he wanted to lean in and give her a peck on the lips, but then he lowered his eyes.

  “I don’t need luck. I know what I’m doing,” she announced, slipping out of the car. The bravado would only fall once she was back at home, probably in her bed that night, going over that day again in her mind.

  Up until then, and each time anew when she got up in the morning, she’d believe she could do it, and that she was the person with the biggest balls out there. She simply had to believe that everyone would be ready to work with her because she was impressive.

  There was no room for doubts, and if someone knew that, it was Evy.

  It had taken longer than Tank had expected, especially with them having to visit each bakery again, but eventually they’d arrived at her office with what he considered to be a million papers.

  She’d talked about pre-contracts and whatnot, things he certainly never had heard of, but still helped to carry or take care of.

  She was beaming, the smile not once faltering, although Tank was sure the hardest parts weren’t the food. If he remembered right, there was something about decorating the entire venue, and that had him worried—until he suddenly bumped into Evy.

  The papers he was carrying scattered to the ground and he bent to retrieve them. “What the hell, woman?” he muttered.

  “Language,” Evy scolded him and he looked up, wanting to say something when he spotted a lot of legs on his eye level. Glancing up further, he found Tessa standing in front of a group of people.

  “We’ve been waiting for you.” She smiled softly. “The doorman let us in.”

  Tank stood, all papers back in his hands, and looked at the group. There were maybe fifteen men and women of all ages, ethnicities, and life paths.

  “I can tell,” Evy stated quietly and Tank walked around the almost mute girl toward his best friend’s fiancé.

  “Is that your mob to kill her?” he asked casually, being glad when Tessa shot him an angry glare. He could deal with that, teasing her and any other woman, not being emotional or the serious one.

  Tessa cleared her throat and turned her eyes to her best friend while he walked over to Evy’s office and found it locked. He shouldn’t have been surprised, but was anyway.

  “Keys?” he asked.

  “In my pocket,” Evy replied, her voice still incredulous.

  “Want me to get it myself or will you come over here, hand it over, put your papers away and talk to those people?” he asked and it finally propelled Evy into movement.

  She did as he’d suggested and then turned to her best friend while Tank strolled over to the window to stare outside—while keeping his attention on the things happening behind him.

  “Evangeline Jackson, here are people who are either event planners or were ready to help out with whatever for various reasons. Some will insist on payment, but others are—”

  “I’m not old enough to sit at home and do nothing, and your pretty friend here asked over her radio show if someone would be willing to help out as a volunteer for the event. Here I am.”

  Tank turned at the voice. It sounded raspy and used, old, and the woman who’d stepped forward matched that. She was smaller than Tessa and Evy, twice as big as either of the girls, and wore a beaming smile. Her face was wrinkly, her lips covered in bright pink lipstick, and her hair was as white as Evy’s blouse.

  Tank liked the woman instantly.

  Evy thought for a moment. “Can you draw and write pretty?”

  The woman arched a brow. “Yes to writing. And… draw? As in humans and things like that?”

  Evy shook her head. “As in twirls and straight lines.”

  “Darling, I twirl whatever you need me to twirl,” the woman announced and Evy laughed.

  “Okay. I need you for the seating cards and everything. Although, you clearly can read if you can write.”

  “Sure can, ma’am.”

  “Let’s print the cards. It’s faster,” Tessa interrupted.

  “Much more expensive and less personal. I want it written.” Evy tapped her chin. “So, tomorrow at ten here again? I’ll be having a contract here then and you can start with putting down how people answered the invitations. Jot your name down here.”

  She vanished in her office and came back with a clipboard, handing it to the woman while someone else stepped up, saying they could help.

  Tank watched as Tessa broke away from the group, joining his side.

  “Making that appeal during your show is a mighty fine gesture,” he muttered, nudging her with his hip.

  Tessa shrugged. “After talking to the head of the base at six this morning, I panicked. Like seriously and completely because I worried what it would mean for Evy, all the late nights, the worries, the pressure, the impossibility of the situation. Plus… I want to help, I want her to succeed, and it’s the least I could do. Seventeen people aren’t nearly enough to make this work, but it’s a start. I don’t know if we can manage, and I have a feeling the last week will be hell, but I don’t want her to go back home. I want to keep her around.” She paused for a moment while they both watched Ev before Tank glanced at Tessa again.

  She’d changed so much from the first time he’d seen her; her face was more serious now, less girly, more womanly, and yet he saw all the laughter lines around her eyes. Although she looked worried, her brows furrowed, there was also a quiet confidence about her she hadn’t possessed before those first three weeks with Jazz.

  “I worried about something—namely us—being wrong, being off when she came here because, well, she avoided me. Then I told myself it was because starting new in a different country is hell. I remember how it was once I was out of the hospital. You know, after Johnny’s birth.”

  He nodded. “I remember. I felt—”

  She touched his arm briefly. “I know. But it wasn’t your job to look after me, Tank. And you did great in the time after Jazz returned. Anyway.”

  He wasn’t the least bit surprised she wanted to change the topic so fast. Neither of them liked to remember Jazz’s dark phase after his return.

  “But now I realize she felt guilty for being here purely because her boss assume
d she’d talk to her famous contacts.” She put air-quotes around the word famous, even if it was true. She was a small celebrity in their community, and her name constantly went from mouth to mouth, spreading like a wildfire.

  Tagged for Life, a radio show about soldiers, romance, and heartache was a major success.

  Tessa couldn’t care less though, and he wouldn’t lie, it impressed him.

  “She shouldn’t have felt like that. I wish she would’ve just talked to me right away. Back home even. We’d have had a little more time…”

  He arched a brow. “Would you have been more ready to help her?”

  Tessa shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. After the initial shock, maybe I’d have realized it didn’t matter because she’s my best friend and I’d do anything for her.”

  “I’m still sorry about last night,” he admitted. After he’d gone to bed he’d spent the hours before he had to get up tossing and turning, realizing exactly what it would mean for Tessa and Jazz if this failed.

  Jazz could lose all the respect he’d taken years to earn, and with the internet connecting the entire world, no one would ever forget how the station Tessa worked at had embarrassed the Army.

  “I’m not. I was mad, and yes, a lot is at stake, but I’d rather know I tried everything for my best friend than working at the station forever. She needs to be here, Tank. Back home she’d never get away from Ian. Like… never. And imagine her having to go back… He might even kick her out for having failed a clear assignment.”

  Tank crossed his arms in front of his chest to not punch something. “One that was nearly impossible to begin with.”

  Tessa laughed, this time bumping him with her hip. “It no longer is. We’ll do our damnedest to make it work, so stop worrying.” She sobered then. “Thank you for telling me.”

  “Say that to your fiancé,” Tank replied and Tessa promised him she would.

  Her feet were hurting and she wished she had a bigger office instead of the tiny space she now stood in. She didn’t think all of the people who’d shown were a good match for the project, but some seemed promising.