Total pages in book: 143
Estimated words: 138881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 556(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 138881 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 694(@200wpm)___ 556(@250wpm)___ 463(@300wpm)
Her mom scans the display case with skepticism, but maybe some hope? I’m not quite sure.
As Mabel waits on them, her mom says, “Don’t forget the food services option, just in case,” and Mabel answers with only a smile. I wonder what that’s about, but then Theo raps his knuckles on the counter, and I give him my full attention.
He looks around with approval. “Impressive.” Then he nods toward his sister. “And look how happy she is. Fuck Dax. He was wrong.”
Wait, was this all about proving someone wrong?
“Did you encourage me to do this because you were pissed at her ex?”
Theo shrugs in admission. “A little. But I knew you wanted to do it too, and she needed a partner, and it all worked out. And it worked out for me too, because I let the producers of the show know exactly what I thought of them and this store’s success is proving me right. But mostly I want her to be happy, and I think she is.”
Right. That’s true.
I glance at Mabel, and even as she chats with her parents, she seems…enchanted with this place.
This—Afternoon Delight—is exactly why I need to stop messing around with basting brushes, and thieving underwear, and taking towels just to get a whiff of her.
Because this bakery is her happy place, and I don’t want to mess it up by pouring out this overwhelming bucketful of feelings in my chest. This pride. This admiration. This fondness. This lust. This wanting. Better to stop it.
I will. I really will.
As closing time nears, there’s a commotion outside the bakery, and I spot a head of frizzy hair. Pretty sure that’s Joni. She stands shoulder to shoulder with a guy with a shiny bald head. Something about him looks terribly familiar.
It clicks.
Her Did you hear…? yesterday makes sense as I see her smiling and snapping a photo.
Did we hear that Ronnie Legend was coming to Cozy Valley? Because he’s here.
And no way will I let him ruin Mabel’s moment. I will do whatever it takes for her.
26
THE SMASH-CAKE QUEEN
MABEL
I’d have been more surprised if Jonas had shown up. Or even Dax.
But Ronnie? The man who wanted me to be on my way after ruining his event with my song-and-dance routine? He might have talked down to me then, but this is my turf, and I’m going to defend it.
Although it looks like Corbin already has that covered from the way he squares his shoulders and crosses his arms, lasering a dark stare Ronnie’s way when the celebrity chef steps inside Afternoon Delight. “What can I do for you?”
It’s a don’t fuck with my woman voice.
It’s hot as hell. Unfair.
The British celebrity chef is flanked by two women I judge to be in their early twenties. A pretty redhead with a pert nose and a pretty brunette with a freckled nose. Joni has already waved goodbye and left, and now it’s just Corbin and me behind the counter with Ronnie and his entourage in front of it.
Ronnie strides toward us, a smug look on his face as he sizes me up. “Look what you’ve done. This is just really brilliant.”
Is he mocking me?
“Thank you,” I say, keeping my guard up.
He waves a hand from the redhead to the brunette.
“Tiffany and Brittany told me I simply had to make an appearance,” he says, gesturing from one to the other with obvious affection for them.
Tiffany’s the redhead, and she hugs Ronnie’s right arm. Brittany clutches the other. They both lift phones and snap pictures of themselves with him.
Wow, okay, so that’s what we’re dealing with.
“And we were right, sweetie,” Tiffany says.
“We had to make sure he came here,” Brittany tells me.
Are they groupies? Girlfriends? It’s hard to tell. But it doesn’t really matter. He’s the cake king, and I need to be polite even if he wasn’t entirely polite to me.
“I’m so glad you stopped by,” I say.
Tiffany gives a cutesy little wave to me. “We heard about it on the socials.”
Brittany clutches Ronnie tighter and chimes in, “It was all over.”
“The place to be,” Tiffany adds.
“So that’s why I’m here. I never want to let my friends down,” Ronnie says with a wink as he looks at them. Okay, so they’re his friends. Whatever that means.
“Then you should get a smash cake,” Corbin says in the most deadpan voice in the history of the world.
Ronnie blinks, then his gaze swings to the display case and the tray full of smashed, extra pieces of all sorts of cake. “You were serious about that?” Ronnie asks me.
Well, I was ad-libbing at the time, but Corbin insisted we put it on the menu, and we’ve sold a couple smash cakes today—smashed up bits of various cakes, served in a cup.
Corbin steps closer to me. “Very serious. My partner and I have been planning the smash cake for some time,” he says, defending the fuck out of me once again. It’s so sexy, I don’t even know what to think.